Alike.io is a dynamic D2C platform, revolutionizing the travel industry by bridging the gap between wanderlust and authenticity. In a world inundated with cookie-cutter trips and impersonalized experiences, Alike.io stands as a beacon of individuality, connecting travellers with travel influencers through a comprehensive travel commerce platform.At the heart of Alike.io's mission lies the empowerment of travel content creators, the unsung heroes shaping our wanderlust dreams. With 60% of global travelers seeking personalized experiences and 97% of Millennials sharing their travel adventures on social media, the demand for authentic, influencer-driven content is at an all-time high. Alike.io not only caters to this demand but also empowers content creators to become self-reliant, turning their passion for travel into a sustainable source of income. This symbiotic relationship between travellers and influencers fosters trust, reduces FOMO-related stress, and streamlines the often arduous process of researching and booking travel plans.In a recent interview with Adgully ME, Ashish Sidhra, Co-founder of Alike.io, provides invaluable insights into the burgeoning landscape of travel influencers and the pivotal role partnerships play in driving the brand's success. Join us as we delve deeper into the world of travel influencer marketing and discover how Alike.io is reshaping the way we experience the world, one journey at a time.Can you discuss your understanding of the travel influencer landscape and how it intersects with the travel industry's current challenges and opportunities?With more than 85% travellers globally making their destination choices based on user generated content, travel content creators (Influencers being a sub-segment) are ourtrusted guides and influencers, inspiring us to travel and promoting specific destinations and travel styles.With so much to choose from, we turn to travel content creators for ideas and inspirations. With engaging content like beautiful photos, videos, and stories, creators spark wanderlust and inspire us to travel.Among the tsunami of marketing messages that hit us daily, we trust peer generated content and recommendations because they see them experiencing the destinations firsthand. This authenticity resonates more with potential travellers than traditional advertising. We increasingly seek unique travel experiences that match our tastes and preferences. And the massive reach of travel content creators help us discover the hidden gems globally as well as learn the tips and tricks when we travel to distant, unknown places. Hashtags like #travelhacks have over 4 billion views on TikTok alone, showing the potential for global exposure for unseen destinations and unique experiences.Alike.io aims to bridge the gap between travelers and influencers. How would you strategize to effectively connect these two groups through our platform while ensuring a seamless user experience?Travel content creators are the main source of influence for leisure travel bookings. People love sharing travel content, with 60% (97% of Millennial travellers) sharing content about their trips on social media. This very content helps others decide where to go. However, Travel Content Creators lack the incentives and tools to monetise the travel bookings they enable. They do not have a platform that rewards them for the bookings they trigger and in absence of any revenue share models in the travel sector, most content creators end up competing for a finite number of brand sponsorship deals.On the other hand, about 60% of global travellers want brands to personalise their travel experience but are presented with a frustrating choice between cookie cutter trips or semi-cooked AI. This results in the travellers running low on trust with the travel brands, high on FOMO related stress and ending up spending very high effort to research, compare and book their travel plans. Alike.io fills this massive gap in the market by connecting travellers with travel influencers over one-stop-shop travel commerce platform to travel like the people they like. While on one hand our platform helps content creators publish their content as bookable itineraries. On the other hand, it helps the travellers to discover and get inspired on where to travel and what to do from the itineraries and experiences of their favourite content creators and then book the same experiences on the same platform, without any need to grind across multiple websites to book these experiences.Alike.io has recently launched initiatives such as the Free Dubai Campaign and secured partnerships with major industry players. How do you envision leveraging these partnerships to enhance our platform's offerings and user engagement?With our unique tech platform acting as a bridge between travellers and travel content creators, Alike.io has indeed been fortunate to win the trust and collaborate with marquee global brands.On partnering us, Brands benefit from positioning their offerings in front of highly targeted audiences and run successful campaigns that are highly measurable across the marketing funnel. Such collaborations help Alike.io to take our brand and innovative way of travel booking to wider global audiences, while learning from the diverse engagement profiles of these global audiences to launch new features and services on our platform. As a travel tech startup, Alike.io emphasizes empowering travel content creators. How would you ensure that our platform provides adequate support and resources for creators to thrive financially and creatively?Alike.io empowers Travel Content Creators to be Self-Reliant to earn their own income, instead of being at the mercy of marketing spend of companies battling their own fires. The platform offers personal studios for independent content creators to showcase their creativity by simplifying the way they create and publish their content. Our no-code platform equips the creators with a simple template-based drag and drop wizard to publish their travel stories without the need of any technical knowledge. Content creators make generate revenues by charging a small amount for downloading their