What Happened
Brands will soon gain a new way to reach Uber passengers as the car-hailing app has started to roll out a new feature dubbed Uber Offers, which enables brands to provide Uber users with value offers during their rides via in-app ads. If a rider chooses to click on an ad and make a purchase with a Visa credit card associated with their Uber account, they will receive up to $20 in credit for their next Uber ride. Uber has been quietly testing the feature in select cities since late last year, but only started rolling out this feature nationwide this week for a Mother’s Day campaign from online flower retailer ProFlower. Previously, Uber also partnered with ProFlower for a Valentine’s Day campaign in 2014 to give out free roses along with ProFlower coupons to riders.
What Brands Need To Do
This is not the first time Uber has tried to incorporate brands into rides. The company launched “Trip Experiences” last January to allow third-party apps to serve up notifications and content via Uber’s app to keep riders entertained during their trips. This new Uber Offers product, however, certainly makes a stronger case for brands to partner with Uber so as to reach the highly receptive consumers staring at their phones while stuck in the backseat. For brands that wish to reach a captive mobile audience with a compelling value proposition that can directly convert them into new customers, Uber Offers should be an ad product worth looking into.
Source: TechCrunch