Social media gaming – a recipe for employer brand success

Purpose – As part of an ongoing employer brand initiative, Evviva Brands developed My Marriott Hotel, a culinary social media game, for Marriott International that launched on Facebook in June 2011. This article seeks to focus on this initiative. Design/methodology/approach – Global research insights identified social media and gaming as primary in‐home activities and a path for repositioning the Marriott brand with internal and external target audiences. Focus groups, interviews and ethnographic observations led to key game‐play and design components that would ensure the game delivered operations realities as well as entertainment value. Findings – The game was designed as a tool for reaching employment candidates in countries like China and India where the service industry is growing but hospitality is not a highly sought career. By managing a virtual hotel kitchen including staff, supplies and ingredients, players are given insights into the world of hospitality and a culinary career at Marriott. Practical implications – By relying on target audience insights to build a business case, the project received support from key executive leaders throughout the process and their involvement generated over $500,000 in media exposure during the first few weeks of game launch. Originality/value – As first to market with a hospitality simulation game, numerous observations can be made about the processes that lead to successful game development and global deployment on Facebook's API.