Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has signed a partnership agreement for investment and management of the Dubai Metro outdoor advertising with Hypermedia FZ LLC. According to the agreement, Hypermedia will undertake the planning of advertising spaces as well as the designing, operating, and marketing of advertising services at stations, trains, and lines of the Dubai Metro (Red & Green Lines and Route 2020) for ten years.

Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim Younes, CEO of RTA’s Rail Agency, expressed his deep delight with the signing of this agreement with Hypermedia, which boasts of extensive experience and considerable resources and skills in the advertising market. Ads, especially outdoor media, play a key role in promoting various products and services of the business sector, besides generating additional revenues to RTA and Hypermedia.

“Ads on the Dubai Metro platforms, such as stations and carriages, offer brilliant opportunities for investors in this regard. We will work with Hypermedia on the principle of a long-term partnership to achieve our respective objectives under a set of planned and solid strategies,” he commented.

Metro platforms offer sophisticated advertising facades for the business community in the UAE and the region to market their products, services, and solutions relating to all economic and commercial sectors and fields.

The agreement, which runs for ten years, provides for granting Hypermedia a full advertising representation in the Dubai Metro assets that cover 53 metro stations (including seven new metro stations of Route 2020), about 100 trains, 35 pedestrian bridges, pillars of metro viaducts, and prime locations such as frontals of emergency exits and utility buildings. This representation also extends to include metro stations' naming rights.

“This unprecedented strategic partnership between RTA and Hypermedia is a game-changer for the outdoor advertising industry across the region. It brings in a wide range of highly sophisticated digital solutions. It also ranks Hypermedia as one of the pioneers of digital media that represents more than 60% of key OOH media assets in the UAE,” said Habib Wehbe, CEO of Hypermedia.

“We are proud to be part of this partnership, which will enable us to showcase our latest digital technologies and smart billboards to display a variety of brands. We will also be actively engaged in providing advertising and promotional services to support consumers, including metro riders,” he added.

The Dubai Metro lifts about 45,000 riders per hour, and the metro ridership is poised to increase to about 275,000 passengers per day by 2030. During Expo 2020, which will start on October 1, 2021, the Metro will lift 35,000 visitors per day during weekdays to the Expo 2020 Station. This number is expected to reach 47,000 riders per day on weekends, which represents 29% of the total number of expected daily visitors to Expo 2020.

Importance of agreement to Dubai Metro and Hypermedia

This agreement is instrumental in raising the profile of Hypermedia in the market as one of the biggest Digital Out-Of-Home media in the region. Equally, it grants Dubai Metro a premium benefit of using digital solutions and tap into the expertise of Hypermedia. The agreement will take the metro project to a new era of modernity and advanced technologies and smart solutions.

The Dubai Metro is an effective mobility means used by most tourists and residents in their daily movement. By using digital media technologies, Hypermedia will enhance innovative communication and superb synergy between brands and metro riders. It takes into consideration smart power-saving solutions and delivers content relevant to metro riders, which will enhance the daily riding experience of the metro users.

Importance of project to marketing companies

Hypermedia will provide the required support to marketing companies in planning innovative and effective media campaigns across the entire metro network. In this regard, clients will be offered promotional and marketing campaigns based on unique experiences.