Last week, a blogger leaked an email from Marriott Bonvoy about an upcoming “Influencer” press trip to Hong Kong. After the disastrous transition to Marriott Bonvoy, the company appears to be trying to buy some good press. Is there anything wrong with that? After all, in the last year JetBlue, Barclays, Hyatt, and American Express have all invited bloggers to exclusive events and covered their travel expenses.
I don’t see anything inherently wrong with free trips like these, for bloggers or companies trying to court positive press. I do think bloggers have a responsibility to cover these events honestly. There are right and a wrong ways to approach sponsored trips.
The right approach to free “influencer” trips
Last year, Hyatt invited me to New York for a 2-3 day event. They were unveiling a new credit card and wanted bloggers to cover it. Hyatt was paying for airfare and putting bloggers up at the Andaz 5th Avenue.
I really wanted to go but couldn’t because I was in the middle of launch week and it was impossible to get away for a day, let alone three. But if I had gone on this trip, there would have been a few rules I would have abided by.
With the inherent conflict involved in sponsored trips, I would have made sure I followed these two principles:
1. No reviews on comped hotels
I know I’ve vowed to stop writing trip reports, but I’ll probably keep doing it sparingly. These are resources readers may find useful, so I’m going to bite the bullet and write them…just don’t hold your breath because they will be late.
That being said, if I’m ever getting a comped room, I won’t review it. The experience will be inherently biased, not to mention an unrealistic portrayal of what the average hotel guest can expect.
I want hotel reviews to reflect a realistic hotel experience. If the hotel staff is aware that I’m a blogger and thus delivers service beyond what a regular guest may receive, that defeats the purpose of hotel reviews.
On the other hand, if my experience is negative, it’s in poor taste to write a negative blog post about it. Imagine staying with a friend or family member, then tweeting about how dirty the bathrooms are. You wouldn’t, right? Because if someone shows you enough hospitality to allow you to stay with them free of charge, you don’t badmouth them.
Even though we’re talking about a business transaction, I still find it in poor taste. On one hand, it’s acceptable for bloggers to receive comped rooms and travel in order to cover an event for an organization. On the other hand, writing an unbiased review about a comped hotel experience is damn near impossible.
2. Disclose that the trip is #sponsored
Nothing is more obnoxious than social media “influencers” whose sole jobs it is to sell products and experiences. When advertising is disguised as genuine endorsement, that’s not only misleading, it’s a violation of the FTC’s Endorsement Guidelines.
Whether you’re a blogger or influencer (whatever that means), it’s absolutely your responsibility to clearly convey to your readers any financial incentive you may receive for promoting a brand. Even if you’re just attending a hotel-sponsored meet-and-greet, the ethical thing is to disclose that your attendance was made possible by the company covering your hotel and airfare.
What’s wrong with Marriott’s press tips?
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with Marriott trying to woo bloggers with free trips to Hong Kong. Every brand is constantly trying to manage their image and improve public perception.
While bloggers hanging out on rooftop bars at 5-star hotels can certainly shine a positive light on Marriott, the brand needs to focus on the real issue: That once-loyal members are now so fed up with service fails, they’re jumping ship to other rewards programs. Or that the large volume of complaints against Marriott Bonvoy has sparked the creation of a new verb, “Bonvoyed”, complete with a Twitter account, hashtag, and website where Marriott members are sharing their grievances.
The channel for these complaints should really be the official Marriott Bonvoy Twitter account. The fact that it isn’t, shows you that Marriott has work to do when it comes to addressing member complaints.
Sending a bunch of bloggers to Hong Kong to live-tweet their own version of the Entertainment 720 experience is not going to make these other problems go away.
That’s my take. I’m not invested in Marriott and have yet to be Bonvoyed. But I hear the frustration from others who have and it’s unfortunate that Marriott is prioritizing the “appearance” of things over addressing the problems that their members are reporting on a daily basis.
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