Digital marketing has revolutionized the way hospitality brands engage with consumers. From luxury hotels and boutique chains to smaller bed-and-breakfasts and online booking platforms, the hospitality industry has embraced technology to enhance the guest experience and capture the attention of travelers. In theory, hospitality digital marketing should be the perfect tool for an industry so reliant on attracting the right audience through personalized experiences. The hospitality sector has at its disposal social media, online review sites, influencer partnerships, email campaigns, and targeted ads, all aimed at boosting bookings, improving brand loyalty, and creating memorable guest experiences.
However, the high expectations surrounding digital marketing often do not translate into real-world success. Hospitality brands can sometimes fall into the trap of overcomplicating their strategies, misreading audience behavior, or failing to deliver on the promises they make. A variety of factors—from technological hiccups to the inability to adapt to consumer expectations—can cause even the most meticulously crafted digital marketing campaigns to backfire.
This op-ed examines several examples of failed digital marketing campaigns in the hospitality industry, analyzing what went wrong and providing insights on how brands can avoid these missteps in the future. It will focus on key areas where hospitality brands often misstep: failure to align digital tactics with customer expectations, poor integration of new technology, and the overuse of superficial influencer collaborations.
The Marriott Bonvoy App Fiasco: A Case Study of Overcomplication
In 2019, Marriott International launched its much-anticipated Marriott Bonvoy app, designed to streamline customer experiences and enhance loyalty for the brand’s extensive portfolio of hotels. The app was intended to integrate booking, loyalty program features, and personalized offers in one unified platform, offering an improved, tech-driven experience for travelers.
The marketing campaign behind the app was built on a vision of personalization and seamless service. Marriott’s digital team pushed out highly polished ads on social media, targeted email campaigns, and online content highlighting the app’s convenience, speed, and smart features. However, the execution of the app itself did not live up to these promises. The app’s functionality was inconsistent, and many users found it difficult to navigate or even complete basic tasks like booking a room or checking in. Negative reviews piled up, with customers complaining about frequent crashes, confusing user interfaces, and poor integration with Marriott’s broader loyalty program.
While Marriott’s marketing strategy initially generated excitement, the reality of the app’s performance led to a dramatic backlash. The app’s failures illustrated a key lesson: the best digital marketing strategy in hospitality is useless if the product itself doesn’t meet customer expectations. In this case, Marriott’s emphasis on the app’s sleekness and advanced features was not aligned with the practical needs of its users. For many guests, simplicity and reliability were far more important than cutting-edge technology.
The Social Media Blunder of ‘Airbnb: The Social Network’
Airbnb, one of the most popular platforms in the global hospitality space, has also fallen victim to a digital marketing misstep. In 2018, Airbnb launched a significant rebranding campaign, shifting its focus from being a simple accommodation marketplace to a “community-based” travel platform. This transformation included an ambitious social media and digital marketing campaign under the tagline “Belong Anywhere,” aimed at positioning Airbnb as a brand that wasn’t just about booking a place to stay, but about creating a sense of community and connection between hosts and guests.
Part of the rebranding strategy included a massive social media push with influencers and celebrities, designed to elevate the emotional aspects of travel and human connection. While the idea of bringing together “like-minded travelers” was attractive in theory, the execution of Airbnb’s social marketing campaign was underwhelming, and ultimately, many of its influencer collaborations backfired. Celebrities, such as Chrissy Teigen and Joe Jonas, were seen promoting Airbnb on social media without an authentic connection to the brand. The posts seemed too scripted and forced, which failed to resonate with Airbnb’s user base, who were looking for authentic travel experiences, not polished endorsements.
What went wrong here? The campaign’s focus on idealistic narratives about belonging and community felt disconnected from the reality many customers faced—issues like inconsistent host quality, concerns over safety, and the sheer complexity of the platform’s booking process. Airbnb’s influencer marketing didn’t address these core pain points; instead, it leaned too heavily into a manufactured “lifestyle” narrative. In digital marketing, authenticity is critical, especially in an industry like hospitality, where the customer experience is paramount.
The Overuse of Influencers: Why Celebrity Endorsements Don’t Always Translate into Bookings
The failure of influencer marketing campaigns in the hospitality sector is not a new phenomenon, but it has become more pronounced in recent years. In an era where consumers trust peer recommendations more than traditional advertising, brands have increasingly turned to influencers to promote their services. While this tactic has been successful for some companies, in hospitality, it has led to some notable misfires.
