6.4.2025
Cogwheel Analytics, a fast-growing business intelligence and hotel digital marketing reporting platform, is rapidly expanding its presence across enterprise hotel portfolios. As demand surges for solutions that drive measurable online performance, the company is strengthening its operational and strategic leadership to support this accelerated growth.
To help lead this next phase, Ben Golson has joined the company as Chief Operating Officer and Partner. Golson will be responsible for day-to-day operations, team development, and strategic execution as Cogwheel continues to scale. He will also play a key role in shaping the product roadmap and strategic partnerships to ensure continued innovation and relevance in the evolving digital hospitality landscape.
Cogwheel Analytics serves hotel management companies and ownership groups of both branded and independent hotels, offering an intuitive, highly actionable reporting platform. It aggregates data from multiple sources—such as websites, social media, OTAs, metasearch, and SEM—to identify trends and opportunities at both the portfolio and individual property levels. Its visual scorecard highlights performance gaps across the customer journey, functioning like a STAR report for digital marketing efforts. Unlike most tools in the industry, Cogwheel focuses on booked revenue rather than consumed, helping operators understand which digital activities actually drive conversions.
With one-click reporting and intuitive dashboards, Cogwheel empowers owners and operators to evaluate the impact of digital campaigns, distribution mix, and paid media strategies, delivering insights that directly support stronger performance and ROI.
Golson brings more than a decade of hospitality expertise, most recently serving as Vice President of Digital Marketing & eCommerce at McKibbon Hospitality, where he led performance marketing and revenue strategy across a portfolio of over 100 Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG properties. Under his leadership, McKibbon’s hotel website revenue grew from $56 million in 2012 to over $221 million in 2024, a CAGR of more than 12%. His efforts helped unify revenue and eCommerce teams and implement advanced BI tools to improve digital channel contribution and direct bookings.
“Ben’s track record in digital strategy, data-driven leadership, and cross-functional team integration makes him an ideal addition to our team at this critical juncture,” said Stephanie Smith, CEO of Cogwheel Analytics. “His experience will help accelerate our momentum as we continue to deliver smarter tools and greater value to our clients.”
Golson’s appointment comes at a time when more hotel companies are seeking unified, real-time performance insights. His industry involvement includes work with Marriott’s Digital Franchise Committee, Hilton’s MEC eCommerce Forum, Hyatt’s Commercial Incubator, and the HSMAI Marketing Advisory Board.