Client: Marriott International
Scope: pricing strategy, design research, innovation road mapping, user research, business model, product launch.
Challenge & Goal:
Marriott international approached a group of my fellow design leaders at MICA and Carey business school to design a pricing strategy to launch a new WIFI model for their events and conferences.
Approach:
We dug into the overall process that an event planner goes through during preparations for a meeting or conference_From researching all the different possible locations to their interactions with the sales teams and transfer of the information from Sales to Operations and AV/ET teams. We analyzed the follow up interactions that take place Post-Event. We delved into the different pain points discussed by both planners and Event Technology personnel.
Solution:
We identified the gaps of internet & technical knowledge between different sales teams as well as the difficulty in finding information on why pricing is the way it is and what each property has at its disposal with regards to Event Technology. Perhaps the most revealing quote was “planners often don’t know what they need until they are told what they can’t have.”
We decided to simplify the process for the event planner by developing an Event Planner web application that integrates the capabilities of a web search database with the ease and accessibility of Marriott’s meeting services app.
This application has features like Real time data-Web search database_ carefully sequenced flow of questions to guide planners in their decision-making process.
We aimed to create a more seamless experience for event planners where they can utilize Marriott’s custom all-in-one web application to pick the perfect location.Where they can also draw upon the technical expertise that is now networked across properties utilization of this application both externally and internally (in conjunction with a revamped CRM program) will allow for streamlined transfers of information & update between all parties.It also enables Marriott to store useful information that can be easily referenced for future engagements
Collaborators: Filda Mwenje, Kristin Holifield, Chris Schilder
Subject Matter Expert: Jennifer Mclennan