Marriott’s Strategy for Its New Series Brand: Why It Started in India

Sure, Marriott had the scale, but it lacked a midscale brand in India — until now. With Fern and the launch of Series, it’s finally filling the gap and going all-in on India’s fastest-growing hotel segment.

When Marriott International introduced its newest global brand — Series by Marriott — it chose India as the launch market and took the unusual step of making an equity investment in its local partner, Mumbai-based Concept Hospitality.

Asked if this is the hotel company’s first equity investment in the Indian hotel sector, Rajeev Menon, president of Asia Pacific (excluding China) at Marriott International, said, “You could say that. Marriott will only invest for very strategic purposes. And we see this as a very unique opportunity.”

It’s a notable move for the hotel giant, which traditionally expands through franchise and management contracts and typically launches brands in Western markets.

“For the 24 years that I’ve been with Marriott, very rarely do we make investments,” said Menon. “So you can understand t