visionslive uber brand report 19.2.16

Document History: Version 6.0 – 17th February 2016 Copyright © VisionsLive Limited 2009-2016

UBER Brand Report Using online qualitative research

Online Qualitative Research made simple

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VisionsLive – Global leaders in online qualitative research tools and services

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Section One: Introduction and brief

Introduction 3 About UBER 4 1. Target audience? 4 1.1 Research objective? 5 1.2 Any specifics? 5 1.3 Stimulus material 5 1.4 Analysis 5

Section Two:

2. Executive summary 6 2.1 Primary positive usp’s 6 2.2 Contributing plus factors 6 2.3 Negative comments 6 2.4 Recommendations / suggestions for improvement 7 2.5 Others over UBER? 7 Section Three: Key findings & implications

3. Brand awareness 8 3.1 Brand integrity 8 3.2 Pricing 9 3.3 Customer acquisition and retention 9

Section Four:

4. Detailed findings with verbatims 10 4.1 Is UBER competitively priced? 11 4.2 Reactions to UBER advert featuring car & app 12 4.3 Advertisement 2 – Moving People 13 4.4 Concerns about safety 15 4.5 About the commercial 16 4.6 Appeal to others – make UBER more attractive 17 4.7 UBER as a person 18

Section Five: Online research products and services available

5. V+ Focus Groups 20 5.1 V+ Boards 20 5.2 V+ Mobile 21

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Contents

Section One: Introduction and brief

Introduction VisionsLive – a provider of online market research tools and services – decided in late 2015, to carry out an un-commissioned piece of research to use as a case study for the online qualitative approach.

The company and brand chosen for this was the global transportation company phenomenon – UBER.

UBER has since changed brand identity, however this piece of research (which was carried out prior to the company’s rebrand), interestingly goes some way to validate retrospectively, that these innovative entrepreneurs have managed to anticipate the needs of their customers in their quest to continually drive the brand forward in the global marketplace.

However it has also uncovered some quite startling and revealing observations in the way that qualitative research aspires to deliver – not only just information, but also to provide meaningful and actionable insights into what consumers truly think and want by using effective techniques designed to tap into their deeper thoughts and emotions.

Much has been / is written and reported about UBER from a lobbyist or strategic viewpoint; London Taxi Company, Transport for London, global technical, financial and news media and of course UBER themselves. However, not much has been put forward or has been visible from a consumer angle – some would argue that the technology and service just works.

Recently, interested groups have been taking more action to challenge UBER’s activities and in essence their core business model; in many countries taxi drivers who have protested on the streets that UBER has ridden rough shod over the licencing laws ie that they are not playing by the rules in terms of official transport regulations.

These episodes have been well documented in the press and have acted as a reference point for this brief. As far as we know, there has been no online qualitative research conducted with UBER customers so this brief is concerned solely with UBER consumers using the service in the Greater London area..

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1. Target Audience? Consumer segments to be targeted/ sourced:

Males and females – 17 to 65 split by 17-35, 36+

Personal users living in Greater London and commuting – UBER account holders only

No database or source currently exists

Research focused on a sample size of 30 people

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Whether you’re headed to Shoreditch, Chelsea, or to Heathrow, the Uber app connects you with a reliable ride – from low-cost to premium – in minutes. Payment is automatic through the app and fares are usually cheaper than a taxi.

About UBER

UBER was founded in 2009 and is an American international transportation network company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The founders are Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp. The company is evolving the way the world moves. By seamlessly connecting riders to drivers through their app, they make cities more accessible, opening up more possibilities for riders and more business for drivers. UBER says that their rapidly expanding global presence continues to bring people and their cities closer. www.uber.com

1.1 Research objective? The issue to be investigated is brand perception, consumer journey (quite literally) and overall

experience versus other modes of transport:

Primary – What is the brand definition.

Primary – What aspects of the brand experience are most attractive and why.

Secondary – What elements of the user journey are poor / need improvement and why.

Secondary – What other additions to / types of services do respondents think UBER could offer to

improve and expand its market offering, why and how would these affect their use of the service?