itineraries. And more interestingly, they can use Alike.io’s clever technology to their content bookable, allowing them to earn revenue share, every time someone books a trip suing their itinerary.With over 12k suppliers in 200 destinations, scalability and efficient operations are crucial. How would you propose optimizing our platform's infrastructure and processes to accommodate this extensive network while maintaining high standards of service?Alike.io’s infinity platform has been built ground’s up to handle complexity of a large global partner network, while providing a seamless user experience to the end user. To achieve this challenging equilibrium, we have focused on a scalable cloud-based infrastructure that can easily scale up or down based on demand. This ensures smooth operation during peak seasons and avoids bottlenecks.We have implemented a microservices architecture, segmenting the platform into independent, modular services. This allows for faster development, easier maintenance, and individual service scaling.Additionally, we have invested in robust APIs that allow seamless integration with various partners' systems. This enables error free, real-time data exchange and a unified user experience.We are also focused on backing our advanced tech architecture with robust processes, that focus on standardised partner onboarding, dynamic content management, and partner performance monitoring and quality control.Personalization is a key aspect of Alike.io's value proposition. How would you utilize data analytics and user insights to tailor travel experiences for our customers, thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty?Unlike other travel websites. Alike.io’s platform focuses on personalising the travel booking of our travellers by connecting them with most suited peer travellers and their trips and experiences in the desired destinations. Based on explicit user inputs and search queries, our algorithms match and analyseuser’s booking history, browsing behaviour on the platform, and past inquiries to present the most suitable itineraries from similar profile travellers as well as experiences. These matches aim to align travel preferences, budget ranges, and potential experiences to explore.Additionally, we focus on enhancing customer experience through personalised recommendations and deals, frictionless booking and customised communication via high relevancy emails and notifications.

Almost three in four (71%) retail investors in the UAE hold stocks in companies engaged in artificial intelligence (AI) development, according to a survey(1) from trading and investing platform eToro. This highlights a broad recognition of AI technology's potential as a driver of innovation and competitive advantage.UAE retail investors' engagement with AI extends beyond the stocks in their portfolio. When asked about their use or plans to use AI tools such as ChatGPT to select or adjust their investments, 39% reported they are already using such technologies. Millennials are at the forefront of this trend, with 40% of 25-44 year-olds already utilising AI technologies. They are closely followed by Baby Boomers and Gen X investors, at 39% and 38% respectively. For Gen Z investors, the proportion drops to 33%.Highlighting the central role AI could play in future investment strategies, alongside those already using AI tools, a further 52% of respondents also said they are open to adopting the technology to guide or modify their portfolio in the future. This trend defies generational stereotypes, with the older cohorts of investors leading the charge. 60% of Baby Boomers showed a keen interest in integrating AI into their investment planning followed by Generation X (58%). Younger generations show interest at slightly lower rates with 55% of Gen Z and 50% of Millennials saying to be open to trying AI tools.“Microsoft’s recent US$1.5 billion investment in Abu Dhabi’s G42 is a big endorsement of the UAE’s potential as a global AI hub, which is reflected in the survey results showing widespread AI adoption by local investors and consumers, said Ben Laidler, Global Markets Strategist at trading and investing platform eToro.  “AI stocks were the performance juggernauts of 2023, leading the tech sector revival and propelling the S&P 500 into bull market territory. AI trends helped make NVIDIA and Meta the best S&P 500 stock performers of last year, with their share prices tripling. Whilst we’re unlikely to see a repeat performance in 2024, the benefits of AI’s rapid adoption are broadening across the stock market and economy as it rapidly moves from hype to reality.”AI stocks dominate UAE investment choices in Q1eToro also looked at which companies saw the biggest proportionate change in UAE-based holders on its platform quarter-on-quarter and found that AI stocks were the most popular theme in the first three months of the year.In the first quarter of 2024, NVIDIA, Taiwan Semiconductor, Advanced Micro Devices, Adobe, Intel and Microsoft all featured as ‘top risers’ among UAE investors (see Table 1).Ben Laidler added: “The increased investment in these companies is indicative of investor confidence in the AI sector’s continued growth and ability to offer substantial returns in the long term. This also aligns with the UAE’s efforts to position itself as a hub for technology and innovation.”Table 1: Stocks that have the biggest proportional increase in holders on the eToro platform among UAE-based users quarter on quarterRankCompanyIncrease in UAE-based holders QoQ1NVIDIA Corporation45%2Boeing37%3Advanced Micro Devices Inc31%4Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd - ADR31%5Adobe Systems Inc25%6Intel18%7Tesla Motors, Inc.17%8Visa13%9Apple10%10Mastercard9%11NIKE8%12Microsoft6%-Ends-The survey, commissioned by the trading and investing platform eToro, sampled 1,000 retail investors residing in the UAE. The survey was conducted from 4 April – 9 April 2024 and carried out by research company Appinio. Retail investors were defined as self-directed or advised and had to hold at least one investment product including shares, bonds, funds, investment or equivalent. They did not need to be eToro users.

