With its year-round sunshine, white-sand beaches and record-breaking attractions, there is little doubt as to why Dubai continues to attract millions of tourists each year. Ranking as the No.1 global destination in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2022, Dubai’s accolades are a testimony to its resilient efforts in driving international tourism recovery, backed by the proactive strides undertaken by the government to position the emirate as a world-class leisure and business hub.
As Dubai becomes increasingly popular among holidaymakers, digital nomads and business travellers, Dubai International (DXB) has significantly grown as the gateway to the city for global travellers and UAE residents.
Dubai International (DXB): the value proposal for brands
Delivering a specific environment and context, the airport is a place where people are positive, excited and receptive, and consider advertising as an integral part of their journey. According to a study conducted by Researchbods in October 2021, travellers agreed that the airport environment transferred the highest perceived value of trust and prestige onto brands as compared with any other media. In another study, conducted by JCDecaux, 85 per cent of airport passengers claim to be more attentive to the airport environment and 78 per cent pay more attention to advertising screens compared with pre-Covid levels, making the airport an impactful touchpoint for brands to communicate with their audiences.
Benefiting from a strategic location, with more than two thirds of the world’s population within eight hours by flight, DXB continues to be the world’s busiest airport by international passenger numbers for the eighth consecutive year. Dubai International realised an unparallel recovery post-pandemic, which was highlighted by Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, when he said: “Travel is an amazingly aspirational commodity for people at the moment and we’re seeing that exponential growth, particularly in people coming to and from Dubai.”
In this context, DXB offers an outstanding opportunity for advertisers to associate their brands with Dubai’s attractiveness and connect with their audiences, delivering an immersive brand experience through premium communication platforms.
DXB Arrivals: gateway to the city
DXB Arrivals is a strategic touchpoint for brands and retailers looking to connect with affluent audiences arriving in the city, be they residents or tourists. An uncluttered environment and a captive audience in a positive mindset are key advantages for advertisers, who can leverage different types of media solutions to achieve their communication objectives, build brand equity or drive audiences to their flagship stores in the city.
With Dubai being recognised as a hub for creativity and innovation, advertisers are looking at DXB as a distinctive platform for unique experiences designed to turn airport passengers into engaged consumers. A recent campaign by adidas, where the brand unveiled a running track in the arrival corridors of Terminal 3, provided an engaging experience for visitors, encouraging travellers to opt to walk along the racetrack instead of using the travellators, rewarding those who follow the track with complimentary sneaker customisation at the adidas flagship store located in The Dubai Mall.
Communicating at DXB Arrivals gives a brand the opportunity to leverage on the high-dwell-time areas such as Immigration and Baggage Claim. Taking the brands’ digital campaigns to the next level, our digital media is equipped with dynamic content capabilities, allowing brands to customise their artwork with targeted messages, helping marketers build contextually relevant campaigns that are proven to be 17 per cent more effective (The Moments of Truth Study by Clear Channel & Posterscope, Mar 2020). Malabar Gold & Diamond’s recent campaign used dynamic content solutions to welcome international passengers arriving in Dubai, a global jewellery shopping destination, in their respective languages, thereby creating deeper engagement with their audiences, while they waited for their baggage at Terminal 3 DXB.
Airports, a place to surprise
Airports have always been considered as a place to surprise and create a lasting impression through iconic displays and experiential concepts. Undoubtedly, one of DXB’s most iconic media opportunities in arrivals is The Wave, a gigantic 87-sqm curved screen delivering an immersive brand experience to passengers as they exit the airport. It is the perfect platform for brands to make a bold statement at the last touchpoint before passengers enter the city, and luxury brands often leverage on this awe-inspiring digital media to drive audiences to their flagship stores in the city.
Brands can leverage on the Creative Heatmap tool, a unique offering by JCDecaux as part of JCDecaux Data Solutions, a portfolio of solutions designed to help advertisers achieve their marketing objectives at every step of the campaign. Using artificial intelligence to estimate the performance of a campaign by understanding which parts of the advertising visual the audience will focus on, Creative Heatmap helps advertisers establish whether the key branding or executional elements are likely to draw attention, and optimise their visuals to align with the environments they’re present in.
To conclude, with Dubai’s positioning as a desirable city to live, visit and conduct business in, more and more people are flocking here, making DXB, the gateway to the city, an incomparable platform for brands to communicate with a strategic and valuable audience in an aesthetically preserved environment.
