Forget what I said. What does your brand look like, sound like, feel like? Video makes it real — and Marriott’s Global Brand Officer shows us how it’s done.
Imagine your favorite travel experience. Picture it in your mind. Where are you? What are the sights, the sounds, the emotions you felt in that moment?
Travel is not transactional — it’s experiential. Advertising content needs to inspire the senses and feed the soul. The sight, sound, motion, and touch of video is key to any brand strategy that wants to reach the next-generation traveler.
That’s the message Brian King, Global Brand Officer for Marriott International, had for the standing-room-only crowd at the International Advertising Bureau’s annual MIXX conference, where the industry’s best gather to predict the future of digital advertising.
King gave the audience a first look at new global ethnographic research, commissioned by Tremor Video in collaboration with SonicRim. It’s a new world, where travelers want to co-create experiences with brands, serendipitous discoveries matter as much as targeted content, and video is quickly supplanting all other media as consumers’ preferred method of receiving information.
The Project
We were brought in by Tremor to help develop a 30-minute keynote synthesizing the research findings with Brian’s own perspective on creating immersive marketing experiences that inspire emotional connections.
Our job was to meld input from all sides — Tremor Video and Sonic Rim on the research side, Brian King on the brand-visionary side, and MEC Global (Marriott’s media agency) on the advertising side. We also coordinated with film production company Insomnia to develop a 6-minute “sizzle” reel highlighting the research, which we wove seamlessly into Brian’s 30-minute talk. Finally, we created a dynamic visual presentation that took the audience on its own immersive audiovisual experience.
The Outcome
Alimat flew out for the IAB MIXX conference in NYC to help with rehearsals and behind the scenes prep for Brian’s opening day keynote. We sat in the front row, cheering Brian on as he delivered a flawless presentation to a room full of influential advertising executives and conference attendees.
As a result of the conference and Brian’s presentation, Tremor Video’s research conducted with Sonic Rim generated a great deal of media attention--becoming a springboard for successful sales.
Client: Tremor Video
Project: IABB Mixx Opening-Day Keynote: "Designing the 360-Degree Experience: Video Marketing and the Next Generation of Travel
Services: Script writing, presentation design
“Working with Alison and Matt on my opening keynote for Ad Week was a brilliant experience. Their intake process was completely seamless, something I didn’t have to worry about. Through a series of well-thought-out interview questions, they quickly picked out the story I was telling, synthesized it, and wove it into a clear and precise speech with a strong opening, powerful middle, and fantastic close.
Usually it takes a new communications group a few tries until they clearly hear your story, your voice, and your approach. This was not the case with this team by any stretch of the imagination. Their first draft needed only minor editing and refinement. They never lost my voice—in fact, they strengthened it. And they made it real. There was no empty marketing speech or strategy for the sake of strategy. They put things in clear, pragmatic terms that people deal with every day and can actually visualize. The onscreen creative was fantastic: custom, curated, and meaningful, as concise and impactful as the language.
The talk generated lots of interest about Marriott and what we’re doing. It made people stand up and take notice. I think it also helped change people’s perspective of us as a company—the idea that Marriott is on the move.”
Brian King
Global Brand Officer, Marriott International
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