Inc.

Peggy Roe is Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer of Marriott International, Inc. where she oversees development and execution of all aspects of Marriott’s global consumer strategy. In this role, she is focused on maximizing customer engagement with Marriott’s 30+ leading brands spanning 139 countries and territories and award-winning Marriott Bonvoy® loyalty program, bringing together the global brand, marketing, and design strategies, along with data, insights, and personalization to enhance the customer experience.

Since joining Marriott in 2003, Ms. Roe has held various leadership roles focused on growth and innovation. In her prior role as Global Officer, Customer Experience, Loyalty, and New Ventures, she was focused on increasing member enrollment and engagement with the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio of travel offerings, including new businesses such as Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, and Marriott Boutiques, an online retail store.

Following is the conversation we had with Roe.

Could you provide an overview of your role and responsibilities within the company?

As Chief Customer Officer, I am responsible for how we create love and money, meaning the best brands and experiences and the most loyal guests that translate into greater share of wallet. For us, this includes building our powerful Marriott Bonvoy ecosystem of more than 30 brands, incredible travel experiences, an award-winning loyalty program, and how we bring together data, marketing, partnerships, and design strategies to enhance the end-to-end customer experience and create more value for customers and hotel owners. All this while utilizing CX design and innovation to drive outsized growth in the future.

“I believe the opportunity lies in having a deep understanding of the way your customers think and aligning your marketing goals with the growth drivers and priorities of your stakeholders..”

What are some of the challenges that CCOs need to address in the domain of digital marketing and technology, ranging from recovery to resilience and reinvention?

Marketing is all about reaching and connecting with customers at the right time and with the right message, but it is becoming both easier and tougher to achieve this simultaneously. Customers today are constantly connected through multiple devices, and we need to meet them where they are.

Breaking through in a way that is meaningful, authentic and captures their full attention can also be a challenge. Today, upper and lower funnel efforts can be combined to drive direct results, but a thoughtful approach to marketing transformation is needed. As data, technology and regulation evolve, marketing capabilities evolve with it, and all of this can be very distracting. I believe the opportunity lies in having a deep understanding of the way your customers think and aligning your marketing goals with the growth drivers and priorities of your stakeholders.

In the last 10 years, the rapid growth of marketing technology suppliers has brought exciting new ways to connect with customers and grow brands. While some businesses thrive in this new context, others struggle to see the value in technology. Your views on this?

I have no doubt that marketing technology can help companies drive better performance, especially in improving measurement, targeting and more personalized customer experiences. The hard part is cutting through the clutter to find the talent, the technology, and the partners to best execute against your business objectives, and rethinking the way work gets done internally.

Would you like to give a piece of advice for the community as to how should they approach this industry?

I have two pieces of advice to offer. The first is to listen. While technology and regulation may evolve, the key to great marketing is listening to your customers so you can recognize and solve their needs. That will never change. Be open to customer feedback and use those insights to evolve your existing strategy.

The second is to understand the customer journey and how you can make that journey more seamless. As you’re thinking about your data and MarTech strategy, spend time trying to get inside the minds of your customers, understand their wants and needs, and how you want to make them feel. The most important question to ask yourself is what you want to achieve, not what technology you want to deploy. Let that guide your use case development, your KPIs, and then your data and tech requirements.