CLIENT CASE STUDY Courtyard by Marriott FOUR WINDS INTERACTIVE Client Case Study :: Courtyard by Marriott The Challenge The Solution With more than 1,000 locations spanning the globe, Courtyard by Marriott required their Visual Communications solution to be powerful, scalable and customizable. They wanted to be able to showcase a consistent mix of hotel and amenity information across all of their properties. In addition to those standardized features, Courtyard by Marriott wanted to feature location specific travel information, events, attractions and dining options in order to ensure that their guests got the most out of each stay. Considering the amount of information that Courtyard by Marriott sought to provide their guests, combined with the sheer amount of locations within their enterprise, a Visual Communications solution of the scope they required had never been attempted within the hospitality industry. Introduction FWI helped Courtyard by Marriott develop and launch the completely interactive GoBoard®—an innovative Visual Communications solution that gives guests access to relevant information in an intuitive way. Each GoBoard has a default welcome page that displays news feeds, sports scores, local weather forecasts and more. From that welcome screen, guests can navigate to four other pages that provide access to airline and travel information, local attractions, general hotel information and highlights from the Bistro, the hotel’s onsite dining venue. Each page has buttons that allow the user to get more detailed information about specific, flights, meals, events, and local attractions. In order to simplify the ongoing management of the GoBoard, Courtyard by Marriott chose to use FWI’s Program Management service. A dedicated team of Visual Communications experts at FWI handles all template, content and software updates as well as the proactive monitoring of each GoBoard. Courtyard by Marriott Uses Visual Communications to Improve the Guest Experience and build Brand Consistency 1,000 GoBoards deployed Internationally Nearly 6 Million Screen Interactions Annually The Program Spans 42 Countries In order to meet the evolving needs of their business travelers, Courtyard by Marriott underwent a brand transformation in 2007. They aimed to create new socially inviting spaces that were equal parts relaxing and functional. They also updated their onsite dining and in- room amenities. With the central focus of the project on their Courtyard Refreshing Business Lobby, the company wanted to infuse a fun style and flexibility into their lobby spaces that could be easily replicated across multiple locations. Courtyard by Marriott approached Four Winds Interactive (FWI) to create a focal point for those redesigned spaces. They were looking for a visually engaging digital experience that could help provide brand consistency, but their ideal solution needed to be intuitive and interactive. It also needed to be able to promote the other available onsite amenities.