Lack of Safety

Data breach
In recent years, issues related to cyber security and customer data protection have
increasingly been in the spotlight resulting in rising consumer concerns worldwide.

In 2016, Uber faced a major data breach with hackers stealing personal information
such as phone numbers and license plates from 57 million drivers and passengers
worldwide. 380,000 Singapore riders and drivers were affected by this breach, creating
the greatest reported breach in Singapore yet. (Straits Times, 2017)

The breach was only revealed in 2017 as Uber paid a ransom of $100,000 USD in hope
of keeping the data breach a secret. (Straits Times, 2017) This evoked fear in
consumers regarding exploitation of their personal data and a lack of consumer trust
with raised questions regarding Uber’s ethics and data protection policies.

In efforts to salvage the situation, Uber issued a public apology on their website with
information regarding the incident and their efforts ensure the safety of their consumers
with a resource page was set up for drivers affected, offering free credit monitoring and
identity theft protection.

Phantom rides
Shortly after Uber’s data breach disclosure, numerous Uber riders in Singapore
reported unauthorised Uber transactions made overseas with charges up to S$4000
under their card. Affected riders revealed that the phantom rides were charged in
foreign currencies and were not made under their Uber account as they did not receive
any billing notifications from Uber. (Channel NewsAsia, 2017)

Spokesperson from Uber Singapore announced that unauthorised charges will be

reversed and investigation found no proof of a breach at Uber, reassuring users that
their payment information under the application is encrypted. Uber’s investigations have
shown no link between the data breach and phantom rides. (Straits Times, 2017)

Despite the reversed charges, several users have canceled their cards or removed their
card details from the application in efforts to avoid being victim of another attack.
(Channel NewsAsia, 2017)
Fatal rides
Despite Uber’s commitment to ensure passenger safety, there has been a number of
Uber related accidents in Singapore, with several accidents causing fatalities. This
could be attributed to Uber’s lenient driver requirements with the minimum age
requirement at 21 years old accompanied with a minimum of one to two years of driving
experience depending on the driver’s license. (Uber, 2018)

Over the past few years, there have been multiple Uber related accidents with three
resulting in fatality. Out of the three Uber drivers involved, two of them were under the
age of 25. (Straits Times, 2017) While lives were lost, these drivers got away with a
driving ban of five years paired with a jail term or fine. This raised consumer concerns
regarding the safety of private hire car services such as Uber brought about by their
lenient driver requirements, affecting the consumer’s next purchase decision.

Driver Misconduct
In 2016, an Uber driver was suspended for harassing a female passenger. (Straits
Times, 2016) Several riders have spoken up on local online platforms regarding driver
misconduct with multiple incidents involving sexual harassment faced by female
passengers such as unwanted advances by drivers as well as abuse of the rider’s
personal information available on the application for the driver’s personal use.

This evoked fear in female passengers as well as a lack of consumer trust with
consumers unsure if their safety is ensured when entering an Uber. These incidents can
be attributed to the lack of background checks made on drivers before allowing them to
pick up passengers.

Target Market
Uber’s main target market are millennials that have entered the workforce, between the
ages 25 to 35 years old. These young working professionals have middle to high
disposable incomes and lifestyles that encourage the use of a ride hailing application.
Research has shown that more than 50% of millennials spend their money on taxis and
ride hailing applications like Uber and Grab, as compared to 29% of Gen X and 15% of
Baby Boomers. (Charles Schwab, 2017) This can be attributed to the young working
professionals’ willingness and ability to spend more on comfort and convenience like
taxis.

The lifestyle choices and spending habits of young working professionals warrant
Uber’s attention. Firstly, consumers who frequent bars after working hours either for
social or business activities are unable to drive themselves home after the consumption
of alcohol. This is where a ride hailing application such as Uber comes in handy,
ensuring that the rider gets home safe.

Secondly, frequent fliers tend to avoid driving to the airport in efforts to evade exorbitant
parking fees created by leaving their car parked at their airport for an extended period of
time. As such, these consumers are another lucrative market for Uber for their high
usage rate and readiness to purchase.
With growing market competition, consumers find themselves with a wide variety of
options with the ability to fulfil their needs. This results in low brand loyalty with
consumers becoming more sensitive to changes in price and service quality.

