The battle for consumer attention is increasingly being waged in unconventional spaces, and for one major airline, the sky itself presents a fertile ground for media and commerce innovation.
A year after launching its media network, United Airlines is looking beyond traditional advertising, aiming to transform the travel journey into a seamless, shoppable experience.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Richard Nunn, CEO United Airlines MileagePlus, outlined plans to expand audience reach and deepen brand engagement, particularly as new technologies like SpaceX’s Starlink internet service come online.
Expanding the media horizon
United launched Kinective Media in mid-2024, not only focusing on the travel sector but using its travel data across multiple verticals.
“Yes, we’re an airline, so you would think by default we’re just in the travel sector, but we’re intentionally not,” Nunn explained. “We play both brand and performance across multiple verticals, whether that’s luxury, auto, finance, CPG. We managed to kind of cover it all, and that was a really important intentional perspective as we scaled the business.”
Now it has inked a multifaceted relationship with JetBlue.
“JetBlue will be our first syndication partner where we’re deploying Kinective Media technology across JetBlue’s digital channels,” he said. “And we’ll enable them to be another big domestic airline in the US and internationally, which, on the same principles of what United’s done, will just expand our audience reach to very, very meaningful numbers.”
Showcasing Kinective’s capabilities, United is also carrying many advertising executives to this year’s Cannes Lions, where Beet.TV is again hosting a series of summit discussions.
The in-flight commerce ecosystem
The broader commerce media space is experiencing substantial growth. U.S. retail media ad spending alone is projected by eMarketer to reach $62.8 billion in 2025.
The core of United’s strategy lies in the unique environment of an aircraft cabin, which Nunn views as offering unparalleled media engagement opportunities. He highlighted the known identity of passengers and the significant average dwell time of over three and a half hours as key advantages.
“We know exactly who’s sitting in that seat. We know a lot about that individual. So it does become the most addressable screen out there,” Nunn stated, adding humorously, “they’re strapped in as well, so they’re not jumping away at the coffee break to not miss ads.” This captive audience, combined with improving connectivity, allows for deeper brand interactions than standard ad formats.
Starlink: Fueling new in-flight realities
The formal launch of Starlink satellite internet service on United flights is presented as a critical enabler for these ambitions, promising a significant upgrade in speed and reliability. Nunn described the service as “mind-blowingly fast,” with the tagline “We are breaking the Wi-Fi barrier.”
“First and foremost, it’s free to MileagePlus members,” Nunn said. “It enables a whole bunch of stuff. You can work smarter, you can do all your shopping, you’ll be able to watch streaming, play games.” He also revealed an early partnership with Spotify, allowing passengers to listen to audio and watch video content on seatback screens, calling it a “global first.”
This enhanced connectivity, Nunn argued, transforms the advertising proposition. “It goes just beyond a 30-second pre-roll or a display ad,” he explained. “We can get a lot deeper with brands and how they can enable a deeper interaction with that brand from being engaged with an ad and then actually going to execute and buy that product. So, we then sort of have a full attribution.”
Traveler Media Offers Ad Targeting at Multiple Touchpoints: United’s Richard Nunn
‘The World’s Most Addressable TV Screen’? United’s Kinective Takes Flight: Richard Nunn
You’re watching “The Flight to Cannes: Commerce Media Takes Off”, a Beet.TV Leadership Series, presented by Kinective Media by United Airlines. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
