A Comparison of Marketing Strategies: Marriott vs. Premier Inn Hotels

This essay offers a comprehensive comparison of the marketing strategies employed by two prominent multinational hotel chains: Marriott International and Premier Inn. The analysis delves into their historical backgrounds, market positioning, and competitive landscapes. The essay explores the unique marketing techniques of each hotel, including pricing, location strategies, digital marketing, and promotional campaigns. Furthermore, it examines their commitment to sustainable development goals and their responses to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The comparison highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, providing insights into how these hotels attract customers and maintain their leading positions in the hospitality industry. The essay concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the adaptability of these businesses in a dynamic market environment. The study also includes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these companies and how they are coping up with the situation.

A Comparison of Marketing Methods of
Two Multinational Hotel Chain

A comparison of marketing methods of two
multinational hotel chain
Introduction
This essay will provide complete knowledge about the complete marketing strategies of two
popular multinational hotels, Marriott International and Premier Inn hotel. There are various
reasons behind choosing these two companies. Marriott was established in 1927 by J.
Willard and his wife Alice Marriott in Washington D.C. Now Marriott has 7642 hotels
worldwide, and many of its units are situated outside the USA[ CITATION SLo21 \l 1033 ].
Similarly, Premier Inn hotel is one of the major companies in the hospitality industry; it has
all over 650 hotels and 54,000 rooms across the U.K. and Ireland. Premier Inn hotel is
growing exponentially and keeping its title ‘Best value hotel’ for ten years running.
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A comparison of marketing methods of two
multinational hotel chain
Marriott International was established by J. Willard and his Wife, Alice Marriott, in 1927
in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. It was started as A&W root beer stand. After that, Marriott
added some hot food menu, and then the name 'Hot shoppes' was generated. Then in 1969,
Marriott opened its first international hotel in Acapulco, Mexico . Then in 2015 and in 2016,
Marriott acquired Delta hotels and resorts and Starwood hotel and resorts,
respectively[ CITATION mar212 \l 1033 ]. The main USP of Marriott is, it sells standard
products at the right prices. Premier Inn was established in 1987 by Whitbread. That time it
was named Travel Inn. Whitbread brought Premier Lodge in 2004 and merged it with Travel
Inn, and then a new name was given Premier Travel Inn, and then in 2007, the name was
shortened to Premier Inn. Then Premier Inn created a swimming pool and gym in their
hotels. In order to remove differences between Premier Lodge and Travel Inn, Premier Travel
Inn launched new bedroom designs. In 2008 Whitbread made an announcement that Premier
Inn £100M expansion during the last three years. In 2011 Premier Inn opened its 600 th hotel
at Stratford-upon-Avon. Later, Premier Inn sold some of their smaller hotels to Good night
inn.
Premier Inn gained its market share by 3%. Now, Premier Inn has 72,000 rooms and 800
hotels. Premier Inn has its hotels in Ireland, Northern Ireland, in UAE, in Germany and in
Qatar; its headquarter is in England, U.K. Both the hotel chains follow different business
strategies in production, places, promotion and in setting pricing of their products. Premier
Inn can provide extra standard rooms, which have some extra facilities than the normal
standard rooms. The competitors of Marriott International are IHG, Hilton Hotel and
resorts, Wyndham Worldwide Corporation etc. But their style to use social media as a
marketing platform and their business strategies made them unique in the hospitality industry.
The competitors of Premier Inn are Travelodge Hotels and Jurys Inn and Holiday Inn express
etc[ CITATION eco219 \l 1033 ]. The uniqueness of Premier Inn is each and every hotel is
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A comparison of marketing methods of two
multinational hotel chain
totally bike-friendly and they provide free Wi-Fi and tasty and delicious food of Premier Inn
have the ability to attract more customers. Both the hotel chains work hard to meet the
sustainable development goals of the countries.
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A comparison of marketing methods of two
multinational hotel chain
The Marriott international and the Premier inn both are in the leading position in the
hospitality industry within the globe. Both the hotels have their own marketing strategies,
and made some differences from the previous strategies also, here, these are being discussed
(Kingsnorth, S., 2019). .
The Premier Inn hotel chain is the largest hotel chain in the U.K. It follows some wonderful
promotion strategies; it uses TV, radio, cinema, print, banners etc. moreover, direct mailing,
creating exhibitions are some techniques to promote their brands. Premier Inn hired comedian
Lenny Henry for an advertisement in May 2010. The main aim of this advertisement was to
attract people to spend a holiday in Premier Inn; it costs only £ 29 for one night for four
people. This weekend campaigns help Premier Inn to achieve the biggest position in the
U.K. hotel industry. Spoke person of Premier Inn also said that they would reward their
customers by offering them a free night stay at the weekend to roam Britain. Premier Inn take
the help of the internet very smartly; most of the booking of it is by online. A major thing for
a business is the target market. Premier Inn targeted the middle-class population of the U.K.
by launching a weekend plan; similarly, they provide higher standard facilities for foreign
travellers and for business tourists also. Marriott also has some beautiful strategies which
have helped it to acquire the leading position in the hospitality industry. Marriott has set a
beautiful pricing strategy that provides right product at right price; sometimes, it also follows
a competitive pricing strategy. Another smart strategy that is followed by Marriott is location
