Uber的新生财之道

    Uber和其他品牌的合作几乎让人目不暇接。

    10月21日，也就是所谓的“回到未来日”，Uber携手百事可乐在伦敦推出了免费乘坐德劳瑞恩轿车的活动，并在途中为乘客提供《回到未来》主题饮料。更早些时候，部分城市的Uber用户还获得了免费乘坐宝马7系轿车的机会，此举旨在推广宝马的新车。

    特别值得一提的是，作为按需打车服务商，Uber为自己制造了众多让人印象深刻的头条新闻（包括打官司和负面新闻在内）。这些一次性噱头当然有助于Uber保持曝光率，但该公司还有一项覆盖面更广的营销策略，让Uber一直成为人们的关注焦点，也让合作者接踵而至。

    目前跟Uber合作的品牌很多，其中喜达屋酒店集团会将Uber乘客的搭车里程转换为酒店的积分。另一个品牌是Capital One，它向Quicksilver信用卡持有者返还20%的乘车费用。Uber的其他合作伙伴还包括美国运通、希尔顿和贝宝。

    当然，品牌合作绝非新生事物，Uber应该也不是第一家借此大获成功的企业。说句公道话，10月21日让人们免费乘坐德劳瑞恩轿车的公司甚至都不止Uber一家。但毫无疑问，该公司的这项策略带有鲜明的Uber烙印。

    正如颠覆性技术研究机构Altimeter首席分析师布莱尔·索利斯所说：“Uber是一个基于软件的平台，它把实时、移动和社交这些因素集于一身，因而成了新合作模式的催化剂。”

    Uber加快了按需经济到来的速度，与此同时，在消费者的选择比以往任何时候都多（也更移动化）之际，Uber还帮各大品牌解决了接触到并留住消费者的问题。

    索利斯指出：“[Uber的挑战]是它必须接触到大众群体，而传统品牌和服务面临的挑战在于它们需要接触到新渠道中的那些消费者。在这种情况下，双方的合作把两个完全不同的世界连在了一起。”

    换句话说，Uber的策略可谓一举两得。索利斯认为：“这种做法非常聪明，它还展示了新平台如何敲开创造性机遇的大门。我是一名分析师，也是喜达屋会员和美国运通用户，这些合作确实给了我更多的理由来使用Uber的服务，就像所有旨在提高用户忠诚度的措施一样。”

    眼下Uber显然是按需拼车市场中的龙头企业，对其他品牌来说，搭上Uber的顺风车是一项明智的营销决策。此举能让这些品牌走近一个很大的用户群体（Uber虽未透露过自己的用户数量，但仅在纽约市，该公司提供的乘车服务就已超过3000万人次），并通过为这些乘车的移动用户的提供增值服务，直接接触到这些消费者。

    至于跟美国运通等方面的合作给Uber带来了多少收益，进行合理评估并不困难。索利斯说：“基于这些品牌花在Youtube和推特等新平台上的资金，我只能认为跟Uber合作价格不菲。”（财富中文网）

    译者：Charlie

    校对：詹妮

    Hardly a day goes by without Uber launching a new brand partnership.

    On Oct. 21, the so-called Back To The Future Day, Uber offered users in London free rides in a DeLorean in collaboration with Pepsi, providing complimentary beverages en route. Earlier this week, Uber passengers in select cities were treated to free trips in the BMW 7 Series to promote the new car.

    Especially for an on-demand taxi service, Uber has landed itself an impressive number of headlines (legal battles and negative press excluded). And while one-off stunts certainly help keep Uber relevant, there’s a broader marketing strategy in place that keeps the company top of mind—and others lining up to get on board.

    Among the many brands currently running partnerships with Uber is Starwood, which awards passengers hotel points for each ride they take. There’s also Capital One, which gives Quicksilver cardholders 20% back on rides. Other partners include Amex, Hilton, and PayPal.

    Of course, brand partnerships are nothing new, and Uber is hardly the first company to find great success with this method. And to be fair, it wasn’t even the only company to offer free DeLorean rides yesterday. However, it’s undeniable that the company has put its own spin on the strategy.

    As Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter, says, “Since Uber is a software based platform that combines real-time, mobile, and social, it’s a catalyst for a new model for collaboration.”

    Just as Uber hastened the arrival of the on-demand economy, it’s helping other brands parse the problem of reaching and retaining customers when they have more options (and are more mobile) than ever.

    “[Uber’s challenge] is that it has to reach the masses,” says Solis. “At the same time, the challenge traditional brands and service face is that they need to reach new connected customers. At the moment, these alliances bring two disparate worlds together.”

    In other words, its strategy kills two marketing birds with one stone: “It’s all very clever though and demonstrates how new platforms open new doors to creative possibilities. As an analyst, and also a Starwood member and Amex holder, these partnerships, like any loyalty-based program, do help me justify additional use of Uber,” says Solis.

    For other brands, hitching their wagon to Uber, currently the clear leader in the on-demand ridesharing market, is a sound marketing decision. It gets them exposure to a sizable user base—while Uber doesn’t share numbers, it’s delivered more than 30 million rides in New York City alone—and allows brands to reach a mobile audience by adding value to their rides. While Uber also gets additional exposure from partnering with Starwood and others, it’s also poised to benefit in a much more tangible way.

    As to how much the company pockets from teaming up with Amex and others, it isn’t hard to make an educated guess. “Judging by how much money I see brands spending on Youtube or Twitter or other new platforms, I can only imagine that it’s not inexpensive,” says Solis.