Qatar Airways gets on board CNN's new travel series

Qatar Airways is extending its commercial relationship with CNN International by embarking on an exclusive international sponsorship campaign of the network’s new monthly travel series, "In 24 Hours".The campaign builds on the long-standing relationship between the two companies which dates back to Qatar Airways spot advertising first running on CNN International in 2003, and subsequent sponsorships such as CNN Weather and an aviation theme week. The new integrated multi-media Qatar Airways campaign spans across TVCs, digital and programme sponsorship. The focal point of the campaign is the TV and digital sponsorship of “In 24 Hours”.The integrated campaign allows Qatar Airways to benefit from the scale of CNN’s TV and digital audiences. The recent Ipsos Affluent Survey 2015 shows that CNN reaches 65% of frequent international travellers across TV or Digital platforms each month in the APAC region.Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “With the advent of the airline’s brand re-launch, we take the conversation to an entirely different level, sharing with our passengers the importance of the journey and discovering new places and moments. For the business person, cultured and learned traveller we have a destination network that includes a wide array of cities to discover, hold conferences in or just relax.”He added with CNN’s travel programme ‘in 24 hours’ the brand feel aligned with the underlying sentiment, which is to discover, grow and explore.Salam Al Shawa, Qatar Airways’ senior vice president of marketing and corporate Communications, said: “The Qatar Airways’ new brand campaign encapsulates the journey and the mesmerising, eye-opening moments that travelling brings along with it. It is a global, unifying campaign intended to bring to the forefront the exchanges that come with travel; the personal, the growth, and the pleasure in reconnective. We took pride on focusing on the under-represented aspect of the emotional part of travelling, and how important service is to our passengers. “Rani R. Raad, chief commercial officer, CNN International, said: “We are delighted to extend our long-standing relationship with Qatar Airways for CNN’s new premier travel programme. The combination of a smart commercial proposition for a strong brand such as Qatar Airways, with compelling content will engage with relevant audiences across all CNN’s platforms.”