The Elevator Pitch That Shot Marriot to the Pinnacle of Success in Asia

An elevator pitch to the producer of CNBC’s Managing Asia by Mileage secured a half hour TV interview for its Senior VP during the peak of the SARS outbreak in 2004.

During the interview the Senior VP said two key points that resonated with its audiences –

• Senior Management took a cut in salary in view of the fact that occupancy in all hotels, Marriott included, were in the low 20 percent or worse.
• No retrenchments of staff; instead they were sent for enhanced training.

The results were –

• Owners of competitor hotels wrote to invite Marriott to come and manage their hotels.
• General Managers of rival hotels sent in their CVs, seeking employment in the Marriott Group

No surprise, from that pitch till today, the Marriott brand grew and grew in Asia unabated.