Today's Edition
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)
ADNOC Distribution on Wednesday launched a new business line to monetise the advertising potential of its physical and digital assets.
Speaking to Aletihad, Athmane Benzerroug, Chief Strategy, Transformation and Sustainability Officer at ADNOC Distribution, said the new retail media network, known as Engage by ADNOC, would connect brands with customers across the company’s service stations, digital channels and loyalty programme.
“We will help brands reach customers through targeted and measurable advertising at the appropriate moment, using our physical network and customer-data platform,” Benzerroug said.
Engage will allow advertisers to connect with customers throughout their journey, beginning with the ADNOC Rewards app at home and continuing through the service-station forecourt and into Oasis convenience stores.
The business will bring ADNOC Distribution’s physical network, digital channels, and loyalty ecosystem together as a single commercial platform through which brands can advertise products and measure customer response.
“Engage combines our physical network, digital channels, and loyalty ecosystem into a single commercial platform for brands,” Benzerroug said.
ADNOC Distribution operates 570 service stations, representing more than 60% of the total number of stations in the UAE. It serves more than 700,000 customers daily, processes more than 250 million transactions annually and has 2.7 million ADNOC Rewards members.
“For brands, Engage provides access to important touchpoints across the daily customer journey,” Benzerroug said. “They will have access to a large, high-frequency audience, as we serve more than 700,000 customers every day in the UAE.”
Asked whether the initiative was intended to monetise the company’s retail locations and other assets through advertising, Benzerroug said: “Ultimately, yes, we are monetising our network, but the important point is that we are creating something distinctive for brands and customers.”
He said the company’s service stations offered several points at which it could connect with customers. The first was fuel or electric-vehicle charging, followed by convenience stores, car-wash and lube-change services and restaurants operating across its properties.
“We are now reinforcing these activities through the retail media network,” he said.
The company expects Engage to support its strategy of expanding non-fuel retail and encouraging customers to return to its service stations more frequently.
“For customers, we are bringing a more personalised shopping experience and helping them discover new products. Transformation does not always require building something entirely new,” Benzerroug said. “Sometimes the greatest opportunity comes from unlocking more value from assets that already exist. That is what Engage by ADNOC is intended to do.”
He said the initiative reflected ADNOC Distribution’s evolution “from a fuel retailer into a data-enabled mobility and convenience platform” combining physical and digital channels.
The retail media network will use information on customer patterns and behaviour to help brands make their advertising more relevant and measurable.
Benzerroug said the company would not provide information relating to individual customers.
“The system uses customer-interaction data on a consent-based and privacy-protected basis, in line with UAE data-protection requirements,” he said.
ADNOC Distribution has contracts with Publicis, Pixis, LiveRamp, and Network International to support the initiative from commercial and technology perspectives, including connecting the company with advertisers.
Addressing the launch amid regional uncertainty, Benzerroug said ADNOC Distribution’s business model remained resilient and diversified: “ADNOC Distribution has a resilient business model,” he said. “As reflected in our first-quarter results, net profit increased at a double-digit rate.”
The company will announce its second-quarter and first-half results on August 5.
“We expect the first-half performance to be strong,” Benzerroug said.
He said fuel remained the largest part of the company’s business, with about 70% of its cash flow coming from regulated fuel sold at the pump. The government-regulated margin on fuel provided a degree of earnings stability, while continued growth in mobility and non-fuel retail supported diversification.
“Mobility in the UAE has continued to grow,” he said. “Our resilience also comes from diversification and our position as a leading mobility and convenience retailer in the UAE.”
The company has continued to implement its 2024–2028 strategy after strengthening the Oasis brand last year. The strategy aims to turn its network into a destination of choice by improving convenience-store offerings, car-wash and lube-change services, quick-service restaurants, and the ADNOC Rewards programme.
“Despite regional uncertainty, this strategy has contributed to double-digit growth in net profit,” Benzerroug said. “More importantly, non-fuel retail continues to grow at a double-digit rate and faster than the fuel business.”
He said ADNOC Distribution would continue pursuing its existing strategy, with Engage adding another source of value to its network.
“We are not changing our strategy. We remain focused on the UAE, where mobility continues to be strong,” Benzerroug said.
“We take a long-term view of the UAE, which continues to grow. ADNOC Distribution has demonstrated that it is a resilient and diversified business focused on customers and shareholder value creation.”
