Uber launches ad campaign to capitalize on Timehop's growth
Ride-sharing service Uber is cornering its key demographic, millennials, with an ad campaign on photo-management application Timehop, joining brands such as CVS and Broadway show Act of God that have also recently appeared on the growing app.
Timehop is a mobile app that links to users? other social media accounts and provides a comprehensive look at what they posted on a particular date in years past, but has just recently gone ad supported. Uber is taking advantage of the recent opening to brands in an advertising campaign that directs potential drivers directly to its signup page to see if individuals can qualify.
?Providing direct links in the Timehop app make is convenient for people to be spontaneous which may drive more Uber signups, but not a lot,? said David Naumann, vice president of marketing at Boston Retail Partners. ?While the direct link makes it convenient, the challenge is will it appeal to enough people who are a good fit for Uber.
?The prime demographic for Timehop is young females and that is not the best fit for demographics of Uber drivers, who are predominately male and over 30 years old.?
Hopping social media
Users on Timehop are being diverted to a page that allows them to immediately discover if they are within the qualifications to become an Uber driver in the app?s ad platform that appears among the day?s posts. Each day, Timehop provides users with a linear news feed that congregates posts from years past, and now, features ads after the first few posts.
Uber is leveraging the new app among its continual campaign on other popular social media sites that garner a wide range of millennial users, such as Instagram and Snapchat. Yesterday, Uber?s driver signup campaign appeared simultaneously on Instagram, with the same direct call-to-action that allowed users to conveniently sign up.
The advertising feed on Timehop features a few other advertisers, which changes each time the user opens the app. The Broadway show, Act of God, encourages users to purchase tickets and displays a trailer, while CVS?s ad brings those that click directly to the App Store to download its mobile app.
Timehop advertising
The Syfy channel also jumped to Timehop to be its first advertiser, attempting to leverage the budding platform for a campaign that enhances the user experience rather than hinders it (see more).
Uber also recently streamlined support for both drivers and customers via a new in-app solution that promises faster response times than email (see more).
?With more than 12 million users, as of January 2016, Timehop is one of the fastest growing social mobile apps," Mr. Naumann said. "However, that pales in comparison to Facebook?s 155 million On This Day app, which is a direct competitor to Timehop.
?If the Uber campaign is a success, it will help attract more ads from other companies and spur continued growth of the Timehop app and help it compete more effectively with Facebook," he said.