Uber’s Target Market In Singapore

Demographic Age: 25 to 35 years old

Occupation: White-collar workers

Socio-Economic Group: Middle to high disposable

income

Psychographic Lifestyles: Pub goers, Frequent fliers.

Behavioural Rate Of Usage: High

Benefits Sought: Convenience
Loyalty Status: Low

Social Media

Over the past decade, social media use in Singapore has seen a rapid increase with
reports showing more than 75 percent of Singaporeans having an account on one or
more social media platforms. Moreover, reports have shown than 70 percent of
Singaporeans spend a majority of their social media time on mobile. (Businesstimes,
2017) This can be attributed to the high mobile penetration rate in Singapore as well as
an increase in mobile friendly content across social media. (Data.gov.sg , 2017)

Statistics have shown that Youtube, Facebook and Instagram are the leading social
platforms in Singapore.

Youtube
A study by Google Singapore has revealed that more than 75 percent of Singaporeans
choose Youtube over other platforms for online video content. Regarding Youtube’s
ability to influence consumer buying behaviour, studies have proven that 60 percent of
xp dddusers use Youtube as a platform to search for products with 41 percent of users
influenced by Youtube when choosing a brand. (Digital Market, 2017) Furthermore,
younger demographics have shown significant preference towards Youtube in
comparison to their older counterparts. (Digital Market, 2017) This can be attributed to
Youtube’s ability to provide a wider variety of premium content and is a vital contributing
factor to our decision to utilise this platform.

Uber will strategically reach out to their consumers through the use of the Youtube’s
TrueView advertisement format. Prior research has suggested that brands who utilise
TrueView advertisements have seen a rise in brand engagement, specifically in their
other Youtube content. (Thinkwithgoogle, 2015) Notably, mobile has emerged as a
preferred medium for Youtube viewing with more than 60 percent of Youtube watchtime
coming from mobile devices. (Digital Market, 2017) With TrueView advertisements
available on mobile, Uber will focus on creating mobile friendly advertisements to
ensure that consumers have a pleasant viewing experience.

TrueView advertisements allow Uber to strategically target specific audiences with

targeting options such as their demographic group, search history and keyword
targeting. Uber will utilise these options to specifically target the younger demographic
aged 25 to 35, whose search history or watched videos include topics on harassment or
ride hailing applications such as Uber or Grab. In addition, TrueView advertisements
allow viewers to choose the type of advertising content they’re interested in by giving
them the option of skipping the advertisement after the first five seconds. This allows
Uber to only pay for consumers that engage with the advertisement, ensuring that the
bulk of Uber’s advertising budget is allocated to consumers that have a higher chance
of converting. (Hubspot, 2016)

Emotional Values
Over the past few years, the level of trust consumers have in Uber has eroded. This can
be attributed to the chain of incidents which revealed Uber’s lack of corporate
responsibility as seen through a lack of protection over the safety and security of Uber
riders.
With the aim of regaining consumer trust, Uber will increase the visibility of the safety
tab on their site in order to provide consumers ease of access to information about data
protection and rider safety. Currently, Uber’s safety tab is hidden within the site and
requires consumers to delve through a heap of unwanted information before gaining
access to the tab. By moving the safety tab to the home page, it will provide consumers
who are in search of such information ease of access whilst encouraging general site
visitors to obtain information about Uber’s safety measures. This is in order to reassure
consumers and build consumer trust by reinforcing Uber’s promise to protect rider
safety.
Under the safety tab, it will be split into two categories: data protection and rider safety.
Data Protection
In order to regain consumer trust, Uber will implement a culture of transparency to
reassure consumers that their data is in safe hands. The measures that Uber has
implemented include: information about Uber’s privacy and safety programmes, Uber’s
data collection and information about the Personal Data Protection Act
Firstly, information regarding Uber’s privacy and safety programmes will be disclosed to
the public in efforts to reassure consumers that Uber is taking all the necessary
measures to ensure that privacy and security programs are in place to protect the
consumers. Uber is under an extensive privacy program that safeguards the
consumer’s personal data remains private. (Uber, 2015) In addition, yearly third-party
audits will be carried out as another level of protection to ensure that Uber’s program
are up to industry standards.
Secondly, Uber’s data collection practices will be disclosed the public in order to create
transparency with the consumers. By creating transparency with consumers, it prevents
the public from speculating rumors regarding Uber’s practices. In addition, this will
enable Uber to build consumer trust by being as openly as possible with the availability
of information. Information regarding Uber’s data collection practices will disclose to
consumers what type of personal information Uber collects, who has access to these
information and what Uber does with the information collected. (Uber, 2018)