Under what circumstances would respondents use other transport providers / forms of transport

and why.

What barriers / concerns exist to adopting / increasing use of UBER.

It would be expected that were these results to be taken up by UBER, that it would be able to use the

insight gathered to improve and extend its market position.

In addition, marketing communications will be more closely targeted towards specific segments of its customer base: Older / younger / commuters / international travellers / UBER users / non users.

1.2 Any specifics? Research is to be conducted using a mix of

online methodologies only.

1.3 Stimulus material Stimulus was defined by the project team using

various publically available UBER promotional materials.

1.4 Analysis Analysis includes video and audio captured from respondent activities.


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Section Two:

2. Executive summary The UBER brand has cultivated a good level of awareness in the Greater London area with only 20% of the non-UBER account holders not being aware of the brand before the study.

The brand can be defined as convenient, efficient and innovative in its approach offering a cost effective and easy way to book a taxi form of transportation.

Significantly, the UBER brand is perceived as being more personalised, friendly and customer oriented than traditional alternatives.

2.1 Primary positive usp’s The brand is perceived to hit the 3 key touch point criteria namely price (competitive with key rival Black Cab or minicab alternative); efficiency (quick to book, no time spent hailing or time wasted telephoning for the service, being to quick arrive and journey time from A-B); and reliability (certainty that the selected mode of transport will not be subject to lateness, strikes, not running at the desired time of travel). It also deemed important that the drivers know where they are going in order to fulfil this combination of efficiency and reliability.

2.2 Contributing plus factors Respondents’ positive reactions to the brand were also around the cashless methodology, and the certainty of the final cost being known at the outset. Friendliness and flexibility were also much appreciated for example being able to split the bill among friends, to the drivers putting the customer first, allowing own music to be played and even helping with unloading of items all were mentioned enthusiastically.

Comfortable cars were also mentioned especially for business needs, where room to work in a stress free, sympathetic and spacious environment were appreciated.

2.3 Negative comments The notion of SURGE pricing of between 1.5 to 3 x the standard rate was a massive turn off for the consumers once they were made aware of this model. This smacked of exploitation by taking advantage of circumstances outside of the consumers control and also hinted at a lack of UBER resourcing.

The other factors perhaps only engendered by the adverse campaigning were surrounding the possible safety concerns and risks raised by the spectre of unchecked, unregistered drivers and vehicles being employed by UBER. It did not seem to be a spontaneous worry.

There was also some mention of possible elitism (only for the rich who can afford it) and fear /perception of higher prices and despite the appreciation of comfort, the alleged insistence of leather seats engendered some negativity from a respondent.

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The ignorance of the app, its possible costs to download, have running on smartphones and some confusion on the activation code implementation could put some potential customers off, plus some fears about data security and hacking of bank details as typifies any electronic payment methodology.

2.4 Recommendations / suggestions for improvement

Suggest (if true) that UBER can in many cases work out less than Black Cabs due to the online

most direct route calculation.

To do away with concept of SURGE pricing – only to suggest that prices may be more at peak

times of demand but that the price will always be communicated and known at point of booking.

Stress the cashless / pre-payment aspect and although this was only subliminally alluded to,

the lack of pressure / necessity to tip on top of the travel cost fee appealed to the money

conscious consumer.

Note that charges are only levied when rides bookings are quoted and accepted at rate

presented. Ie no other recurring or ad hoc charges for having the app / account.

Add PayPal as a method of payment option.

Promote the flexibility of luggage, ability to take more unusual items.

Make more UK friendly advertising (current video was criticised as being overly American orientated).

Expand to outer London areas.

Promote airport runs.

Encourage referrals and confidence building by offering incentives for introductions to UBER,

discounted trip or free trip.

Ensure that the ease and no cost aspect of downloading the app are communicated. Notably for

the older less IT savvy consumer.

Allay any safety / security fears by noting in a low key manner the fact that drivers and vehicles are

vetted and that all trips are recorded with driver booked and journey details.

Note any data security measures on website / signup for card transactions and client account details.

