Module #5

Branding and Marketing Uber

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Branding and Marketing Uber

Question 1

One of the key things that is going for Uber is that within the short span of time they have been able to make sure that their brand has created an identity for itself. Due to that, the brand logo and name has really been established with the passage of time and thus becoming one of the more well recognized brands across the world (Meffert et al, 2015). The other thing that has worked out well for them is that in the relatively short span of time, they have been able to create certain degree of brand equity (Meffert et al, 2015). What Uber needs though is that they need to come up with a strong logo (Meffert et al, 2015). At the moment, despite the fact that the sign is well known across the world, they have not been able to create logo as iconic or as distinctive as its rival Careem (Meffert et al, 2015). So, this one of the area that they can work upon as the logo that is needed to be created should be such that should resonate with the broader theme and must provide greater semblance of the brand equity that they have been able to create. The logo of the brand must be such that it should resonate with the target audience at the appropriate level and it should be one of the defining aspects of how the brand is supposed to work (Meffert et al, 2015).

These brands, brands have also been able to create the broader theme that tends to support them (Tomczak et al, 2018). It is one of the other areas that Uber does not seem to be doing too well as they have restricted themselves to an extent due to the limited logo that they tend to use. The small but catchy phrase must be used to make sure that the underlying message that is related with the brand could be communicated with the target audience (Meffert et al, 2015). The colour is also an important aspect of the branding and marketing (Kotler & Keller, 2016). At the moment, the prevailing theme that has been used by Uber is that they have a black background screen on which the Uber is written with white colour (Phuong & Dai, 2018). Even though it is simple elegant and classy, there is a need to make sure that the logo and colour should be made more vibrant and colourful and one of the ways it could be done is that they should be using the more universal colours with the brighter theme (Müller & Kirchgeorg, 2017). All these things aside, nothing is going to establish the brand power of Uber other than the way the brand movement is supposed to be carried out (Kotler & Keller, 2016). The idea is that how the brand shifts and expands as well as condenses at the given point of time (Kotler & Keller, 2016). There are many brands that have trademark branded vehicles that are roaming the street and Uber being one of the brands in the world and a major taxi riding service, it would be well served that they integrate the element of movement in terms of the way branding is carried out (Müller & Kirchgeorg, 2017). Thus, there is scope for Uber to make sure that they work upon some of the brand elements to make sure that they are able to further penetrate among their target market (Kotler & Keller, 2016).

Question 2

Most of the brands do not have an idea about what the brand promise is and thus they are not able to deliver on the promise in an appropriate manner (Müller & Kirchgeorg, 2017). The brand promise is the statement that is made by the brand at the given point of time or the business that how the services and the goods are going to be working out and what are some of the broader expectations (Müller & Kirchgeorg, 2017). The brand promise might also be looked at in the context with some of the benefits and experiences of the client base (Brodie et al. 2017). The brand promise as far as Uber is concerned is that how they tend to offer riding services to the customers who have installed their application (Müller & Kirchgeorg, 2017). The application comes with a tracker as well as how customer has complete visibility in terms of the amount of time that they have travelled and the distance that has taken them. The other thing that Uber tends to commit is that how they tend to provide security to the clients who are using the service as it allows them to make sure that they are able to share their locations with their loved ones (Müller & Kirchgeorg, 2017). The captains and the drivers that are brought on board in Uber is also well trained staff who has complete idea with regards to the way driving rules and regulations are supposed to work and Uber claims that it carries out complete verification of their records so that it can be made sure that once they are on road, they are not bringing into jeopardy the lives of the customers who are using the service (Brodie et al. 2017).

Keeping in mind the brand promise of Uber, they have more or less delivered on what they intend to give to the customers (Brodie et al. 2017). The rides and the quality of the services is quite decent to say the last except for the lack of consistency that is witnessed at different points of time (Brodie et al. 2017). The other thing that they tend to offer to the customers is the increased safety and security in terms of how they move from one place to the another and how the customers are able to track their vehicles in an easy going and efficient manner (Brodie et al. 2017). The other dimension that they have added to the way they tend to provide service to the broader customer base. In the hindsight, the service standard and the reach of Uber is such that it can be assumed that they more or less committed to the promise that they have delivered to the customer base (Müller & Kirchgeorg, 2017). The other thing that works out well for them is that the service is available in most of the parts of the world making it one of the more recognizable brands in the world (Phuong & Dai, 2018).

References

Brodie, R. J., Benson-Rea, M., & Medlin, C. J. (2017). Branding as a dynamic capability: Strategic advantage from integrating meanings with identification. Marketing Theory, 17(2), 183-199.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Meffert, H., Rauch, C., & Lepp, H. L. (2015). Sustainable Branding—mehr als ein neues Schlagwort?!. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 27(5), 28-35.

Müller, J., & Kirchgeorg, M. (2017, April). Audio branding in line with brand personality. In (((ABA))) Audio Branding Academy Yearbook 2010/2011 (pp. 189-203). Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.

Phuong, N. N. D., & Dai Trang, T. T. (2018). Repurchase Intention: The Effect of Service Quality, System Quality, Information Quality, and Customer Satisfaction as Mediating Role: A PLS Approach of M-Commerce Ride Hailing Service in Vietnam. Marketing and Branding Research, 5(2), 78.

Tomczak, T., Esch, F. R., Kernstock, J., & Herrmann, A. (2018). Behavioral branding. Wie Mitarbeiterverhalten die Marke stärkt, 1.