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  • May 2020 (Revised October 2020)
  • Teaching Note
  • HBS Case Collection

The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

By: Jill Avery and Chekitan S. Dev
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:21
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Abstract

In September 2016, Marriott completed its $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which added 11 brands to its already robust 19 hotel brand portfolio. Tina Edmundson, Marriott’s global brand officer, was charged with making sense of the brand portfolio and designing a strategy that would clearly differentiate each brand from the others, and a brand architecture system to communicate to consumers how to navigate among them. She would need to decide whether and how to prune brands from the portfolio, whether and how to combine brands through dual-branding and or sub-branding strategies, and whether, where, and how to use the Marriott parent brand to endorse the remaining brands.

Keywords

Branding; Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brand Architecture; Hospitality Industry; Mergers & Acquisitions; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Travel Industry; Accommodations Industry; United States

Citation

Avery, Jill, and Chekitan S. Dev. "The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 520-112, May 2020. (Revised October 2020.)
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About The Author

Jill J. Avery

Marketing
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Related Work

    • May 2020 (Revised October 2020)
    • Faculty Research

    The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

    By: Jill Avery and Chekitan S. Dev
Related Work
  • The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture By: Jill Avery and Chekitan S. Dev
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