00:00Maybe AI is the great equalizer when it comes to creativity.
00:03That the lack of resources that people may have or capabilities they may have at their fingertips
00:07is now equalized for any creator in the world.
00:14In a world that increasingly is digital, increasingly may be devoid of human interaction,
00:19maybe even causing some confusion of if you're talking to a human or an AI agent of some sort,
00:24the perfect antidote is in-person experiences.
00:27This idea that you take your family, friends, loved ones, and go somewhere to have a great dinner together,
00:32to have that moment on the beach, to stay in a great hotel.
00:35I'm really encouraged by the live experience business, both as a marketer and as a hotelier,
00:39making sure that we can deliver that experience for our guests and our customers.
00:42Not surprisingly, as somebody who works at Hilton, I'm a big believer in the power of human connectivity.
00:47That what you do online might be functional and transactional,
00:49and often is a way to accelerate the work and creative process.
00:53But big ideas come from human interactions, come from a moment over a coffee
00:56where you have that spark of creativity and inspiration,
00:59that moment where you're riffing together and building on each other's ideas.
01:02And so being here at Cannes reminds me that while the world might go more digital,
01:05and certainly there's no avoiding that, and we're embracing that as an enabler of our business,
01:10nothing replaces the ability to come together, to share ideas, to break bread,
01:13get to know each other as humans, and ultimately have that breakthrough creative idea.
01:17At Hilton, our goal is to serve every customer for every travel, budget, need, and occasion.
01:22Particularly our 218 million Hilton Hunters members.
01:24We want them to have ways to dream and as many ways as possible to stay.
01:29Now we have 20 some odd great brands, but we went up to 24 last year
01:33by acquiring two new brands, something we haven't done in a long time.
01:36Graduate by Hilton, which puts great colleges, universities front and center.
01:40They're themed around the college.
01:41There's nothing more transformational than the four years you spend at your university.
01:44Whether you recall your years as a student or go back for alumni events,
01:48being on college campuses gives us access to a new set of customers, which has been lovely.
01:52Second of all, we brought in Nomad.
01:53This idea that luxury lifestyle is a huge opportunity to have quirky,
01:57intimate experiences in the heart of a city, starting with London.
02:00We also partnered with two brands to create even more expanded ways to dream.
02:04We added 400 luxury hotels with small luxury hotels in the world,
02:07making sure that our honors members can earn and redeem their points
02:10at now 1,000 properties across luxury and lifestyle at Hilton.
02:12And our last part, which I think is a great addition to the portfolio.
02:16During the pandemic, folks really embraced the outdoors, and we saw this trend emerge.
02:20Hotels are not always in national parks and in places where customers want to go.
02:24And so by partnering with AutoCamp, which has an exclusive partnership in the U.S. with Airstream,
02:29to have nine great locations where you stay in an Airstream, but it's filled with great design,
02:34a campfire outside of your room allows you to think about all the great ways you can dream and stay.
02:38Now for us, this has meant unlocking some new great experiences for our customers
02:42and for our marketing teams learning new ways to tell our story.
02:46To create new marketing, to learn from these brands, to bring some of the efficiencies and scale of our business,
02:51some of the handcraftedness and nuance of these other segments that we didn't know quite as well
02:54now makes for a stronger system now across 8600 hotels around the world.
02:58The best brands are the ones that connect in culturally relevant moments,
03:02that find culture and community and find what I like to call tribes of people who have common affinities and preferences
03:07and show that we're the brand for them.
03:10Now oftentimes the choice in front of us is to find people who have rabid fan bases,
03:14but not a lot of scale, maybe 10,000, 20,000 followers.
03:17We're partnering with celebrities that have amazing scale, but not an authentic connection to our brand.
03:22We're very lucky. We have a cheat code.
03:24Within our midst is Paris Hilton.
03:26Literally her great-grandfather founded the company.
03:29Her grandfather, Baron, was our CEO and her personal business mentor.
03:32And so bringing Paris back in to tell her authentic story about staying at Hilton throughout her life,
03:37what it meant as a kid sneaking out of the Waldorf Astoria in the middle of New York City or in London at the Park Lane,
03:42or now as a mom and a philanthropist and a businesswoman using it to be a springboard for her success,
03:47it all comes down to that great stay.
03:49And again, there's nothing better than having the person whose name is in our name,
03:52because it's her name, be our spokesperson for all the great ways you can stay across Hilton.
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