Advertising technology is rapidly evolving to include in-flight internet sessions, thus allowing brands to specifically target fliers as they use the internet.
The linkup is between WiFi monetization company MediaShift and in-flight systems provider Panasonic Avionics. It's called AdConnect, and the platform allows brands to place ads throughout the in-flight experience, from native advertising to sponsorships.
The AdConnect product is underpinned by MediaShift's Monetization Platform, which is currently deploying ad units at airports and 5,000 hotels in the United States.
These ads move beyond the airline's branded portal and into the full web experience, bringing in additional ancillary revenue in the continued push towards more incremental business.
This particular demographic - airline passengers also paying to use the internet - is especially lucrative, as those two characteristics make up a valuable constituency for advertisers.
In the announcement, Panasonic Avionics' Paul Margi:
We are committed to helping our airlines partners extract maximum value from investments they’ve made in our in-flight entertainment and communications solutions. By deploying the AdConnect service, we are able to provide a more personalized experience to passengers, and generate more revenue for our customers.
The ability to also target users on specific flights also brings in many potential campaigns from destination marketers - a co-branded push to bring travelers to a particular festival or location, or even an application for small businesses looking to snag reservations from incoming visitors.
MediaShift's Brendon Kensel:
Panasonic's AdConnect is a breakthrough ad platform powered by MediaShift and will enable airlines to better monetize in-flight WiFi during sign-in and while surfing the web. AdConnect offers advertisers access to a highly desirable audience - business, luxury, and leisure travelers.
Remarketing also becomes a possibility with this technology, opening up another step on the purchase funnel as far as targeting travelers. Gaining the ability to follow someone onto the plane who was looking at various in-destination activities is an added boost to potential conversion, as they are more likely to be in a purchase mindset when physically hurtling towards the destination.
The platform also facilitates targeting across devices, meaning the ads can be pushed to smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
NB: In-flight tablet image courtesy Shutterstock.