As Uber continues to capture a sizeable portion of the ride-hailing and taxi market in India, over the year the company has rolled out a series of option targetted at different price points. Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd (standalone) posted a 7.13% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 396.95 crore in FY22 from Rs 370.51 crore in FY21, according to regulatory filings accessed by business intelligence platform, Tofler. As net loss declined 35.18% to Rs 216.42 crore in FY22 from Rs 333.89 crore in FY21. Moreover, Uber India’s advertising spends . declined 63.7% to Rs 43.93 crore in FY22 from Rs 121 crore during the same period corresponding year.
In a conversation with BrandWagon Online, Ameya Velankar, head of Marketing, Uber India and South Asia, spoke about what has worked for the brand so far. (Edited excerpts)
How has Uber utilised its learnings from the Indian market across the world? What about your communication strategy?
In India we have build products such as Uber Auto, Uber Moto, Uber Intercity and Rentals, which we are now scaling globally. Our messaging strategy focuses on the magic of Uber’s products and how we can partner with our consumers to go anywhere: on the road and in life.
Uber’s promise globally is go anywhere at the tap of a button. This is our global messaging. If you look at Uber in India, this promise comes to life across products and use cases.
With a leadership position in the country, does it mean you are not concerened about offering competitive pricing?
At Uber, we always believe that competition is always good for the market, as it benefits the consumer. We are not competition-obsessed but consumer-obsessed. We look at the best possible way in which we can provide the best experience to riders and drivers together. Our values happen to be a key differentiator when it comes to operating in this market.
We have a multi-fold strategy to tap into the customers, starting from adopting a localised approach that takes into account customer needs, preferences, and cultural nuances which helps us create personalised and targeted campaigns to attract more customers. Another essential aspect of our strategy is to form right partnerships and alliances to create impactful initiatives.
With not much competition in the area right now in the Indian market, what purpose does advertising serve to Uber?
Uber has a leadership position in India and advertising has an important role to play in maintaining this spot. It helps Uber differentiate itself and showcase the unique value proposition we offer to both riders and driver-partners. It also allows us to communicate our brand story, reinforce our position as a trusted and reliable transportation platform, and highlight the benefits that set us apart.
Advertising also helps us reach out to new consumers and drive awareness about our new products and features which enable access to many more people across geographies.
India is a unique market in more ways than one, which also means that we need to adopt a dynamic marketing approach. It involves leveraging various platforms and avenues to reach out to consumers. While we cannot share exact details, we have thoughtfully invested in marketing to propagate the correct messaging. We strive to communicate the experience we offer, whether it’s through user-friendly mobile apps, quick and reliable pickups, pricing, or safety features. These messages help potential riders understand the benefits they can enjoy by choosing Uber and create a sense of trust in our service.
What is the marketing mix for the company? How is the spend divided between digital and traditional?
At Uber, we have focussed on the measurement of all things that we undertake across marketing. We are very particular about both effectiveness and efficiency. We have an expert in-house data science team that helps us improve our measurement and keep on optimising our campaign.
We have gone ahead with a bunch of omnichannel platform options including television (TV), outdoor, and various digital platforms,including some new-age platforms such as voice assistance, and even automation platforms. We also leverage user-generated content, and other facets of social media marketing such as influencers.
We make sure that we are learning each time from these experiences, and we use these learnings into our marketing mix every single time we roll-out a new campaign. We have not committed to a certain offline versus online kind of a mix, we keep on changing that basis, the kind of objectives we have to chase through a particular campaign or in a particular year.
How does Uber handle driver communication? What have been the steps taken to curb social media backlash when it comes to customer dissatisfaction with drivers or their conduct?
Maintaining regular communication with driver partners is integral to Uber’s operations and the company has several devisedmechanisms for this. We leverage in-app communications to inform driver partners about how they can benefit the most and how to improve their earnings. We also have introduced a slew of features in our app to benefit our driver partners.
Apart from this, we also celebrate a lot of our drivers who provide experiences to riders. We make sure we celebrate these ‘Uber Stars’ through our social channels as well as support channels. This acts as an inspiration to other drivers to action and mimic that behavior and is our way of expressing gratitude to drivers.
How important is the Indian market for Uber? What is the target for the new fiscal in terms of marketing and advertising?
As one of the fastest-growing economies and a country with a large population, India presents opportunities for Uber to connect riders and driver-partners, contribute to the transportation ecosystem, and foster economic empowerment. I can assure you that India remains a key focus for Uber’s growth and expansion plans.
In terms of marketing, our objective is to strengthen our brand presence, engage with our target audience, and drive awareness about the benefits of choosing Uber. We will continue to explore innovative marketing strategies, leveraging data-driven insights, and tailoring our campaigns to resonate with the Indian market. Our aim is to enhance brand recall, product awareness, build trust, and ensure that Uber remains the preferred choice for riders and driver-partners alike.