“Your Brand Is The Content!” Uber Launches Journey Ads In Australia

Uber has launched Journey Ads in Australia, with Paramount+ as the launch partner for the service.

“Uber is really excited to be launching a dedicated advertising division both globally and here in Australia,” Michael Levine, the company’s head of advertising ANZ, told B&T.

The news follows a successful trial period in the US, which the company says went very well.

“We’ve seen really strong appetite across a number of different verticals with brands launching in that ad format,” said Levine.

“We’re seeing that the average Uber is over 20 minutes and the time spent with the ad format can be in excess of two minutes. That means we’re seeing really strong engagement, meaning click and swipe rate, significantly above industry benchmarks of other social and digital platforms. ”

The company says that the “first-of-its-kind” advertising option offers unparalleled share-of-voice and consumer attention from the millions of Uber riders.

The service is based on Uber’s gargantuan first-party data set. However, rather than using the data to individually target users, Uber will be keeping the targeting top-level.

“We’ll be creating audience segments based on the historic behaviour of our users on the platform,” explained Levine.

“For example, people purchasing family-type meals would fall into a families segment. All of our targeting is based off our own first-party data set but we keep it at an aggregate level to ensure that we comply with individual user privacy and maintaining high standards in the way that we think about the use of that data.”

For Paramount+, Uber riders will be shown an ad between 3pm and 9pm. Levine explains that the streaming service wants to target users on their way home, ready to stick on a new series to watch.

“Their campaign target will be reaching people with day parting, in that key period on their journey home,” Levine said.

“We can offer great outcomes for advertisers as well as meaningful and relevant consumer moments with targeted messages that are specific to their needs and interest. So, imagine you’re heading to the airport, based on destination targeting, you might see an ad from a travel brand or a credit card company. Or you’re heading home at the end of the day and you see a streaming app highlighting its latest content.”

Brands will be able to serve ads to users from the moment that they book their ride through to the end of their trip. As a result, brands receive 100% share-of-voice during the entire trip.

“Achieving attention as a metric, which a lot of brands are now looking to do, in platforms where there is constant scrolling and creating thumb-stopping content is a challenge. On Uber Advertising, your brand is the content,” said Levine.

Thanks to that content exclusivity, Uber is able to charge Paramount+ on a cost-per-trip model, rather than on a cost-per-impression or cost-per-click model.

“Paramount+ is an ahead of the curve marketer, who would recognise this as a great opportunity to be first-to-market and get that cut through,” said Levine.

“At Paramount+ we are always looking for new and innovative ways to present our brand and our exclusive content slate to Australian streamers,” said Louise Crompton, Paramount+ regional vice president marketing and growth.

“The targeting opportunities combined with the high dwell environment to reinforce our Mountain of Entertainment over Summer, was very appealing to us.”

Uber will provide brand partners comprehensive reporting and analysis at the end of each campaign. The company says that brands will be able to “fine-tune” their consumer understanding and create more impactful campaigns.

Users can also set their ad preferences, as well as opt-out of certain personalised ads, in Uber’s Privacy Centre. In addition, Uber requires all advertisers on the Uber Platform to comply with its Content and Targeting Policies and all ads are subject to Uber’s review and approval.

Last month, Uber announced that it would also be launching car top adverts and ads displayed on tablets in cars. While these initiatives are live in some areas of the US, it seems Aussie brands will have to wait a while longer.

“We are constantly reviewing the product roadmap. Right now, car top advertising is live in seven cities across the US. I don’t yet have an answer for you on when or if that will come to Australia,” said Levine.

“Equally, tablets in the back of cars is in pilot mode in the US to test both advertising results as well as user engagement. We are just getting started on new ad formats, we’re launching post-checkout ads, storefront ads, all within the Uber Eats environment and my hope is that we will have a really compelling out-of-home advertising offering as well as in the months and years ahead.”