2.5 Others over UBER?

UBER is not a choice over all other methods of transportation, where other methods such as bus, tube, cycling, walking, are as easy, convenient, cheap and timely

(and where UBER service is not provided of course). It is primarily competing in the market space where taxi / minicabs operate as these are chosen only as a

method of transport in certain scenarios as a preference where other means do not fit the need. There are often a myriad of considerations as to what mode is selected depending on the occasion, time of day, etc.

Regular taxi users may well be encouraged to switch their business to UBER. For others it is choosing UBER over Black Cabs or mini-cabs in those most

pressing appointments and business use. To otherwise select UBER for non-urgent personal use would be prohibitive in terms of cost for most people.

Section Three: Key findings & implications

3. Brand awareness What is very clear is that the uptake of UBER has been only partly attributable to direct media advertising, but rather a combination of growth driven through personal recommendation via friends, family and work colleagues using the service. The take-up of UBER has depended on the notion and reinforced by direct experience – and recommendation – that UBER is comparable or even better priced than its nearest alternative – ie Black Cabs / mini-cabs. Whilst the ‘luxury’ aspect is welcomed and the superior personal tailored service and cashless pre-paid are of course welcome bonuses, it does reinforce the idea that UBER is not a choice for everyday transportation use.

Where media has contributed to the brand awareness, this has been rather surprisingly attributed to the generally negative publicity and general furore caused by the Black Cab and other providers in this sector. This admittedly has had some negative impact on the perceptions of the brand, but on the up side has resulted in much free publicity which has placed the brand name and service in front of much of its target market who otherwise would be unaware of its existence.

3.1 Brand integrity UBER seems to have pulled off the necessary slow burn growth approach for the brand and therefore avoid the dangerous scenario faced by any new brand where the most damaging factor is not from unsubstantiated criticisms from competitors, rather by avoiding the adverse and possible long term effects of not being able to effectively deliver on the brand promise.

In UBERS’s case this is to quickly, efficiently and reliably provide on demand, a cost effective method of taxi transport at known cost whenever a booking is attempted. It is quite laudable that UBER seems in the main to have pulled off this balance between supply and demand from the get-go in order to have been able to fulfil these commissions, as very little actual direct complaints were encountered surrounding any non-fulfilment of the service. Where this was encountered – where anecdotally a relative had been stranded due to the driver not being able to locate her and then a replacement was not available in the area – this was very damaging for anyone contemplating something new.

Notably UBER seem to have been able to win a coup over the Black Cab service. Customers have relished the opportunity to get some pay-back and ability to step away from what is often perceived as a monopolistic and arrogantly held market position. Customers often felt at the mercy to be exploited by the lack of alternatives once the type of journey had dictated that a taxi service is the preferred or only viable option. One respondent put it succinctly:

The ability to pay beforehand as a cashless transaction at known price also featured as a massive usp for this mode of transportation allied with the clear advance pricing and less waiting time spent looking to hail a cab or telephoning round for one.


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I use UBER rather than Black Cabs as I found them a bit cheaper and I trust them to go a more direct way.

3.2 Pricing Pricing was generally perceived to be competitive in the London area where respondent experiences were gathered, it may not of course be the case when expanding to other regions of the country where prices are likely to be lower for taxi services.

However, notwithstanding his perceived advantage regarding the pricing model, whilst a peak v off peak supply / demand charging structure was grudgingly deemed acceptable (in a society where there are few instances that consumers will happily pay more for the same service on differing occasions), the suggestion of SURGE pricing (where prices are increased by a factor of between 1.5 and 3 x the normal tariff,) when communicated to respondents was viewed very dimly. Respondents vouched that this would actually dissuade them from even signing up for an account.

In reality, unless this is actively communicated up front, whilst lack of transparency is to be avoided (as it never is good for it to be discovered that a company has deliberately obfuscated its charges), as the price for any trip is quoted up front and therefore it is the consumers choice as to accept or decline, this risk can easily be circumvented. If there is any question about disparity between charges, the mention of peak time should be sufficient, if it is noted somewhere on the account sign up and website, the consumer will not feel that they have been duped or misled. This differential pricing, should of course in no way be suggested as being driven by lack of resourcing on UBER’s part.

