.jpg)
Fastest, smartest, luckiest – those are the three wordsHotelsCombined is using in its television commercials in the Middle East to tell consumers that if you use their site to search for hotels, you’re one of those three.
The three commercials, done in English and Arabic, uses humour to put a friendly consumer face to the Australia-based hotel comparison site as it rolls out globally and with particular focus on the Middle East and Asia. Hotelscombined is available in 41 languages. (See links to videos below)
Running the business in the Middle East is Amer AlHalabi (left) who told WIT that as the regional manager for MENA, his responsibilities are to expand the affiliate programme as well as undertake local marketing activities to build the brand.
“We try to localize as much as possible in SEO and content marketing,” he said. “We have also partnered with Gulf News and we power their hotel site.”
The three TV commercials were launched last October and Amer said the results have been mixed.
“When we first looked at launching the TV campaign, we reviewed many agencies and it has proven hard to find an agency that fits our performance model. Most were traditional brand agencies who had not catered to the needs of a web company before.
“It has not been easy but we assume that being the first online travel brand to do TV in the MENA region, means that we have to go through the steepest learning curve as we continue to test the viability of it.
“Our aim is to build a consumer brand that people can trust to help search and compare hotels across OTAs and hotel brands”
HotelsCombined was also the first hotel comparison site to launch a mobile app in the Middle East two years ago. “This is an amazing mobile market, we’re seeing higher conversions on mobile now due to our app’s ease of use.” Available in both Android on iOS platforms, the app has seen over 300k downloads in MENA.
According to a recent study conducted by Google, mobile usage has significantly increased in popularity throughout the Middle East, with the UAE posting the highest penetration in the region at 74%.
The study also showed that consumers are becoming increasingly reliant upon their mobile devices, with 56% of those surveyed stating that they never leave home without their device and that they access the Internet with it daily. Even the government and public sectors are trying to capitalize on this trend, with the Dubai government recently introducing its services for mobile users around the clock.
When it comes to e-commerce, 60% of UAE mobile users searched for products and services daily. Of this group, 49% sought travel-related information with 38% having made a purchase or booking. Mobile app usage is now ubiquitous, with 23 apps downloaded on average per month per user. In the KSA, smart phone penetration is only slightly lower at 73% but consumers here seem to have a stronger appetite for travel with 52% searching for related content.
“Mobile has clearly created a new business opportunity in hotel booking and it’s an ideal channel through which to sell rooms that otherwise would remain unoccupied. Mobile devices are an essential medium to engage customers on the move.”
• Amer AlHalabi will be speaking at WIT Middle East – Early Bird rate to the event runs out Feb 14.
• See the trilogy of HotelsCombined commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAGyfcwGwDw
