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- [00:00]
A
Hey, it's pvsp from the CPG Guys. It should come as no surprise that we think podcasting is an ideal format to learn while being entertained. Which is why we love to recommend other podcasts to help fill your rotation. And there's a brand new podcast in the commerce space that comes with a distinct female perspective. SheCommerce promotes bold brands, fierce women, and one sisterhood that empowers women in business women one conversation at a time. Chicommerce is more than just a podcast. It's a community hosted by Christina and Jax, two seasoned CPG leaders with almost 50 years of combined international experience, SheCommerce drives deep into the heart of the CPG revolution, tackling the issues that matter most to women in the industry. They're committed to providing real talk, real solutions, and a whole lot of heart. From decoding the latest retail media strategies and accelerating Omni Commerce growth to navigating work life imbalance, shattering stereotypes, and fighting for wage equality, nothing is off limits. Check out chicommerce via the link in the digital show notes of this CPG Guys episode and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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B
Hello, I'm Christy Argilon, Global Head of Advertising at Uber, and you are listening to the CPG Guys Podcast. Podcast.
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A
Welcome to the CPG Guys Podcast. Your hosts, Shree Rajagopalan and Peter Vs. Bond explore how brands and retailers engage consumers in an increasingly digitally driven world. And now, here are the CPG Guys. Hello and welcome to the CPG Guys Podcast. I am your adorable co host, pvsb. My daughter is not a pop store nor my wife a podcaster on iHeartRadio, but I do my best to hold my ground when compared to the celebrity lifestyle my co host lives. You know him as the patriarch of the Raj family media empire. His daughters Ria and Lara are legitimate entertainment sensations. His wife Kavita has got her own podcast, Lights, Camera, Conversation. But as for Papa Raj, as his daughter's fans refer to him, well, in addition to podcasting, he's the Chief Revenue Officer at Think Blue Consulting. He's also the former President of Sales in North America at General Mills. He is the man we know as Sree. Sri can't join us today. He's actually in D.C. at the FMI for some meetings. He just flew there last night after having attended a dinner at the CRC E Commerce Summit in San Diego. Very busy person. I think he hit Executive Platinum maybe a month after the beginning of the calendar year for that. It's a little crazy, but he's a traveling man, you know, it's interesting. We're still kind of reeling. Over the weekend, his daughter Lara and her bandmates on Cat's Eye were honored with the MTV VMA Push award of the year, which if they're not already stratospheric in their, in their fame, that pushed them to a whole new level. Between that and the Gap jeans advertisement that has been become so viral and iconic. So lots of great things going on. I just hope SRI remembers me one day before he goes off into his world of fame. But I'm just kidding, you know, that's how the Raj has rolled. He was flying through this morning, he told me this. He was flying through dc, through Philadelphia to get to DC and he's sitting in the Admiral's Club and someone walks up to him, said, excuse me sir, are you Mr. Raja Gopalan? And he says, yes, I am. He goes, hi, we're all really big fans of your daughter. We know you've got to go over to Terminal E for your next flight. Instead of taking the tram, we'd love to take you in our concierge Key Escalade. So. I know, really fancy, right? Isn't that crazy? I'm sorry, I don't. Listen, I'm not being braggadocious. I'm just, I'm really proud of Sri and all the work he's done to instill work ethic in his daughters. When I asked Lara what she's going to do with her first big, big financial pay, it wasn't about, you know, buying an expensive car or going on a massive trip. It was, well, I think probably a rental property so I can ensure some, some stable long term recurring revenue. I turned over and looked at Sri and he's like, that's my girl. She's learned well.
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B
Lovely. You did not mention though, the Monster High dolls that are in the Cat's Eye likenesses as well.
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A
Isn't that crazy? Isn't that crazy? My daughter is obsessed with Cat's Eye. Now, between that and K Pop Demon Hunters, she's completely consumed by the world of K Pop. But enough of that. Make sure you're subscribed to our podcast on your preferred listening platform, Apple, Spotify, wherever you get our latest episodes. And you can even go back and consume some of the 520 plus episodes we've already published. And I'm also pleased to report that next June, Cornell University, in partnership with the CPG guys, will again offer an in person executive certificate program in retail media strategy. It was a huge success. Everybody loved it. We had such Great dialogue logging. It really was the room where it happens. We brought brand advertisers, commerce and retail media networks and ecosystem partners all together and it was a really honest and very productive conversation. If you want to learn more about it and are interested in participating in this coming year, I know we completely packed the room and sold out. Go to go to cpguys.com on the navigation bar. You can learn more about that. All right, enough. The boilerplate and fawning all over the Raj family. I do love them. I'm like an honorary Raj. That's about as close as I'm going to get. I'm okay with that. Today's episode dives into the world of home delivery value proposition for CPT brands and why retailers should engage this platform to scale their growth as well. Christy Argeland is the global Head of Ads at Uber, leading its Omnichannel platform. Powered by Uber's ecosystem, she previously built Albertsons Retail Media Network, the collective. She led brand innovation at Bed, Bath and Beyond. And certainly not last but certainly not least, she served as the Senior Vice President of Media and President of Roundel at Target when it was Target Advertising. A recognized industry leader, she serves on the boards of IAB and Zephyr and has received numerous accolades, certainly by us, but well deserved. Please join us in welcoming to the podcast for her third visit, just two away from the coveted CPT Guys 5 Timer varsity jacket, our dear friend Christy Argilan. Christy, how are you? Welcome back.