3.3 Customer acquisition and retention

UBER has tried to head off the concerns foisted by opposition scaremongering tactics surrounding the safety concerns of unregistered / un-vetted drivers and cars by having the words SAFEST and also images of women and children featured in press advertising. However, it did not feature highly in the list of important criteria when respondents were prompted. In fact some negativity was aroused by the blatant attempt to manipulate emotions by use of these and actually had the reverse effect of having the safety issue to be brought to the forefront rather than concentrating on the positive usp’s and messages of a modern, and alternative cost effective service. The idea that the service actually could in fact, cost less than a Black Cab or minibus by use of the innovative approach and achieved by the app plotting the most direct route whilst being just as good, in fact superior in comfort, flexibility and convenience perhaps should be the primary message.

There is huge suspicion that some taxis always take the longest route and the ability of consumers to also be able to avoid having to tip whilst not overtly stated in the transcripts, was alluded to, and certainly will be in the back of consumers’ minds when thinking about the comparative cost. By pre-paying a set fee and at the same time, this makes it easier to avoid the dissonance caused by the decision of whether to tip and by how much by the UBER methodology of cashless pre-payment.

Ultimately in terms of marketing UBER to fresh markets and new customers, whilst personal recommendation can be a marketer and advertisers worst ‘enemy’, it could be UBERS best ally in that it is more believable and inspires more confidence than any amount of media spend.

A personification exercise seemed to reinforce this proposition and provided some very interesting insights whereby UBER was perceived as being young, friendly and professional, but perhaps a little selfish and naïve. Role models such as Richard Branson and Stephen Fry were put forward as examples, and so perhaps endorsements by a combination of trusted personalities and everyday UBER users may be a good approach, combining the pre-conceptions of the brand backed up with some believable actual life experiences to reinforce the credibility and acceptability among potential future customers.


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Section Four:

4. Detailed findings with verbatims

The choice of UBER over alternative means of transportation will usually be decided by the following factors as this quote aptly demonstrates:

Here we see the words elitist and high earners and also some dissonance caused by the adverse press, but also the positive side – where the objections from the Black Cab drivers is seen to possibly have some substance – whereby UBER might actually be a better service, and also for those account holders who had used them, the price perceptions were extremely positive:

The factors that influence my journeys all depend on what time of the day it is. The times are important with public transport as for instance, when the schools finish on a week day; I can’t get on the bus so I usually wait until it is a bit quieter. I definitely try not to use the tube at peak times because I can’t stand the feeling of suffocation, although at times it is necessary for me to do so. Mini cabs at peak times are always hard to get as well.

Once the decision has been made to choose a taxi over other methods it becomes a little more complex. This now brings in the price: Efficiency and reliability criterion, where if UBER is perceived to rate more highly than the nearest competitor (typically Black Cab or mini-cab); then softer more emotional and subliminal type 2 decision making comes to bear as seen in the following verbatims taken from one of the focus groups where prejudices and pre-conceptions fuelled by the media come into the decision and thought processes:

4.1 Is UBER competitively priced?


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Posted by Sarah W. on 12 Sep 2015 6:50 PM Absolutely! They’re sometimes a quarter of the cost of another taxi company it’s why I use them!

Posted by Darrell P. on 12 Sep 2015 8:55 AM In my experience the answer is yes it is very competitively priced compared with the other options and more reliable I feel.

The importance of personal recommendation is also represented by the comment below taken from the transcript of the AV Focus Group:

Janice: It would be really interesting to me, because my daughter knows and she uses it a lot. This is interesting, because I didn’t know they gave you the price beforehand for instance. Living in Essex, I’m not in London a lot, but the other night. If they did it down here I know I would use it a lot, but if I go into London most times I use taxis at the end of the night, in the evening. I’m not in London that much of an evening, apart over Christmas and when I go to see show, but then for sure I would definitely use it. It sounds really good.

and from an UBER account holder on the Bulletin Boards:

Posted by Ibby. on 11 Sep 2015 7:29 PM It made me feel good about uber because I trust my friends opinion on transportation.

