Podcast Summary: AdTechGod Pod

Episode: 96 – Inside United Airlines’ Journey with Mike Petrella from Kinective Media
Host: AdTech God
Guest: Mike Petrella, Managing Director of Strategic Management, Kinective Media by United Airlines
Date: September 9, 2025

Overview

This episode explores United Airlines’ foray into the commerce media network space, spearheaded by Kinective Media. AdTech God sits down with Mike Petrella to unpack United Airlines' unique media offerings, their omnichannel advertising approach, and how data and innovation are reshaping not only their advertising but also the entire traveler journey. Petrella shares how United leverages customer insights, loyalty program touchpoints, and partnerships to personalize experiences and create value beyond traditional in-flight advertising.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Mike Petrella’s Journey to United & The Birth of Kinective Media

• Networking and Career Origin:
  • Mike credits networking and building strong relationships for his career resilience—especially surviving nearly every layoff during years of corporate changes (03:52).
  • Started in adtech unexpectedly via a connection from his band, which led to advertising.com and subsequent senior roles at Yahoo, AOL, and others.

"Networking has really been the core of my success... The ability to build relationships has helped me navigate, you know, what I would call many a time, rough corporate waters."
— Mike Petrella (02:42)

• Recruitment to United & Blank Slate Challenge:
  • Joined MileagePlus in mid-2023, introduced by industry peer James Rothwell.
  • Tasked with building United’s commerce media network "from scratch" (05:33).

"We did complete white piece of paper. And it was exciting that that was the allure that brought me in."
— Mike Petrella (05:33)

2. Defining Kinective Media: United Airlines’ Commerce Media Network

• Omnichannel Approach:
  • Not just screens onboard; extends across website, mobile app, digital content, airport lounges, and more (06:02).
  • Focuses on enriching every phase of the traveller journey—not just the flight but inspiration, planning, airport experience, and post-travel.

"We're the first traveler media network and we're helping transform how brands engage with, you know, consumers across that journey."
— Mike Petrella (06:48)

• Reach and Audience Value:
  • Access to 174 million travelers yearly and insights into 63 million MileagePlus members.
  • Emphasizes high-value, affluent demographic (25% have household incomes above $250K vs. national average of 7%) (07:07).
  • Long and repeated touchpoints, with 5+ hours average trip research, 1.5–2 hours airport dwell, and 3.5 hours average flight time.

3. Types of Brands & Advertiser Interest

• Diverse Use Cases and Launch Partners:

  • Luxury brands (Bottega Veneta, Macallan) among early adopters.
  • The network offers varied engagement across inspiration (trip planning), airport, in-flight, and post-journey phases (09:10).

• Digital Hemispheres:

  • Evolution from print magazine to a dynamic, personalized digital content hub, offering itineraries (Three Perfect Days) for every United destination (10:00).
  • Incorporates commerce opportunities (booking hotels, restaurants, etc.) directly into traveler content.

4. Partnership Philosophy & Expansion

• Expanding Beyond Travel:
  • Not just travel-adjacent brands (Marriott, Avis) but also partnering with new verticals like Ticketmaster, Spotify, and others (13:06).

"It's this ability to complement and enrich that journey at all different points, and not necessarily just because you're traveling, right?...if I can create opportunities to show the utility of the mile...I've created more incentive for someone to join Mileage Plus to fly United."
— Mike Petrella (13:06)

• Utility of the Mile & Loyalty Focus:
  • Building a no-brainer case for travelers to join/stick with MileagePlus due to exclusive earning/redemption opportunities across different partners and activities—not just flights (13:06).

5. Data, Personalization, and Privacy

• Data-Driven Personalization:
  • United aims to use attitudinal, behavioral, transactional, and lifestyle data to tailor offers and content.
  • Vision for seatback screens to eventually be uniquely personalized (currently, all same)—offers content and ads based on individual interests (15:36).
  • Examples: Sports fans get team/event recommendations in their destination city.

"We really focus on just ensuring that we're providing like relevant content and content can come in the form of ads ... that creates that incentive to act upon."
— Mike Petrella (17:53)

• Privacy Commitment:
  • Safeguarding data privacy and acting conservatively with traveler data is paramount (15:36).

6. Industry Trends: AI and the Future of Adtech at United

• AI Integration:
  • United uses AI for accessibility (e.g., content translation for vision-impaired) and as a “concierge” for personalized trip recommendations (19:02).
  • Vision for AI to personalize the traveler journey at scale, drawing from individual profiles to create relevant and helpful experiences and offers.

"I want to be able to serve them with the most relevant, helpful opportunity from a catalog of thousands...It's important for us to do things for good."
— Mike Petrella (20:40)

• What’s Next:
  • Petrella hinted at further significant innovation and expansion in the MileagePlus ecosystem over the next years—suggesting what’s coming will be even more impactful than current offerings (20:40).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Untapped Promise of Data & Personalization:

  "In a future facing moment...my screen would say, hey, here's a baseball game, here's a golf course, here's a restaurant that you may want to go to."
  — Mike Petrella (16:25)

• On Partnerships and the Edge of Innovation:

  "It's the hub of innovation for United, right? We're leveraging technology and data to deliver this mission of really enriching traveler journeys and the scale of the airline."
  — Mike Petrella (12:00)

• On Loyalty’s Power:

  "I've created more incentive for someone to join Mileage Plus to fly United. I then created the opportunity to show the utility of the mile far beyond, you know, just solely redemption or accrual for air."
  — Mike Petrella (13:06)

• On Building from Scratch:

  "That was the allure that brought me in."
  — Mike Petrella (05:39)

Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic | Speaker | |-----------|-----------------------------------------|-----------------| | 02:42 | Mike’s origin and entry into adtech | Mike Petrella | | 05:33 | Joining United, building from zero | Mike Petrella | | 06:02 | What is Kinective Media? | AdTech God/Mike | | 07:07 | Audience reach and value | Mike Petrella | | 09:10 | Brand/partnership examples—use cases | Mike Petrella | | 13:06 | Partner mix and expanding utility of miles | Mike Petrella | | 15:36 | Approach to data & privacy; personalization | Mike Petrella | | 19:02 | AI’s role & future personalization | Mike Petrella | | 20:40 | Hints at forthcoming innovation | Mike Petrella |

Conclusion

This episode offers a revealing look at how United Airlines is redefining what it means to be a "media company" and the power of leveraging a unique, engaged audience through omnichannel, data-driven, and privacy-first strategies. Mike Petrella’s passion for innovation, partnership, and enriching the traveler journey makes the episode a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of commerce media, loyalty programs, and the intersection of adtech with real-world consumer experiences.