Skift Take
Marriott Bonvoy is taking a risk with such an unusual marketing strategy for the hotel industry. It could work or it could be a flop — but at least they're trying new ways of reaching a younger audience.
In the world of TikTok and social media influencers, hotels and tourism agencies have had to experiment with new ways of reaching younger audiences.
Marriott Bonvoy took that experimentation to the next level as the first hotel company to release a video game within the online world Fortnite.
Skift spoke with Brian Povinelli, senior vice president and global head of marketing and brand at Marriott International, about how the experiment has been going and what could be next.
A trailer of the gameplay for Marriott Bonvoy Land Why a Video Game?Fortnite is most well-known as an online fighting game. But it is much more than that, including as a metaverse containing multiple independent places where players can meet, attend events, and play other sorts of games. It exploded in popularity during the pandemic as a place where people gathered virtually for gameplay as well as for concerts by Ariana Grande and Travis Scott, movie screenings, and more.
Marriott Bonvoy Land is a self-contained digital park within the Fortnite world where players can explore representations of four of