But the negative surrounding the SURGE pricing were voiced as well put below in the AV Group by the same respondent:

Reactions to Surge Pricing Well do you know what I did find out by doing the survey thing before, that is has a price... They’ve raised the prices at certain times or something, because when I read all about that. That somehow turned me off. That doesn’t indicate that anywhere at all, that there’s a price rise... I forget what it’s called. It goes up in stages or something.


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4.2 Reactions to UBER advert featuring car & app

Here we see a positive reaction to the car and map depicted in Advert 1, and interestingly the word safe is not thought to be as appealing as taking the most efficient route. Customers don’t like to be reminded that something might not be safe, rather they prefer to concentrate on the more positive aspects that they base their choices on.

4.3 Advertisement 2 – Moving People Respondents certainly were very straight forward in wanting an advert to state clearly what it meant and not to use overt and obvious coercive images like pictures of attractive women or of children to persuade.

See below advertisement 2 of a series shown with some reactions to it.


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Some other comments about this ad were:

Jenni A: Its a pointless advert. Its not clear, its not helpful and uses women as eye candy. Its not clear what its for so i wouldn’t sign up for it. Maybe if someone was looking for an online dating service they might click to sign up!!

Leanne M: It could be a phishing scam with such little info, no way would I click on sign up.

Phillip: For someone who doesn’t know that Uber, this might be, something like, what am I signing up for here? I don’t think moving people and the wording is quite correct. I mean, they are moving people, but I don’t think that explains what the service is.

… but I think for people who haven’t use Uber, it would be useful to say that download the app, because I think a lot of people would be thinking, “Oh well tonight I can’t get a taxi. Well I’ll just use Uber.” What you want to do, is tell people to have the app on your phone already. Then use it. Don’t wait till you’re coming out of a night club at 4o’clock in the morning.

(from AV/Webcam Chat Group Transcript)


Micheal: I think its cheaper. The same as Collin. I think as well the driver seems nicer. They seem friendlier than normal taxi companies. I don’t know why, that’s just, yeah.

Positives were again around the idea of being attended to in minutes, the friendly informal approach and reinforced the idea that the UBER puts their customer’s needs at the centre of their focus.

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Posted by Vaishali M. on 14 Sep 2015 9:48 PM Due to bad press heard in US, I am bit scared about such issues so some information should be provided as what Uber is doing to tackle this.

4.4 Concerns about safety

There was certainly an acknowledgement from the media reports about UBER drivers being unvetted / unregistered and this had stirred up some concerns that perhaps would not have been otherwise on consumers’ minds notably from female respondents. Men did not seem unduly concerned.

Here is a selection of comments from the Bulletin Board discussion:

Posted by Gaynor B. on 14 Sep 2015 7:32 AM Not really. I actually was under the impression that their drivers were vetted...

Since starting this research I’ve had a look on the Uber website. They are an international company, I don’t see why their set up in the UK would suddenly start employing potential rapists.

Posted by jenni a. on 14 Sep 2015 6:26 PM I don’t know the brand which would make me wary as to reliability, trustworthiness and who they are in general.


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Posted by donna a. on 14 Sep 2015 3:32 PM not really, as long as the drivers have been stringently checked it seems safe enough.

However when presented with the advertisement with the young child with the word SAFETY prominently featured this certainly seemed to get consumers’ minds focussed on the safety aspect as the Heat Map exercise example left demonstrates:


Janice: First of all, I wasn’t thinking taxis, I was thinking they’re going to a wedding or they’re going to a show. I didn’t think ... It didn’t lead me to think they were going to a taxi. It lead me to think a ball, a wedding or something like that. The taxi only comes towards the end.

4.5 About the commercial

Alloust: For me they were only there to pick up their kids.

Collin: What I can add there is that, I wouldn’t of actually realized that they were a taxi service.

In addition, although the commercial was thought to be professional in its production, there was some kick back with it being American in location and not tailored for the UK market.

Phillip: Well it’s fine, but if I had the service in England, where they use it. I think it’s cheap to use an American ad. It seems to be like, “Well you’re not that important to have an ad made.”