strategy, Marriott opens their hotels in places that are naturally beautiful, so these can attract
tourists or guests easily[ CITATION mys19 \l 1033 ]. Apart from this, Marriott opens their
hotels near airports, famous markets or highways. Marriott prefers digital marketing; it has a
different website from where customers can book their rooms easily; they promote their
brand by taking the help of online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram etc.
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A comparison of marketing methods of two
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Premier Inn pursue a lot of duties towards sustainability, they have an aim 'Force for
Good', as a part of the force for good sustainability, the Premier Inn donate half of a million
meals to the U.K. charity. They set a target to cut their food waste in half by 2030. Premier
Inn established a partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity
(GOSH) in 2012. They have raised a fund to build up a Premier Inn clinical building which is
dedicated to providing treatment for children who have sight and hearing problem. Premier
Inn hotel is targeted to reduce Carbone emission; they decided to reduce 50% Carbone
emission by 2025, it also try to reduce single use plastic from all of their hotels and
restaurants by 2025. Premier Inn is the first company of U.K. which offer water bottles free.
They use 100% renewable energy sources to power their hotels[ CITATION pre211 \l 1033 ].
Marriott also have some responsibilities to achieve SDGs of USA, they set a goal to increase
hospitality skills and to create opportunities for the youth section, women, persons with
disabilities, and for the refugees etc. by 2025, and they invest nearly $35 m for this
purpose[ CITATION ser21 \l 1033 ]. For enriching biodiversity they plan to create green
roofs and reduce the amount of water wastes. They have trained their associates to be aware
in human trafficking. They also set up a target to reduce Carbone emission.
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A comparison of marketing methods of two
multinational hotel chain
COVID -19 pandemic
Due to pandemic situation, the hospitality and tourism industry suffered a lot. Now in the
new normal situation, this sector is reviving. To cope up with the new normal situation, both
these two multinational hotel chains follow some hard and fast rules. As per the
announcement published by Premier Inn hotel authority in their websites, they have made
some differences in their check-in time. All their hotels present in Northern Ireland, England,
Germany, Scotland, Wales, and Republic of Ireland are opening. Between 7 th July - 30 th
September, check-in will be available from 4 pm. Face covering and maintaining physical
distance is compulsory, and all guests have to maintain all the latest government rules and
restrictions related to covid-19. The hotel authority made some changes in order to manage
existing bookings. They have changed their room rate products to provide their customers a
clear choice of cancelling or re-arranging bookings[ CITATION pre21 \l 1033 ]. Moreover,
the hotels of Premier Inn present in Germany are strictly following the 3G rule. The 3G rule
refers the three steps i.e. ‘Tested- Vaccinated- Recovered’. The guests who want to stay in
Premier Inn hotels of Germany have to show the certificate of vaccination of second dose,
proof of a test report that he or she is covid-19 negative, or proof of PCR test which should
not be older than 6 months. Similarly, Marriott is really very careful in this matter; their
target is the wellbeing of their guests and associates. They strictly follow the guidelines of
WHO and local government regarding these covid-19 issues. They are using hospital-grade
disinfectants and adopted technologies such as electrostatic sprayers and air purifying
systems to clear surfaces and air as well. Face covering is no longer mandatory for those who
got 2nd dose of vaccination. They also follow food safety guidelines as directed by WHO, the
associates and supervisors who handle the food department are specially trained to manage
the issues.
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A comparison of marketing methods of two
multinational hotel chain
Conclusion
The above study has provided a historical background of two multinational hotel chains
Marriot International and Premier Inn of the U.K. Both these businesses acquire a leading
position in the hospitality industry. Both these hotel chains follow wonderful marketing
strategies which enable them to achieve the top position in the hospitality industry. It can be
said that both the hotel chain work hard to achieve Sustainable Development Goals for their
countries. At last, it can be concluded that though the hospitality and tourism sector was
badly affected by the pandemic situation, now these sectors are reviving. Marriott
international and Premier Inn both are strictly following the norms and regulations regarding
the novel coronavirus.
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References
Books and Journals
Council, C.C.B.,( 2019). Conwy County Borough Council LDF|| Candidate Site Register.
Kingsnorth, S.,( 2019). Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online
marketing. Kogan Page Publishers.
Websites
Lock, S., 2021. Marriott International - statistics & facts. [Online] Available at:
https://www.statista.com/topics/1872/marriott-international/ [Accessed 2021].
marriott, 2021. OUR STORY OF INNOVATION. [Online] Available at:
https://www.marriott.com/about/culture-and-values/history.mi.
mysoftinn, 2019. How Hotels Can Learn From Marriott Marketing Strategy. [Online]
Available at: https://page.mysoftinn.com/en/how-hotels-can-learn-from-marriott-marketing-
strategy [Accessed 2021].
premierinn, 2021. Coronavirus (COVID-19): Premier Inn update. [Online] Available at:
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/covid-19.html.
premierinn, 2021. We're a Force for Good. [Online] Available at:
https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/why/force-for-good.html.
serve360.marriott, 2021. Corporate Sustainability Performance. [Online] Available at:
https://serve360.marriott.com/sustainable-goals/.
econsultancy, 2021. What makes Premier Inn the world’s strongest hotel chain? [Online]
Available at: https://econsultancy.com/what-makes-premier-inn-the-world-s-strongest-hotel-
chain/.
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