LinkedIn launches new products for B2B and high-consideration B2C brands

Emirates NBD among early adopters in MENA
New products will help bank reach, nurture, and acquire new customers

Dubai - UAE, May 12, 2015 − LinkedIn (NYSE:LNKD), the world's largest professional network, today announced the availability in MENA of a new set of products for marketers working for B2B or 'high-consideration' B2C brands. The announcement follows the acquisition of B2B marketing company Bizo in August 2014.

The expanded LinkedIn Marketing Solutions portfolio consists of five new products: LinkedIn Lead Accelerator, Sponsored Updates, LinkedIn Onsite Display, LinkedIn Network Display and Sponsored InMail. LinkedIn Lead Accelerator is the core product fueling this effort as LinkedIn's new lead generation and nurturing offering.

Among the first regional brands to adopt the new products is Emirates NBD. The bank will benefit from LinkedIn's ability to identify relevant professional audiences, extend their reach and effectively nurture them through the buying process, and better measure success. Through media agency, Mediavest, Emirates NBD is strengthening its presence on LinkedIn to bolster its marketing efforts, and is also one of the early creators of an Arabic-language company page on the platform.

Commenting on the news, Vikram Krishna, Head - Group Marketing and Customer Experience, Emirates NBD, said: "As a high-visibility brand, Emirates NBD has invested heavily in social media to engage with existing and potential customers on a real time basis. We are delighted to be among the first adapters as we believe LinkedIn's solutions will help us drive quality customer acquisition as well as boost reputation among individual and business customers in the region."

Jake Thomas, Head of LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, MENA, said: "We are continuously innovating to find ways to make our platform more relevant for B2B and high-consideration B2C brands to communicate with the professional audience on LinkedIn. We're excited to be working with Emirates NBD as they continue to build their presence on the platform. With this enhanced portfolio of marketing tools on LinkedIn, we are empowering our customers across the MENA region to reach, nurture and acquire new customers."

This refreshed portfolio of products signals LinkedIn's ambition to create the most efficient lead generation and nurturing platform on the market, and marks the professional network's strategy for addressing the $50bn global B2B advertising market.

About LinkedIn
LinkedIn connects the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful and transforms the ways companies hire, market and sell. Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce through the ongoing development of the world's first Economic Graph. LinkedIn has more than 347 million members and has offices around the world.

For further information, please contact:
Anit Kurian / Khalid Yahya
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
Dubai - UAE
+971 4 450 7600
anit.kurian@bm.com / khalid.yahya@bm.com