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Reactions to the UBER video commercial were mixed, in that it was generally well received but it was felt that the messages were not clear if you did not previously know anything about UBER. For example there was some confusion between who the taxi drivers were and who the customers were.


4.6 Appeal to others – make UBER more attractive

Collin: I agree, simply because since I am only 22 and 9 times out of 10 now all we use is Uber. It’s just so much easier than getting a taxi. Everyone of my age knows of it and we use it.

The perception is of course that given the use of technology in the process that it is the younger generation who should be the biggest target for the UBER proposition but if the older generation could be persuaded to try it and they had a positive experience (probably not trusting it fully until the taxi actually arrived), then some inroads could be made in this market sector.

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Micheal: I think because at the end definitely, young people will go for that as opposed to trying to hail a cab or call a cab company.


Colin J. (Non Account Holder)

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4.7 UBER as a person

Sarah W. (UBER customer) UBER would be your best male friend, easy going, always there and always happy to help!

Jason E. (Non Account Holder) I think UBER would be a smart younger person 30ish, well dressed and probably male, he would be quite head strong and have some good ideas but sometimes rushes into his and they do not always work out. I think he will be very successful but will have to be a bit patient so everyone can get used to their ideas.

The idea which was explored at a deeper level via the personification exercise yielded some interesting support to this idea. Here are a few examples:

(Some typos and grammar corrections have been made to this verbatim)

Sammie b. (Non Account Holder) I think that it would be a man and he would be quite casual, he’s not as professional as some other people that he is similar too. He likes to be very tech savvy (That’s meant to be an Ipad in his hand. They’re friendly.

William l. (Non Account Holder) Richard branson. Richard would be aged about 40. He adorns a tartan skirt with a sporran to keep his uber service earnings in. Richard would be gregarious, chatterbox, loves pointing out & filling his passengers with history of places as his vehicle flies by. Richard would be a competent & knowledgeable uber driver.

Gaynor B. (Non Account Holder)


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Section Five: Online research products and services available

5. V+ Focus Groups

V+ Live Focus Groups are the fastest and most cost-effective way to run live online focus groups today. Anyone with an internet connection and a web browser can take part. You can choose whether you want to use text-based chat or full AV interaction with webcams. V+ Live Online Focus Groups give researchers full control to moderate the discussion and interact with respondents via rich chat or full webcam / audio; show stimulus, annotate, and move objects on a whiteboard; send open-ended or closed questions; upload and present video clips, and much more.

5.1 V+ Boards

With V+ Bulletin Boards, respondents and moderators can participate in an online research project in their own time, from anywhere in the world, in any language. Present any kind of digital media, build any kind of study with our easy-to-use wizard, and work with respondents in exactly the way you want.

Go beyond text chat and static images and engage participants with interactive whiteboards, video, polls, and more.

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Report Ends

5.2 V+ Mobile V+ Mobile lets you be there when ‘it’ happens. Capture in-the-moment insights from inside the lives of

consumers with the VisionsLive Mobile App. Enter their world and uncover the when, where and why

of every day, by revealing the needs, wants and opinions of real people in order to answer your critical

business questions.

Set and track discussions, activities and tasks

Capture key points in their journey

Be there when ‘it’ happens

Understand more

Whether you need a way to get mystery shopper insights, or have key questions you need to discuss with

respondents when they are in-the-moment, V+ Mobile opens a window into their world.

VisionsLive Limited is a world leader in

Online Qualitative Research solutions and

provides software solutions which are an

integral part of its customer service offering.

Its products, which focus on delivering a

positive user experience, have at their

core an ability to enable users to truly

understand their customers’ behaviour.

– Online Qualitative Research made simple™.

Products are available in 32 languages and include:

Live Online Focus Groups – Text / AV Chat

In Depth interviewing

Bulletin Boards and Mini Communities from PC / Mobile

Video / image upload, user diaries and ethnography on-the-go

Social Qualitative Research Solutions

Online Qualitative Research Solutions

The company provides 24-hour support and facilitates market research anytime, anywhere.

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