Not a Trip, but an Experience: How Major Brands Are Reshaping Customer Connection

On ADWEEK's Adspeak podcast, journalist Jenny Rooney brought together representatives from three major brands in hospitality, rail and tourism: Sheretha Bell, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Brand Strategy at the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau; Eliot Hamlisch, Chief Commercial Officer at Amtrak; and Brad Hiranaga, Global Senior Vice President of Brand and Design Experiences at Marriott International. One idea anchors the conversation: travelers' expectations are shifting, forcing brands to turn every point along the journey — not just the destination — into an experience.

At Amtrak, this strategy is playing out in an unexpected way: over the past two years the company has moved from being a plain transportation service toward becoming a hospitality brand, boosting ridership through initiatives such as an onboard dining menu created with celebrity chef Stephen Starr and a surprisingly bold social media strategy aimed at Gen Z. The city of Atlanta, meanwhile, is building personal connections with travelers through handwritten postcards as part of its 'World's Biggest Postcard' campaign — part of a strategy overseen by Bell, who brings 25 years of experience to the role.

Marriott, for its part, is turning its more than 10,000 hotels into a single unified experience through the Bonvoy loyalty ecosystem, spanning everything from a newly launched outdoor collection to wellness-focused services. Hiranaga notes that data gathered from the loyalty program, combined with design thinking, is unlocking new revenue streams for the company and deeper insight into consumer behavior.

The conversation also touched on personalization, first-party data (information a company collects directly from its own customers), and the growing influence of artificial intelligence and tools like ChatGPT on how travelers choose their trips. All three guests agreed on one point: the brands that win in the future will be those able to blend technology and data with creativity and genuine human connection.