Talking Social with Marriott's SVP of Global PR

There are a handful of well respected, global companies that receive constant praise for their enterprise-wide adoption of social media.

Online retailer Zappos is one example.  Computer maker and IT services shop Dell is another.

The reason for this adulation became quite clear to me on Monday after a group of us at Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) spent 90 minutes with Gordon Lambourne, Senior Vice President, Global Public Relations at Marriott International.  Gordon visited with our team at as part of our ongoing professional development and guest speaker series. 

Gordon Lambourne, Marriott's SVP of Global PR

The process of infusing social media into an organization's global operations is complex and full of risk. Consider the following about Marriott:

-150,000 employees worldwide
-3,500 hotels under management
-18 distinct property brands, including high-end offerings such Ritz Carlton and JW Marriott to extended stay business products like ExecuStay
-Rapid international expansion into emerging markets in southeast Asia, Africa and eastern Europe

According to Gordon, Marriott is following a disciplined and structured path to empower its employees to actively engage in social media.  Corporate guidelines are in development and will eventually be rolled out through the company's four global operation centers.

I suspect there are some social media consultants who would chide Marriott for this rather bureaucratic approach to social media adoption.

However, I'm going to applaud Gordon and Marriott for this cautious approach.  The company simply has too much invested in its brand and reputation to allow for social participation by its employees without well defined guidelines.

Plus, Marriott's embrace of social media starts at the very top.  The company's CEO publishes a blog called Marriott on the Move that he personally develops content for and partially measures success by how the blog spurs online reservations.

Gordon summed up Marriott's global view of social media well by explaining, "With social media it is obvious that the more you try to control it, the less you can.  It just may take us awhile to get there."

Stunner from Zappos

Features, functionality, speeds, feeds and, of course, price are all important considerations when a person makes a product or vendor selection.

Yet, most business transactions are ultimately conducted by two people. The personal connection is critical for commerce which is why social media can have such a profound and positive impact on an organization’s success. It makes the process of personal connectivity more scalable.

Zappos is a company I have long admired (and purchased product from) for their ability to align corporate culture with customer and employee satisfaction. I also stand in awe at how this culture has been effectively promoted via social networks.


A recent article in TechCrunch turned me on to an excerpt in Inc. Magazine from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s new book entitled “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose.”

(Photo: Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO. Courtesy of WWD.com)

This is a fascinating read about the pressure on Hsieh induced by Zappos’ board of directors which ultimately led to the decision to sell the company to Amazon. Here a couple of paragraphs which have stuck with me:

As the economy deteriorated, the appraised value of our inventory began to fall, which meant that even if we hit our numbers, we might eventually find ourselves without enough cash to buy inventory.

These issues had nothing to do with the underlying performance of our business, but they increased tensions on our board of directors. Some board members had always viewed our company culture as a pet project — “Tony’s social experiments,” they called it.

I disagreed. I believe that getting the culture right is the most important thing a company can do. But the board took the conventional view — namely, that a business should focus on profitability first and then use the profits to do nice things for its employees.

I do agree with Zappos’ board that a business exists to generate profit and return for its shareholders.

However, I am truly stunned that they failed to recognize that the company’s success in a commoditized market was greatly influenced by its culture, as well as the articulation of that culture via social media.