Uber Launches Dedicated Advertising Division To Serve The World’s Biggest Brands

By AIT News Desk On Oct 19, 2022

Led by retail media veteran Dr. Mark Grether, a newly formed team working across the Uber enterprise is unveiling new Journey Ads solution

Uber Technologies, has formally launched its advertising division and unveiled Uber Journey Ads, an engaging way for brands to connect with consumers throughout the entire ride process. Journey Ads are the latest initiative from a dedicated team formed at Uber this year under advertising veteran Dr. Mark Grether, previously with Amazon Advertising, CEO of Sizmek, and Co-Founder of Xaxis. Leveraging Uber’s first-party data and insights across its mobility and delivery businesses presents the world’s biggest companies with compelling new surfaces and closed-loop attribution to reach Uber’s audience of 122 million monthly active users.

With the addition of Journey Ads, Uber has created an engaging model that enables brands to share strategic campaigns across Uber’s mobility and delivery businesses, while connecting with consumers in brand-safe and captivating ways. Journey Ads place relevant brand content and offers in front of purchase-minded audiences as they transact throughout their journey – while waiting for their driver and during their trip. Over 40 marquee brands have already partnered with Uber to run Journey Ads including NBCUniversal, Heineken, and United Artists Releasing. With one-hundred percent share of voice during the entire trip, 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.

Brands and advertisers can now partner with Uber on a variety of advertising options on the Uber and Uber Eats apps, and beyond:

Journey Ads that capture consumers’ attention during their trip with ad units that drive purchases and brand awareness as they move with purpose.
Prominently placed Sponsored Listings across Uber Eats to get brands ahead of the competition and capture the attention of ready-to-purchase consumers, with clients such as Shake Shack already seeing increased engagement, ROI and customer acquisition.
Sponsored Emails that enable brands to promote exclusive offers to Uber and Uber Eats consumers through email delivery directly into their inboxes.
Homepage Billboards that give brands the ability to prominently display messaging on the homepage of Uber Eats, the world’s most-downloaded food delivery app.
Post-checkout Ads which allow brands to promote to purchase-minded consumers as they await updates on their order.
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.
In Menu Ads that enable restaurants to feature their seasonal or specially priced menu item to entice consumers to take advantage of the promotional offer. Chipotle has been a pilot partner on this effort.
Highly visible 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.
Tablet Advertising pilot which will see strategic partners pilot in-car tablets in LA and SF.

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”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.”

In addition to Uber’s unique ability to help brands connect with consumers at relevant points throughout their journeys or transactions, the company provides comprehensive reporting and analysis. By offering this unique view into consumer behavior, brands are able to fine-tune their understanding of their consumers and create more impactful campaigns.

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