Marriott Hotels is inviting New York residents to visit an installation featuring an inverted replica of a guest room, snap photos of themselves in the simulation and upload the images to social media via the #MGravityRoom hashtag.

The hospitality chain is coupling its latest mobile marketing efforts with an in-person experience in the Greatroom of the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, enabling guests to take photos in the flipped design and make it seem as though they are walking on the ceiling. By encouraging visitors to upload these images onto social media via the #MGravityRoom hashtag, Marriott will be able to garner more organic promotion for its modernized guest room designs.

?#MGravityRoom was created to drive excitement around Marriott Hotels? property transformation by creating a unique, highly visual representation of the new Marriott Hotels modern guest room,? said Matthew Carroll, vice president of global brand management at Marriott. ?In the midst of a brand transformation, we want to provide our guests with more forward-thinking experiences and aesthetically inspiring spaces that speak their inventive nature and help to spark some of their best-thinking.

?The activation showcases the new guest room design that meets the physical and digital needs of the modern traveler by offering flexibility, mobility, and technology-enabled work surfaces,? he said.

?For those travelers unfamiliar with the Marriott Hotels modern décor and aesthetics, we wanted to be able to share the new look and modern feel of our guest rooms with everyone through social and digital media.?

Going upside down
Marriott?s #MGravityRoom will be open to the public from September 21 to October 6. Consumers can visit the installation, located in the Greatroom of the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, to snap photos of themselves interacting with the inverted replica of a hotel room.

The installation includes a desk, television set and closet, which offer the impression of floating on the walls and ceiling. An instructional sheet on the desk will inform visitors of how to position themselves to capture a snapshot indicating that they are walking on the ceiling of a hotel room.

When the photo is rotated by 90 degrees, it will appear as though the individual is floating in space.

Marriott is encouraging consumers to upload their personal photos and experiences within the installation onto Twitter, Instagram and Facebook via the #MGravityRoom hashtag.

This provides the installation with the potential to go viral, particularly if consumers get creative in their photos.

Marriott Hotels collaborated with its various design teams, such as the Marriott I + A Design Studio, Mosaic Tile Company and Brookline Furniture, to bring the modernized room replica to life.

Forthcoming innovations
The hotel chain is gearing up to roll out its M Beta at the Charlotte Marriott City Center, which will act as a live beta hotel where customers are encouraged to test out new products and services and offer feedback in real-time.

The rollout of Marriott?s real-time command center, M Live, has enabled the hotel chain to further optimize its presence on mobile and discover the importance of connecting with consumers during their travels, a strategy that has yielded 82 percent engagement with the brand?s social accounts (see story).

The brand also continues to make improvements and expansions to its guest-facing mobile offerings.

Marriott International is currently promoting its in-application Mobile Request feature ? which enables users to message with staff members in real-time ? by letting tailgaters at select football games this fall Tweet their requests to the brand?s official account to have them fulfilled on-site (see story).

However, leveraging an art installation alongside a social media hashtag will enable Marriott to bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds in a new way.

?We were looking for alternative and exciting ways to help showcase the brand?s evolution beyond just photos and that is how the #MGravityRoom idea came to life; what better way to help showcase the brands upgraded spaces, than a physical play on the real thing,? Mr. Carroll said.

?Due to the shareability and physicality of the #MGravityRoom, it allows guests and visitors to drive conversation of the unexpected, up-side-down representation of the new Marriott Hotels? guest room. We?re increasingly finding that guests and visitors crave creative spaces and experiences that inspire, which is exactly what #MGravityRoom provides.?