Data-driven strategies are crucial for creating targeted marketing campaigns that achieve maximum impact. By using in-depth data analysis, marketers can gain better insights to enhance their understanding of audience behaviours, preferences and their overarching values. This approach ensures that campaigns are not just creative, but also strategically targeted, increasing audience engagement and improving the likelihood of achieving the desired results.

‍

‍

David Meany and Phil Robinson from Bloomberg Media, known for their business and finance coverage, are emerging as an influential platform for DMOs to reach affluent travellers. 70% of Bloomberg's audience have a net worth of over $1 million, with 68% spending an average of $10,000 per trip. They are increasingly sustainably minded and seek brands and experiences that align with this value. Showcasing exclusivity and undiscovered destinations is a key allure for selecting travel destinations with a higher openness for travel during shoulder seasons.

‍

Bloomberg’s 360-degree luxury lifestyle section, "Pursuits", covers a range of topics, with a dedicated travel page focused on hotels and restaurants to destinations, cruises and conscious tourism. Their approach to content creation is rooted in data and insights, using various sources to understand the desires of affluent travellers:

1. Bloomberg Intelligence: In-depth reports for investors.
2. Bloomberg Industry Accelerator: Bespoke research to understand the mindsets of affluent travellers and how they rate brands.
3. Bloomberg Brand Accelerator: Insights into how elite business audiences perceive brands, using around 40 image statements to determine strengths and weaknesses.
4. Bloomberg AIQ: A data science platform that provides a deep understanding of the content and formats audiences engage with.
5. Impact Accelerator: Takeaways from past measurement studies to understand which forms of media and platforms lead to successful outcomes.

The "Most Amazing" Campaign

‍

Developed in partnership with the Saudi Tourism Authority, "The Most Amazing" campaign, aimed to overcome legacy perceptions and showcase the country’s culture, natural beauty and diversity to promote Saudi Arabia as a premium holiday destination. In line with Saudi Arabia's ambitious 2030 Vision to attract 150 million visits and a 10% contribution of tourism to GDP, inspiring marketing is crucial to support the achievement of these goals, alongside the attraction of major events such as the 2034 FIFA World Cup.

‍

From the defined target audience that was identified from Bloomberg's Global Traveller's Outlook, a global study of affluent travellers globally, research unveiled elevated interested and high engagement across five content areas:

1. Gastronomy: Audiences are almost two times more likely to engage than the average Bloomberg user (1.89x)
2. Culture: particularly female leadership (1.57x) and gastronomy (1.5x).
3. Sports: especially virtual reality (6.04x) and entertainment (3.21x).
4. Nature: with a focus on the environment (4.70x) and hydropower (3.33x).
5. Art: with a focus on construction (1.66x) and future innovation (1.56x).

Understanding affluent travellers media consumption habits, 65% access content through their smartphone with 3.6 times more engagement on video content. In contrast to the typical Bloomberg user who accesses the site for news content through organic search, affluent travellers are 2.31 times more likely to be referred through social media.

‍

As a social-first initiative, twelve 30-second videos used local voices to highlight the role of travel on people’s lives and showcased Saudi Arabia's unique offer, including its UNESCO heritage sites, coastlines and coral reefs. Content was created specifically for different traveller groups, such as adventure travellers and those seeking wellness or digital detoxes, with each video having a specific theme and placing the spotlight on a different region in Saudi Arabia. These were added to Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg OTT. They were also optimised for mobile, with 15-second cut-downs for social media.

‍

‍

Measurement and Results

‍

Campaign performance was closely monitored, with brand uplift surveys tracking key success metrics related to familiarity, consideration, preference and likelihood to visit of exposed video users. Quarterly reviews enabled data-driven adjustments based on campaign performance across different regions and engagement levels from different audiences. Following the conclusion of the campaign, an in-depth effectiveness study identified extremely positive results in boosting the awareness and interest of Saudi Arabia as a destination of choice:

1. A 260% and 200% increase in the perception that Saudi Arabia is a safe destination for female travellers among women and men respectively
2. A 155% increase in favourable opinions of Saudi Arabia
3. A 187% increase in consideration of Saudi Arabia as a holiday destination

A long-term approach is central to positioning Saudi Arabia as an attractive destination for high net worth individuals. While one-off campaigns are appropriate for well established destinations to attract specific audiences, emerging destinations require a more rounded approach. Following the successful increase in awareness and shifting perceptions, the next phase of the campaign will focus on driving conversions. This includes a multi-channel approach, with print playing a more prominent role in directing travellers to the region.