Uber has launched a new advertising division to help drive extra and announced Uber Journey Ads, to serve in-car ads to riders on their journeys.
The new advertising division will leverage Uber’s first-party data and insights from its 122 million monthly active users across its mobility and delivery businesses. More than 40 brands have already signed up to the project including NBCUniversal, Heineken, and United Artists Releasing.
The company has brought on Dr. Mark Grether, previously with Amazon Advertising, CEO of Sizmek, and co-founder of Xaxis, to lead the new division.
With the in-car Journey Ads, Uber says it has created an “engaging model” that allows brands to connect with consumers in brand-safe and captivating ways. The Journey Ads service will place ads and offers in front of “purchase-minded” audiences while waiting for their driver and during their trip.
With one-hundred per cent share of voice during the entire trip, Uber says early results show that consumers were exposed to the ad content for approximately two minutes, resulting in two- to six-times the brand-performance lift compared to other benchmarks.
Uber Eats will also see adverts with “prominently placed” Sponsored Listings get brands ahead of the competition and capture the attention of ready-to-purchase consumers. Uber says that clients such as Shake Shack is already seeing increased engagement, ROI, and customer acquisition.
Uber will also offer sponsored emails that enable brands to promote exclusive offers to Uber and Uber Eats consumers through email delivery directly into their inboxes. Homepage Billboards are new and will give brands the ability to prominently display messaging on the homepage of Uber Eats, the world’s most-downloaded food delivery app.
Uber will also offer post-checkout ads and in-menu ads for Uber Eats. Storefront ads, where CPG brands can enjoy prominent placement of their products at the top of a digital storefront. PepsiCo has been a pilot partner of storefront ad offerings. New digital out-of-home Car Top Ads which enable brands to reach consumers based on location and time of day across top U.S. cities.
“We have a global audience of valuable, purchase-minded consumers who, as part of our core business, tell us where they want to go and what they want to get,” said Dr. Grether, general manager, for Uber’s advertising division.
“While these consumers are making purchase decisions and waiting for their destination or delivery we can engage them with messages from brands that are relevant to their purchase journeys. And with 1.87 billion trips last quarter, that means we can connect advertisers to consumers on average five times per month across rides and delivery.
“Through our advertising division, we can help leading brands grow their relationships with consumers by connecting them at a moment when a customer is uniquely attentive. By tapping into our mobility media network, our pilot campaigns have surpassed expectations in terms of brand lift, engagement, and other campaign goals. We’re eager to continue working with our partners to identify best-in-class offerings – such as in-car tablet advertising – that will ensure they’re engaging with captive and engaged audiences.”
