Dubai: Eithad Airways has signed a partnership deal with Facebook on Tuesday for its tailor-made marketing campaigns and extend its online reach across wider target audiences.
“The airline’s video campaign, targeting Indian expats in the UAE to fly their families to Abu Dhabi for Diwali in October last year, resulted in 700 bookings in 10 days,” said Liz Selby, Eithad Airways’ head of social media.
The campaign resulted in a 51 times the return on investment, she said, and added that it reached more than half a million expatriate Indian nationals in UAE with personalised messages.
In the last two years, she said that Etihad has been building brand awareness and sharing stories online.
“We are targeting expats with the right place and the right message with the right context. We are very much focused on market share and commercial returns,” she said.
Etihad has been working with Facebook for the past one year and now have signed a formal deal.
Andrew Ward, vie-president of marketing at Etihad Airways, said that the initial amplification comes through social channels and Facebook leads in terms of reviews we are getting. It compliments and enhances the traditional media.
“We have invested heavily in social media and will continue in the future. Etihad’s social media department has grown from zero to 22 in 18 months. The investment on social media platform is already reaping harvest,” he said.
Terry Kane, head of travel, auto, telco and financial services at Facebook Middle East and North Africa, said that they [ Etihad] have a centralised team and “we will be providing the training, technology integration and campaign support. We will help Etihad find exactly the audience they want to talk to, and in the markets they want to target.”
Selby said that people expect communication to be personal, relevant and mobile. With Facebook’s Expat Targeting, “we were able to speak to a highly relevant audience and deliver them something that was truly valuable and in real time.”
Jonathan Labin, head of Facebook Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, said that people use Facebook for 40 minutes a day globally and accessing 14 times a day on mobile phones. In the Mena, it is much more than that. In Egypt and Saudi Arabia, 60 minutes a day.
The airline has signed Nicole Kidman as the brand ambassador on March 14 as part of its brand building exercise.
Ward did not disclose the value of the deal but said the deal isn’t just a commercial deal but provides value to travellers.
Labin said that both the companies are 11 years old and Etihad has a multitude of dynamic services that need to be communicated to the right people and at the right time.
