Marketing Strategy and SWOT Analysis of Uber

In a world where every person is in a rush, having a car is a requirement and, at the same time luxurious desire for one part of society. American Technological company Uber founded in 2009, is a simple technology platform that uses a smartphone application to bring together riders with drivers. Uber’s services also include ride-hailing, food delivery, package delivery, couriers, freight transportation, and many more. As throughout only 12 years, Uber succeeded in becoming one of the leading companies in this industry, this post is devoted to some marketing strategies and techniques that play a significant role in that path.

Let’s start with analyzing the goals, objectives and desired future position the company has.

Mission Statement

The company’s mission statement is “We ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion.” This short but at the same time clear message makes us draw some components, which are analyzed as follows:

Ignite opportunities: The company helps millions of people have jobs and earn money, who own a car and want to have someone to talk to when going somewhere. This is also an excellent chance for society, as Uber is more affordable and comfortable in most cases. So, in that sense, Uber is, of course, creating opportunities for society.

Setting the world in motion: Because of today’s traffic jams, we are often stuck in the same place. The mission statement of Uber shows that the company seeks to help everyone save their time, not waste it on the roads and instead be in motion.

As motion is essential when it comes to pace and pace is interconnected with progress, we can say that Uber is encouraging everyone not to stay in the same place and work for their future dreams.

Uber’s vision statement is “Transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone.”

In the case of the vision statement, we can conclude that the company seeks to provide reliable transportation in every place and for every person. The term running water is associated with time, which means that the customers would be served quicker. Reliability can also include the overall service and security.

Making transportation available everywhere would help people communicate with each other easily and can even ensure economic development. By making its offerings available for everyone, Uber makes the company international and believes that it is vital for each person to use their services.

Moving on, let’s understand what positioning strategies Uber prefers to use for branding.

For that purpose, let’s look at the following post from the company’s Instagram page.

Having over 1,4 million followers on Instagram, Uber describes a new way to get around their city- electric scooters.

As comfort is one of the most critical aspects for Uber when riding or driving a car, these electric scooters have come to the industry to provide Uber users and many other people with a safe and affordable ride. Electric scooters are fun and easy to use as one just needs to order them from the Uber app.

One of the significant advantages of Uber Electric scooters is that one can save time by not getting into traffics. This novelty is mad for the people who are energetic and always ready to “overcome boundaries” on their own.

Having said all of these, it becomes clear that Uber belongs to The Hero Brand archetype.

Now, let’s learn some facts about this brand archetype.

The company’s slogan states, “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Desire: to prove one’s worth through brave actions

Aim: to improve the world

Strategy: to be strong and competent in full force

Values: energy, concentration, ambitiousness, focus

Now let’s move to the messaging levels of The Hero.

Level One: the call of the representatives begins when somebody tries to abuse other people, so the hero feels that the person is in need

Level Two: going into competitions, overcoming boundaries, becoming confident  

Level three: doing duties for the community as a soldier

Level four: using the ability to develop and change the world, the surrounding

The Hero would provide a great identity for the brands:

• That can somehow have a major positive impact on the world
• Who want to beat their competitors
• That has a customer base, which identifies itself as moral citizens
• That are not indifferent to major social problems

Now, let’s get into the SWOT analysis of this American Technology Company

Strengths

Brand Recognition

Uber has become the synonym of ridesharing because Uber has created a strong brand name during the 12 years of its existence. Uber is offering its services to more than 50 countries globally and has more than 80 million active users. As the company has received a lot of media coverage, it helped them to gain brand value.

Network and Easy Integration

The company can integrate with other companies’ platforms exceptionally quickly, which is a great advantage. This is because Uber can create a network of riders who will also use many other services, including insurance companies, taxi companies, and much more.

Accessibility

Besides being available in more than 50 countries, Uber is accessible to people who have internet and a smartphone, which, indeed, makes everyone’s job easier.

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, Uber’s central policy is beneficial both for the drivers and industry as it states, “Higher the Demand, Higher the Price.” If the weather is rainy, it is winter, or it is too hot, then the drivers will make more money for their service.

Customer-Centric Approach

The company gives massive importance to the feedback their customers give, so at the end of every ride, they always give a mark from 1-5stars, make comments about the driver, the atmosphere, etc. It is worth mentioning that the drivers are also able to comment about their clients.