As digital consumption continues to surge, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials, the realm of Connected TV (CTV) presents a wealth of opportunities for media planners. Paul Wright, General Manager of Western Europe and MENAT at AppsFlyer, offers insights into the strategies media planners should prioritize in 2024 to leverage this shift and ensure campaigns effectively engage with target audiences. From capitalizing on addressable media to navigating CTV analytics, Wright delves into the nuances of CTV advertising and its transformative potential in the ever-evolving media landscape.With the surge in CTV usage especially among Gen Z and Millennials, what strategies do you believe media planners should prioritise in 2024 to leverage the opportunities presented by this shift? And how can media planners ensure that their campaigns effectively engage with the target audience?You’re absolutely right in that the consumption of digital services and content is on the rise. The United Arab Emirate’s video-on-demand market user penetration is projected to rise from a current 18% to 22% by 2027. The most recent AppsFlyer report on this topic showed that 64% of businesses are already running direct-response CTV campaigns, and 98% of them believe CTV will eventually overtake mobile as an advertising channel, with a quarter predicting this will happen by the middle of this decade. It is easy to see the attraction of CTV advertising — the opportunity to reach new customers, the prospect of higher engagement levels, and the potential of higher lifetime value.The hundred-million-dollar UAE VoD market is but a sliver of a hundred-billion-dollar global ecosystem. This presents new opportunities for marketing professionals to enhance the effectiveness of campaigns because CTV ads have been shown to produce much higher viewing completion than other forms of communication. With the ability to fine-tune both the message and the audience through insights from rich data sets, campaign-runners can be more strategic with their ads, placing them across top-tier networks and popular content, and even re-engaging their OTT and CTV viewers across the various devices they use. In light of the conversation surrounding Gen Z and Millennials, it's crucial for media planners to recognize the dual-screen opportunity, particularly the synergy between TV and mobile, especially on social media platforms. With the surge in CTV usage among these demographics, media planners should prioritize strategies that capitalize on this trend. One effective approach is to integrate TV and mobile advertising seamlessly, leveraging the strengths of each platform to engage audiences across multiple touchpoints.How can advertisers leverage the unique advantages offered by CTV, such as addressable media and immersive ad experiences, compared to traditional TV advertising?Traditional cable operators can only track number of views and viewer location, which is not the richest set of insights in today’s consumer markets, where individualization is a must-have. OTT platforms perform much better in gathering data, in terms of both quantity and quality. They know much more than just what people are watching; they know how they are watching it, and when they disengage from content and why. They can also compose reports on cross-regional viewing trends that can be immensely useful to marketers.These are the technical benefits that lead to the business advantages — new audiences, enhanced engagement, and higher lifetime value. Unsurprisingly, data drives the transformation story. Rich metrics gleaned through OTT and CTV platforms remove the guesswork from viewing analyses and put paid to the leaps of faith associated with campaigns of old. Today’s streaming services can accommodate niches that account for episode content, short-form content such as news reports, live streaming, and VoD. There's a significant programmatic opportunity for media planners to delve deeper into targeting, allowing for granular precision in reaching specific demographics and audiences. Leveraging platforms such as the TTDs, Amazon, and now Walmart, presents a unique advantage, as they can bring in valuable signals from various sources. This enables media planners to optimize their campaigns effectively by tapping into rich data insights and reaching audiences across multiple touchpoints.How do advancements in CTV analytics and measurement tools, including Attention measurement, influence media planners' decisions to invest in CTV advertising?The insights made possible by CTV platforms offer a host of benefits to marketers who can use this invaluable information to fine tune their campaigns. For example, by tracking brand reach, they can get to grips with the extent to which OTT ad campaigns are reaching relevant audiences. Along with reach goes frequency and the gross-rating points (GRPs) of OTT ad campaigns.Or consider another crucial metric — brand lift. OTT ads can drive brand awareness across different