Japan Airlines Reaches Travelers around the Globe with Targeted Digital Ads

Omotenashi is the Japanese word for hospitality, and the concept guides the meticulous customer service mindset at JAL. For everyone from sales representatives to ground crews and flight attendants, the goal is to bring a personal touch to every interaction.

JAL wanted to bring its same standard of omotenashi to its digital advertising. As people plan and compare prices online, digital advertising can have a powerful influence on their choice of airline. It has the potential to provide critical information and create experiences that set the tone for every interaction between an airline and its customers—so it’s important to get it right. For companies that successfully integrate targeted ads into their overall Customer Experience Management (CXM) strategies, the sky’s the limit.

Japan Airlines (JAL) is an airline using sophisticated digital advertising to take off in new markets around the world. The timing is perfect, with more people in North America and the Asia-Pacific region wanting to travel to Japan. JAL is seizing the opportunity with Adobe Advertising Cloud DSP, becoming a leader in using the demand-side platform (DSP) technology to deliver more targeted advertising to travelers.

“JAL works hard to create tailored experiences for passengers during flights,” says Mr. Akira Mitsumasu, VP of Global Marketing at JAL. “Adobe Advertising Cloud DSP helps us bring personalized experiences into the digital realm, reaching travelers across Asia Pacific through more targeted and relevant communication.”

Streamlining digital advertising campaigns

In the past, JAL had three separate ad agencies running isolated ad campaigns across overlapping audiences, which meant people got a disjointed experience and the airline was paying extra for it.

“We were literally bidding against ourselves in some cases and driving up advertising costs,” says Jonathan Wan, Director of Global Marketing, Media & Social at JAL. “We needed one platform to provide full transparency into our advertising campaigns.”

Today, JAL reaches audiences with greater precision and impact using programmatic video and display in a single platform—Adobe Advertising Cloud DSP. With all three of the airline’s agencies using the tool, they’re coordinating campaigns and managing audience overlap for the first time, which translates to better customer experiences, lower costs, and higher returns.

International audiences get on board with JAL

With Advertising Cloud DSP Performance Optimization capabilities powered by Adobe Sensei, which is Adobe’s artificial intelligence and machine learning technology, JAL saw an 81% increase in viewability rates and more than doubled its click-through rates.

“Those improvements in viewability and click-through rates are crucial as we build awareness with newer audiences and encourage them to choose us for their next flights,” Wan says.

JAL has also seen an 81% decrease in cost per click and a 32% reduction in cost per acquisition for programmatic video and display. That’s thanks in part to the fact that agencies can suppress ads to people who have already seen them, which not only saves money but also improves customer experiences.

As JAL builds its presence worldwide, programmatic video and display advertising is an important tool for succeeding in established and new markets. The airline is becoming much more targeted and personalized, reaching new customers in a way that reflects its commitment to outstanding service and hospitality. It’s also a big step in JAL’s journey to becoming a CXM leader.

Japan Airlines uses the Adobe Advertising Cloud DSP to increase the impact of its digital advertising. Learn more.