For example, several mid-range hotels and boutique chains have attempted influencer collaborations with little success. These hotels often spend substantial budgets on influencers with large followings, only to see minimal return on investment (ROI). The core issue lies in the mismatch between the influencer’s audience and the target customer. Some hospitality brands mistakenly believe that the sheer number of followers or the celebrity status of an influencer guarantees a spike in bookings. However, influencer marketing works best when there is a genuine alignment between the influencer’s audience and the brand’s value proposition.
The failure of these campaigns often comes down to a superficial approach to influencer partnerships. When influencers post about their stay at a hotel but do not provide real value to their followers—whether through honest reviews, authentic behind-the-scenes content, or genuine engagement—the partnership falls flat. Consumers are increasingly wary of “paid” endorsements and can quickly spot inauthentic marketing.
To remedy this, hospitality brands should aim for more meaningful and authentic collaborations with influencers. Rather than simply focusing on flashy endorsements, they should ensure influencers are sharing genuine experiences and engaging with their followers in a way that feels natural and aligned with the brand’s ethos. It’s about cultivating relationships, not just transactional exchanges.
The Problem with Over-Promising: The Case of the Digital Concierge
Some hospitality brands have jumped on the bandwagon of digital concierges, using AI-driven tools and chatbots to replace human interaction, marketing them as innovative ways to enhance customer service. For instance, several high-end hotels have launched marketing campaigns boasting about their “cutting-edge” digital concierges, which promise to provide personalized recommendations, handle bookings, and resolve complaints with speed and precision.
These digital marketing campaigns tend to focus heavily on the “wow factor” of AI technology, but the reality often falls short. Guests have reported frustration when the chatbots are unable to address nuanced requests or provide helpful recommendations, leading to a disjointed guest experience. When a brand markets an AI tool as a personal concierge, but the tool is incapable of meeting even basic customer needs, it undermines trust and damages the brand’s reputation. The failed marketing promises lead to a significant disconnect between what guests expect and what the technology can actually deliver.
What can we learn from this? Hospitality digital marketing should focus on showcasing the human side of the guest experience while using technology as a complement, not a substitute. For all the talk about the benefits of digital transformation, consumers still value personalized, human-driven interactions when it comes to service and satisfaction. Over-promising on technological solutions without the infrastructure to back it up is a surefire way to alienate potential customers.
4 Takeaways: Avoiding Digital Marketing Pitfalls in Hospitality
- Match Marketing with Reality: Whether it’s through apps, digital concierges, or influencer partnerships, the most important takeaway is the necessity of aligning marketing campaigns with the actual guest experience. If the technology or service doesn’t live up to the hype, the marketing will fall flat, and customer dissatisfaction will rise. The key is to only promise what the brand can truly deliver and ensure that the digital experience matches the real-world service.
- Authenticity in Influencer Marketing: While influencer marketing can be effective, hospitality brands must take a more thoughtful approach. Focus on collaborating with influencers who genuinely align with the brand’s identity and whose followers mirror the target customer demographic. Authenticity should always come before reach, as this builds long-term trust and credibility.
- Embrace Simplicity: Digital marketing campaigns should embrace the simplicity of the guest experience. While innovation is important, it should not come at the cost of usability. When promoting new tech-driven services, like apps or digital tools, the focus should be on ease of use and practicality rather than on the sheer complexity of the technology.
- Set Realistic Expectations: Whether marketing new features, such as AI-driven chatbots, or launching a new app, it’s crucial to manage expectations. Over-promising and under-delivering can lead to frustration and backlash. Marketing campaigns should set realistic, attainable expectations that reflect the actual capabilities of the service.
The hospitality industry, like any other, must adapt to the growing influence of digital marketing. But as many high-tech campaigns have shown, simply having the latest tools or leveraging trendy digital marketing techniques is no guarantee of success. Brands that fail to meet customer expectations—whether through poorly executed apps, inauthentic influencer partnerships, or misguided reliance on digital solutions—run the risk of alienating their audience.
For hospitality companies to thrive in the digital age, their marketing strategies must be thoughtful, authentic, and aligned with the true needs and desires of their target market. In doing so, they will be better positioned to offer not just innovative digital solutions, but meaningful, memorable guest experiences that ultimately drive loyalty and success.