audiences. Marketers must measure the perception change directly related to their campaigns, including awareness, favourability, and purchase intent. All these data points can lead to a better understanding of how messaging approaches directly lead to a better position for the brand within the market.Measurement and fragmentation are potential challenges in CTV placements. How do you suggest advertisers/media planners address these challenges while ensuring effective ROI on their ad campaigns in the CTV space?You've touched on a very important point here. A significant challenge for CTV advertisers is that every inventory source collects data differently, resulting in different insights. Often, providers operate in walled gardens, which force advertisers to work directly with them, deal with varying and limited data sets, and prevent user-level data from leaving their individual platforms. The result is an extremely competitive and fragmented marketplace, where advertisers face challenges around accurate measurement and attribution.That said, because CTV advertising is so rooted in data, it’s possible for marketers to measure the success of their campaigns, and attribute results to the right sources, with pinpoint accuracy. This will require the support of a good MMP to help them navigate the fractured landscape, providing centralized, unbiased attribution across media sources, channels, and devices. Brands can successfully overcome defragmentation by running upper and lower funnel campaigns with the same measurement partners. Combining brand and performance campaigns on CTV would defragment the funnel and allow for a better understanding of the user journey. And of course, another crucial part of the solution is data standardization. Working with a partner such as AppsFlyer, that is capable of enabling standardization, will ensure that even though more and more networks are becoming walled gardens, you can still get all those data points in one consistent analytics dashboard.Two key user journeys to track are as CTV-to-CTV attribution and measurement and CTV-to-mobile attribution and measurement. The former is where CTV ads result in CTV app installs, on the same device or operating system, while the latter is where viewers install a mobile app after seeing it advertised on a CTV device. In both cases, where things get tricky is that each CTV platform provides its own reporting method, and the reporting itself may vary in terms of consistency, granularity, and naming conventions. This is where an MMP such as AppsFlyer can help, by providing a consolidated dashboard. By working with an MMP that integrates directly with CTV platforms like Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, Chromecast, gaming consoles, and smart TVs, marketers can access deeper metrics such as LTV and metadata for better attribution.

As the world becomes more digital and social, pressure to "keep up" and economic uncertainty affect how Ramadan is experienced, especially for millennials, according to the latest study by Sila Insights, a Dubai-based consumer intelligence company powered by its unique Arabic-native AI.The study, titled The Ramadan Shift, analyses how Ramadan in recent times has shifted between Gen-Z and millennials. Sila understook this study by taking Arabic-only Tweets, Instagram and TikTok from the MENA region (and worldwide to include all Arab diaspora) that include the word ‘Ramadan’.Content is also being consumed differently now, leading to a more personalised Ramadan, one that is increasingly less homogenous, and more reflective of a rapidly changing society."At the midpoint of Ramadan we see that the Arab youth, particularly in KSA and the UAE are having a shift in experience. Despite this change, the Holy Month retains its spiritual element, but in a more modern context," says the report. Another interesting finding in the study is that budgetary worries are high for millennials and above. While older generations focus on money, there’s a yearning for simplicity and back to tradition for younger generations, even though they are disrupting the most traditional aspects of Ramadan. Financial pressures about Ramadan are evident among older generations - pressures around having to provide, eat out, gifting (a rising occasion) and higher prices are leading to more and more concerns.What’s interesting is the pressures of giving also weigh heavily on the budget considerations of those in the giving season. The study has found that 79% of 30-40 year olds are worried about the financial impact of Ramadan. Another important finding is that in the UAE and KSA, youth prefer TikTok to TV. Spirituality and the pastThe research by Sila challenges the well-trodden trope by every older generation that the younger generations have it ‘easy’. The findings indicate this is not true. Despite this, large scale behaviour patterns don’t change, but the context does. But belief systems are still incredibly strong, staying true to the core of