Petal Ads to demonstrate its diverse targeting capabilities at Arabian Travel Market 2023

Petal Ads, an advertising platform by Huawei, is participating in the 30th edition of Arabian Travel Market.

The leading global event for the inbound and outbound travel industry in the Middle East will take place in Dubai from May 1-4, 2023.

Huawei’s team of experts will demonstrate the capabilities of Petal Ads, particularly in effectively targeting the rapidly growing outbound travel markets of China and Russia.

As China has reopened its borders after three years, Chinese travellers are returning to their favourite destinations.

This year, Chinese outbound travel is predicted to recover approximately two-thirds of 2019 levels, with around 110 million border crossings.

In 2024, 170 to 180 million border crossings from mainland China are anticipated, surpassing the 2019 benchmark.

China’s smartphone usage is also on the rise. In 2022, the number of users surpassed one billion, and smartphones have become a vital component for communication, entertainment, commerce and travel.

People use their smartphones to discover travel destinations, book accommodation and transportation, and plan activities prior to departure, as well as for navigation, language translation, and obtaining information about local attractions while traveling.

Additionally, Connected TV has become a rising trend in China, with an All-Scenario Ad Display on Huawei Vision offering an Innovative 3D, Stunning Visual Impact and an Omni-Channel covering.

China plans to leverage Connected TV Advertising and Over-the-Top inventory to generate significant impressions in local markets and boost audience awareness.

Marketers can benefit from tremendous traffic through both CTV and OTT channels, each of which has unique advantages. While mobile apps bring far-reaching brand-awareness effects due to mandatory ad views, CTV consumption is far more message-oriented. Also, with targeting and privacy, Marketers can feel sure that their ad spendings on targeting will deliver excellent dividends to them.

Furthermore, according to the Association of Tour Operators in Russia, the country’s outgoing tourism increased by 10 per cent in 2022, with at least 23.5 million Russians travelling abroad.

The UAE was one of the most popular destinations, with about one million visitors and a 60 per cent rise year-over-year, while Qatar welcomed 55 per cent more Russian travellers in 2022 than in 2021.

Solutions that can precisely target smartphone users are key for the travel industry. However, programmatic advertising in countries like China and Russia can be challenging due to cultural differences that can significantly impact its effectiveness. Therefore, a deep understanding of local culture in order to deliver relevant advertising messages to users is a must.

Huawei’s Petal Ads

Huawei’s Petal Ads can overcome cultural barriers and establish meaningful connections with Chinese and Russian users thanks to the company’s strong presence in both countries.

Visitors of the Arabian Travel Market, businesses and executives in the travel industry, as well as marketers, will have the unique opportunity to experience Petal Ads’ sophisticated targeting capabilities firsthand, designed to unlock business potential.

Petal Ads provides access to a data management platform (DMP) that allows marketers to gain insights on specific audiences based on various indicators, including travel intent indicators such as the following:

Basic tags: The first type is demographic attributes, which include gender, age, location, and visitor status. This information can be helpful in determining who the target audience is and how they interact with the product or service being offered. The second type of tags are advanced attributes, such as academic degree, occupation, and income. This information can provide a deeper understanding of the audience’s background and financial situation, which can inform marketing and advertising strategies.

Behavioural tags are another important type of data, including frequently used apps such as tourism, hotel, and other travel-related apps, as well as searches for hotel-, business trip-, and travel-related words. This information can reveal the interests and behaviours of the target audience, as well as provide insights into what types of content they are searching for.

Scenario-based tags can be used to gain insights into user behaviour in specific situations. In this case, the scenarios being tracked are home, work, business trip, and travel. Additionally, tags can be created to track specific operations on phones, such as unlocking the device, opening apps, and powering on and off. Finally, dynamic location can be tracked, including movement trajectory and geographical location.

By tracking these scenario-based tags, it is possible to gain insights into how users behave in different contexts, which can inform product design and development, as well as marketing and advertising strategies. For example, by understanding how users behave during business trips, it may be possible to develop new products or services that cater specifically to the needs of this audience.

Custom tags can be created to track specific groups or behaviours, such as industry-specific custom audiences, high-spending users, users who have traveled abroad in the past year, recent tourists, travel photography fans, and travel bloggers. These tags can be particularly helpful in tailoring marketing and advertising strategies to specific groups, as well as gaining insights into niche interests and behaviours.

By analysing these indicators, as well as numerous additional data points, Petal Ads’ DMP can assist advertisers in effectively targeting audiences who are likely to be interested in travel-related products and services, and to use this information to inform marketing and advertising strategies.

Targeting niche audiences is one of the platform’s biggest strengths. Since the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has placed an emphasis on medical tourism via the prestigious Dubai Health Experience (DXH) brand, the medical tourism audience is an excellent example. In this context, Petal Ads’ DMP can use a variety of data sources and targeting criteria, including:

Demographic data: Petal Ads can collect and analyse data regarding the age, gender, income, and level of education of individuals who have expressed an interest in medical tourism.
Behavioural data: Petal Ads can track the online behaviour of people who have searched for medical tourism-related keywords, visited medical tourism websites, or engaged with a medical tourism content app.
Contextual data: Petal Ads can target people who are browsing websites or consuming content related to health and wellness, travel or luxury lifestyle.

Based on these data points, Petal Ads’ DMP can create audience segments that are most likely to be interested in medical tourism, and then target them with relevant ads on different platforms, such as Huawei-owned and operated media, apps, search engines, or display networks.

Targeting medical tourism audiences requires careful consideration of regulatory compliance and ethical concerns, as well as an understanding of the unique needs and preferences of the target audience. Petal Ads combines personalisation and privacy, ensuring that users’ personal information is always protected and processed in an appropriate manner.

William Hu, managing director of Huawei Consumer Business Group, – Middle East and Africa Eco Development and Operation, said: “Petal Ads is constantly updating its features to meet the requirements of various markets, enabling businesses to connect with customers across the globe in a more efficient manner through the use of advanced targeting. Our ads reach users at any time and anywhere, creating a smarter and more engaging era for mobile advertising. We will continue to utilise the latest advancements in AI, machine learning, and big data to expand our platform.”

In addition to the unique advantages for the travel sector, Huawei will showcase the most recent developments of its pioneering, results-driven programmatic advertising platform, which revolutionises the way campaigns are planned.

Petal Ads expands beyond Huawei devices to include personalised ads not only just on smartphones, but also on the connected devices which include tablets, Smart TVs and other IOT products (TBD), to Cover Users’ Life All Day to Facilitate Huawei Brand Penetration into the advertiser’s Journey.