Lyft Inc.
has fashioned Lyft Media, a brand new enterprise unit consolidating and increasing the promoting choices on the ride-hailing firm.
The information comes greater than two years after Lyft acquired Halo Vehicles Inc., which makes displays to run digital adverts atop vehicles, and as Lyft faces an more and more crowded market for promoting in and round automotive companies.
Lyft hopes the brand new promoting merchandise can generate income and assist it compete in opposition to rivals like
Uber Applied sciences Inc.,
which entered the media enterprise in 2019, when it began promoting adverts by its Uber Eats app. Uber later started providing adverts atop its vehicles and inside its major ride-hailing app.
Past the rooftop adverts, Lyft will now permit manufacturers to serve content material on in-car tablets that riders can use to trace their routes, tip and charge drivers, and management the music in every automotive. Lyft has been testing that service in Los Angeles in latest months and expects to supply it in 25% of all rides by year-end in Los Angeles and three different cities, based on a spokeswoman.
The corporate can be promoting adverts on digital show panels at docking stations for bike-share companies it owns, together with New York’s Citi Bike and San Francisco’s Bay Wheels, a spokeswoman mentioned.
Lyft has additionally been providing in-app sponsorships that embody banner adverts and branded icons. In a single early instance,
Vita Coco Co.
ran a marketing campaign known as “The Hangover Store” on the day after Tremendous Bowl LVI, changing all automotive photographs within the Lyft app with coconuts, mentioned Vita Coco Chief Advertising Officer Jane Prior.
Lyft will work with third-party companies to assist advertisers measure marketing campaign efficiency utilizing mixture knowledge, however gained’t acquire private knowledge from riders, mentioned
Kenan Saleh,
normal supervisor of Lyft Media and former chief government of Halo. Focusing on for app, pill and rooftop adverts might be primarily based on the time and placement of journeys, and riders can flip the tablets off at any time, although fewer than 1% have performed so in check research, Mr. Saleh mentioned.
A portion of income from the show and pill adverts will go to Lyft drivers, although the corporate declined to say how a lot.
“We hope to offer a spot for advertisers and drivers to have interaction with our community, whereas finally offering impartial alternatives for drivers to earn cash,” mentioned Mr. Saleh.
Lyft’s Bay Wheels bicycles in San Francisco will carry adverts on the digital show panels at docking stations.
Picture:
David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Information
Lyft’s chief rival has bold plans for its personal advert enterprise.
Mark Grether,
normal supervisor of Uber promoting, instructed attendees on the firm’s most up-to-date investor day in February that it might attain $1 billion in advert income by 2024, and Chief Government
Dara Khosrowshahi
mentioned on Uber’s most up-to-date earnings name that the corporate would proceed increasing its advert gross sales group.
Lyft declined to touch upon anticipated advert income.
Different firms have additionally entered the ride-hailing advert enterprise in recent times. Final yr, out-of-home promoting firm Firefly Methods Inc. acquired Curb Taxi Media, which sells adverts atop taxi cabs. Curb Mobility LLC, the corporate that beforehand owned Curb Taxi Media, runs adverts on TVs inside taxis and consists of greater than 25,000 screens producing 174 million month-to-month advert impressions across the U.S., mentioned
Jason Gross,
vice chairman of cell at Curb Mobility.
Telecommunications large
T-Cell US Inc.
in January acquired Octopus Interactive Inc., which runs interactive video screens in Uber and Lyft automobiles to increase its promoting expertise enterprise. A T-Cell spokeswoman mentioned this service at present reaches 10 million riders every month, although she declined to offer advert income totals. Lyft mentioned this enterprise is unrelated to Lyft Media.
Lyft has just lately tried to chop prices by shedding 2% of workers and folding the a part of its enterprise that allowed customers to hire vehicles on the app. Final week, the corporate reported stronger-than-expected income within the second quarter, which President
John Zimmer
attributed partially to cost-cutting measures.
Demand for ride-hailing companies has remained sturdy regardless of the financial downturn, with inflation main extra folks to complement their earnings by turning into drivers, mentioned Mr. Khosrowshahi on Uber’s earnings name.
Corrections & Amplifications
Out-of-home promoting firm Firefly Methods Inc. acquired Curb Taxi Media, which sells adverts atop taxi cabs, in 2021. An earlier model of this text incorrectly acknowledged that Firefly had acquired Curb Mobility, the previous dad or mum firm of Curb Taxi Media, which runs adverts on TVs inside taxis. Additionally, Curb Mobility’s community consists of greater than 25,000 screens inside taxis producing 174 million month-to-month advert impressions across the U.S. An earlier model of this text incorrectly implied the numbers pertained to Curb Taxi Media. (Corrected on Aug. 9)
Write to Patrick Espresso at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Firm, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8