By: Colleen Howell
Marriott recently ended its 34-year partnership with Pepsi and switched to Coca-Cola, noting that Coca-Cola products are preferred by more than 70% of its guests. As a Values-Driven Marketing company, we were interested in whether this partnership was strategic from a Values perspective.
Using MRI-Simmons data, we first compared Coca-Cola loyalists—people who drink Coke but not Pepsi—with Pepsi loyalists—people who drink Pepsi but not Coke.
The initial result confirmed that Marriott made a good move: Coca-Cola loyalists were 19% more likely than average to have stayed at Marriott in the past 12 months, while Pepsi loyalists were 30% less likely.
Then we looked specifically at consumers who were both Coca-Cola loyalists and Marriott guests.
Achievement emerged as the strongest ValuesType within this shared audience. Achievement Types were 40% more likely than average to be both Coca-Cola loyalists and Marriott guests.
Always skeptical of spurious relationships, we proceeded to examine the finding within combined age and income segments to determine whether it was simply an artifact of demographics.
The Achievement relationship remained strong within households both below and above $100,000 and was broadly consistent across the combined age-and-income groups.
Our verdict: Marriott made a strategically smart move. Coca-Cola is not only the brand most of its guests prefer; it also attracts the Achievement-oriented consumers already drawn to Marriott. Both Marriott and Coca-Cola are highly recognizable brands with global reach and established reputations for success and category leadership—qualities that resonate deeply with Achievement-oriented consumers.
Contact us to get started on a values-driven strategy for your next campaign or learn more at valuesdrivenmarketing.com
Source: 2026 Spring MRI-Simmons USA, news.marriott.com, & reddit
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