Ramadan’s meaning.When examining core topics associated with Ramadan, the strongest topic is the spiritual connection that Gen Z and millennials feel towards the Holy Month. Not only is entertainment, family and feasts part of the popular discourse, but so are Ramadan-focused activities. Sila’s research shows that in fact, the strongest connection is still with the spiritual connection with the observance of Ramadan. Hope is the strongest theme for spiritual connection. Mostly this relates to the problems of the last few years, and that the hope is that these problems will soon be behind them.Religious obligations, such as the Islamic prayers, and other religious obligations are also top of mind during the Holy Month. This includes the five daily prayers and the growing importance of those, such as Fajr. There is a large segment that is focused on charity, of which most are donations reflecting the want of giving during Ramadan to do better.Gen Z have a strong nostalgia for the past, especially when compared to millennials, says the study. There’s an authenticity missing from the younger experiences of Ramadan. A sense of community and authenticity is missing, which they feel is absent in their experiences, especially compared to their broader families’ memories. While nostalgia is always a strong topic in studies, its remarkable the difference here for a yearning for simpler times.  The Ramadan Shift: How millennials experience Ramadan in the digital age.As the world becomes more digital and social, pressure to "keep up" and economic uncertainty affect how Ramadan is experienced, especially for millennials, according to the latest study by Sila Insights, a Dubai-based consumer intelligence company powered by its unique Arabic-native AI.The study, titled The Ramadan Shift, analyses how Ramadan in recent times has shifted between Gen-Z and millennials. Sila understook this study by taking Arabic-only Tweets, Instagram and TikTok from the MENA region (and worldwide to include all Arab diaspora) that include the word ‘Ramadan’.Content is also being consumed differently now, leading to a more personalised Ramadan, one that is increasingly less homogenous, and more reflective of a rapidly changing society."At the midpoint of Ramadan we see that the Arab youth, particularly in KSA and the UAE are having a shift in experience. Despite this change, the Holy Month retains its spiritual element, but in a more modern context," says the report. Another interesting finding in the study is that budgetary worries are high for millennials and above. While older generations focus on money, there’s a yearning for simplicity and back to tradition for younger generations, even though they are disrupting the most traditional aspects of Ramadan. Financial pressures about Ramadan are evident among older generations - pressures around having to provide, eat out, gifting (a rising occasion) and higher prices are leading to more and more concerns.What’s interesting is the pressures of giving also weigh heavily on the budget considerations of those in the giving season. The study has found that 79% of 30-40 year olds are worried about the financial impact of Ramadan. Another important finding is that in the UAE and KSA, youth prefer TikTok to TV. Spirituality and the pastThe research by Sila challenges the well-trodden trope by every older generation that the younger generations have it ‘easy’. The findings indicate this is not true. Despite this, large scale behaviour patterns don’t change, but the context does. But belief systems are still incredibly strong, staying true to the core of Ramadan’s meaning.When examining core topics associated with Ramadan, the strongest topic is the spiritual connection that Gen Z and millennials feel towards the Holy Month. Not only is entertainment, family and feasts part of the popular discourse, but so are Ramadan-focused activities. Sila’s research shows that in fact, the strongest connection is still with the spiritual connection with the observance of Ramadan. Hope is the strongest theme for spiritual connection. Mostly this relates to the problems of the last few years, and that the hope is that these problems will soon be behind them.Religious obligations, such as the Islamic prayers, and other religious obligations are also top of mind during the Holy Month. This includes the five daily prayers and the growing importance of those, such as Fajr. There is a large segment that is focused on charity, of which most are donations reflecting the want of giving during Ramadan to do better.Gen Z have a strong nostalgia for the past, especially when compared to millennials, says the study. There’s an authenticity missing from the younger experiences of Ramadan. A sense of community and authenticity is missing, which they feel is absent in their experiences, especially compared to their broader families’ memories. While nostalgia is always a strong topic in studies, its remarkable the difference here for a yearning for simpler times