Tricia Primrose 

Chief Global Communications & Public Affairs Officer
Marriott 
US

 

 

In 2015, Marriott International named outsider Tricia Primrose to its top communications and public affairs post. Later that year, it announced its intention to purchase Starwood Hotels, which would make it the largest hotel company, with more than 5,700 properties, but that communications challenge was nothing compared to 2020, with the entire travel industry in turmoil as a result of the global pandemic. Marriott earned high marks, however, for CEO Arne Sorenson's use of YouTube to convey authentic and honest messages to internal and external stakeholders.

Primrose is responsible for corporate relations, government affairs, corporate communications planning and operations, corporate social responsibility, and sharing accountability for corporate culture — the latter a major priority last year, as the merger of the two giant hotel chains was concluded.

She joined the company from Rational 360, a communications firm where she had been a partner since 2013, providing counsel and communications support for C-suite executives at large multinational companies. Before this, she ran her own PR firm — Impression Partners — which she later merged with Rational 360. Earlier, she had been EVP of global communications and public affairs at AOL (where she handled $2.5 billion in mergers and acquisitions) and an executive vice president at Robinson Lerer & Montgomery.