Marriott launches its own media retail network

Marriott International is launching a retail media network to give advertisers access to the hotel chain’s guests. Ad buyers will be able to use anonymized data to target customers using the company’s app, websites and, eventually, guestroom TVs.

These retail media networks are growing in popularity with both advertisers in need of more data and businesses looking for more income. Marriott’s network will get a test run in the U.S. and Canada in the next two weeks. It is working with Yahoo as a tech partner. Yahoo will match anonymized customer data with advertisers’ data. Advertisers will shop for ad inventory using Yahoo’s portal and sales team.

Read next: Best Buy announces in-house ad network Best Buy Ads

Walmart is the largest company with a media network that sells ad space and restricted access to their customer data. DoorDash, Kroger Co., Best Buy and CVS Health Corp. are among the other companies also active in the area.

Why we care. The need for data caused by the end of third-party cookies is spurring innovation. Specialized networks like Marriott’s give marketers access to substantial demographic data to target a particular audience. And, it can do it while protecting consumer privacy.

About The Author

Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.