Weaknesses

Dependency on drivers

Each reckless opinion or a step of the driver negatively affects the company’s reputation. During the past years, more than 100 Uber drivers have been accused of sexual, racial harassment. So, in that case, the drivers’ behavior is unpredictable, which can even tarnish their reputation and make them less competitive in this industry.

Consistent losses

There was a time that Uber gave too many bonuses to its drivers and discounts to the customers to gain a reputation and beat competition, which made them lose billion dollars. While Uber’s revenue has increased, the loss did not let Uber be the top of one of the top ridesharing companies for a long time.

Internet Dependency

As the company’s offerings are only available to the people who have access to the Internet and a smartphone, people living in countries, continents where there is no internet or do not have smartphones, Uber’s services are unreal. So, in that sense, the number of potential customers is limited.

Opportunities

Business Expansion

As a technology company, Uber offers several services, such as Uber Eats, Uber Bike. It would be great for the company if they add some services, such as transporting old patients to hospitals, taking children to schools, etc. In more developed and well-urbanized countries and cities, the company can even have a bus service.

Utilize Digitalization

As day by day, the world is getting digitalized; it would be beneficial for the company to expand its customers by investing in its services such as Uber Bike, Uber Eats. There are many developed or developing countries where Uber is still not operating, so increasing its customer base in these countries is a great chance.

Own Vehicles

Instead of buying vehicles from other manufacturers, Uber can start producing its cars, allowing them to sell the vehicles on the market.

Threats

Increasing Competition

At present, several companies have become potential competitors for Uber, including Lyft and Ola. To not lose its place in the industry, Uber has to always keep up with trends and, more importantly, satisfy its customers.

Safety Concern

As we’ve mentioned earlier, many Uber drivers were accused of sexual and racial harassment and overall rude attitude. Because of it, Uber was criticized for not being a safe technological company.

And the last topic that we’ll discuss in this post is the target segment that Uber has chosen.

For that purpose, let’s watch this commercial.

The commercial describes the unusual date of this beautiful young person, who does not even know whether to go for a handshake or hug and eventually bump into each other.

Throughout the whole video, it is noticeable that they use several Ubers to go from one place to another. As every motion of the couple is described speedily, this makes us believe that Uber makes everyone’s life easier, as it helps us save our time and not waste it on the roads.

The primary heroes of the commercial are wearing stylish but at the same time comfortable clothes. The boy even changes his shirt and gets an even more modern look. These people like to go to new places and meet new people.

They are running throughout the whole video, but it stays a secret who they were running from. However, it is more important to notice that all Uber cars are luxurious, which makes us think that Uber provides qualified services.

 At the end of the commercial, the slogan says “Anywhere, effortlessly,” meaning that everything is possible and accessible through using Uber.

So, it becomes evident that as a target segment, Uber has chosen Conscious Progressives.

Now, let’s learn some interesting facts about this target segment.

Lifestyle and Values.

• As inferred from the commercial, Conscious Progressives are highly active people fond of going to new places, meeting new people, and discovering new things. “Actions speak louder” is one of the slogans that can describe these people, as they always do more than speak.

• One of the desirable activities of this target segment is visiting foreign countries and cities. While Conscious Progressives are unique in many ways, they do not separate themselves from the mainstream and consider themselves part of society.

• The representatives of this target group are open to having a promising career, but they will not sacrifice themselves for a higher position or a salary. Conscious Progressives believe that it is vital to contribute to the company’s success personally.

• Being attractive is one of the main components of them. They like to dress well, look nice, but their style is rather casual. It is more critical for them to be attractive with intellect and personality.

• Conscious Progressives are one of the environmentally friendly target segments. These people care about the place they live in and try not to pollute or harm.

• People belonging to this target segment are above media users, and the main reason for that is to gain information. They are fond of the Internet and newspapers. Conscious progressives are also included in the group of people who listen to the radio every day.

Shopping Preferences:

• When it comes to shopping, conscious progressives prefer quality over the look. Although they can buy for emotional reasons, like every other person, conscious progressives are more demanding.

• While these people always try to dress stylishly, comfort in clothing is an essential feature.

• 75% of these target groups like to watch an advertisement, and they believe that every ad should be entertaining.

Putting everything in a nutshell, this post was about one of the world’s leading ridesharing and technological companies. We mainly focused on the company’s goals, objectives, and desired future position; its SWOT analysis, and target segment, which are the main components of every successful company. To read more posts like this, check the main page of our website.