Lastly, information regarding the Personal Data Protection Act will be made available on
Uber’s safety tab. This is to empower consumers with information regarding their rights
as consumers and to reinforce Uber’s compliance with these rules. (PDPC, 2018)
Rider Safety
With the purpose of enforcing Uber’s commitment to protecting their riders, information
regarding Uber’s stringent driver requirements will be made available to put consumers
at ease when entering an Uber.
Drivers are required to undergo training through a 10 hour preparatory course as
required by the Land Transport Authority. The course will require drivers to undergo a
medical check up and empower drivers with the knowledge required when operating a
private hire car such as rules and regulations, safety and service quality. (Uber, 2018)
In addition, potential drivers undergo stringent background checks where personal
information and data regarding the driver’s driving and criminal history is collected and
analysed before they are allowed to pick riders. Moreover, potential drivers have to
meet multiple criterias such 2 years of driving experience and the minimum age of 21.
With these information available, it reassures riders that every Uber driver has gone
through training and met stringent criterias set by Uber to ensure that all riders have a
pleasant experience with Uber.

Promised Experience
With increasing competition, Uber will respond by elevating the level of customer
service through the use of chatbots and customer enquiry forms on their website. In
addition, relevant office addresses are made available on the site to serve as a form of
credibility and security.
Chatbots
With two-way interaction between human and their device gaining popularity in recent
years, consumers are demanding for an elevated online experience when it comes to
communication with the business. (Oracle 2016.) With the aid of Natural Language
Processing, Uber is able to analyse the consumer’s input before providing a human-like
response to ensure seamless communication. (Kurilchik, 2017)
Wit a chatbot available on Uber’s website, it will create better engagement with
consumers by offering 24/7 quick and easy solutions to the consumer’s problems.
(Accenture 2017.) Chatbots act as an reassurance to consumers by providing them with
instant gratification, communicating to consumers that Uber takes all their issues very
seriously and with a sense of urgency. Moreover, chatbots are a great support to
customer relations by ensuring excellent customer service through the ability to
communicate in multiple languages, allowing customers to communicate their needs
and have them fulfilled at their convenience. ( Shawar and Atwell, 2007)

Customer Enquiry forms

Customer Enquiry forms act as a backup when the consumer is unsatisfied with the
answers provided by the chatbot. By filling up the enquiry form, it directs the consumer’s
enquiry to an associate who will communicate with the consumers via email within three
working days. This ensures that all consumers have their needs fulfilled in order to
create 100 percent customer satisfaction. Moreover, communicating to an associate
humanises the brand and evokes a sense of importance within the consumer thus
cultivating positive feelings towards the brand when their issues have been solved
efficiently.

- Humanise the brand

Timeline and metrics : Customer Behaviour (web analytics)

In order to dictate the success or failure of the digital marketing plan, Uber will analyse
their website data to determine if consumer behaviour matches the organisational goals.
Firstly, visitor demographics on Uber’s website will be analysed to identify changes and
trends to ensure that the digital marketing plan has successfully attracted the right
traffic, Uber’s target consumers, to their site.
Secondly, clickstreams allow Uber to analyse if changes to their website such as the
new chatbot, enquiry form and safety tab have been noticed and utilised by site visitors.
This will allow Uber to gauge if the new implementations have caught the consumer’s
attention and if consumers have found them useful.
Lastly, information regarding visitor site actions on Uber’s website will aid in the tracking
of customer searches and user logins, allowing Uber to look into ways to further
improve their website and offerings to boost conversion.