- [07:16]
B
I'm good. Peter. So great to be with you today. Thanks for inviting me in.
- [07:21]
A
Of course. It's been way too long. Like we run into each other at industry conferences all the time, but it's like we gotta get her back on. And now that you spent some time at Uber, we can't wait to learn more about what's going on there for our audience, who we know is ravenous for knowledge. As we go about our conversation, we've embedded in the show notes of this episode, links to your LinkedIn profile, Uber's LinkedIn page, and your corporate site where they can learn more about the advertising platform that Uber offers. I've got a lot of great questions for you and let's start with just the very 30,000 foot view. Why don't you walk us through what your role is at Uber Ads and how your division fits within the broader Uber ecosystem.
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B
Yeah, I'm super excited to be at Uber at this point in time and really leading the next significant growth spurt for their advertising business. And the advertising business actually spans across both the mobility side of the Uber platform and the delivery side of the platform. And so you have the ride that you take in the car, you have the food that you order for dinner, and then you have the grocery and other retail deliveries that you have brought to your home. For various reasons, for me, it's usually because I need something at the last minute. And the proposition of advertising coming from an organization like Uber, a company that has really changed the way we go places and get things, was just irresistible from my point of view. And the ads business in particular fits into the Uber ecosystem in many of the same ways that retail media sits within a retailer. It's a natural extension of a line of business in these companies that are very consumer centric and have really great data and have strong platforms to deliver advertising on. And the company also benefits from the financial prospects of an advertising business, also known as it's a high margin business that then allows Uber to continue to innovate and change all the services that they bring back out to the marketplace. And you know, it's just really an interesting time. And when you think of the proposition of Uber, overall, we are not a platform of intent. We are a platform of people doing things. And the fact that we can insert a brand in the moment when you're going somewhere or ordering some food or a little bit of a crisis because you need lunch material for your kids, school lunch for the week on a Sunday night. The fact that we can insert brands, CPGs non endemics into these moments is creating these really powerful outcomes because it's not historical, it's not fully forward looking. It's happening right now where buying decisions are happening right now. And so that idea of action and context and scale is really unique in the marketplace, especially when you consider the power of the mobility side. So Uber rides in addition to all the purchasing power that happens on our platform as well. And it's global, right? We're in, we're around the world, is just a really great, unique proposition in the marketplace.
- [11:13]
A
Well, I was in Manhattan this week, Christy, and talking about a platform about doing things. I was doing things. I was in Midtown, I was getting ready the next morning to host an event in lower Manhattan. And I had to transport an enormous amount of stuff, at least for me, down to lower Manhattan. So what did I do? I opened up my Uber app and I didn't order an Uber xl. No, no. I went double xl. And that's the kind of size, that's the kind of size vehicle that we needed to get everything down to lower Manhattan. Delivered with, with grace and speed. And. And then on the way back, I was on the west side of Manhattan. The next day after my event, I was on the west side and I had to get back to Grand Central. I didn't have all the material with me that was all being taken care of. So of course I wanted to get back. And the subway system was just not, it's designed vertically, not horizontally. So I jumped in and ordered an Uber Black and got myself there. Now the interesting thing about it is you're at. And I bring this up because in both cases, your advertising platform was front and center. There was a screen attached to the headrest in front of me and I was able to sit there and engage and I got a very personalized experience. So as someone who's obviously aware of what you do, I was quite appreciative of what was going on. The ability to connect and say, hey, do you want this to go right to your phone? Yes, I can. Boom. And there it is. So I'm really excited to talk to you about what you're doing, but it's something that is very, very present in my life as someone who is on the road and engaging with, with your delivery service. Anyhow, so let's talk about the value proposition. What unique value do you think Uber is bringing to the retail media and the commerce media landscape, especially compared to some of the traditional players like retailers or some of the publishers that are doing streaming platforms?
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B
Yeah, and I, I would say, you know, in many regards those same retailers are also on our platform. And so they're using us as that kind of last minute delivery capability that we can offer. And so we're actually a big part of the ecosystem. And even some of the streaming platforms that are out there, you know, with Journey tv, which you experienced in your ride, there's an opportunity to deliver content there as well. So it's a. We coexist really nicely within that ecosystem. What I get excited about, having kind of grown up in the retail media side with retailers is a lot of the audience data and behavior that you have can go as far back as a year ago. And the difference with the data that we have from an Uber perspective is it's very contextual, it's very in the moment. And so we know, you know, I used to always use pinto beans as the example. I know who's buying pinto beans right now, not who bought them, you know, two months, even two weeks, two months, you know, six months ago. So the signals are so much sharper in Terms of being able to influence. Very fresh, very fresh. And so that's where I think we're really differentiated in the landscape. In the landscape. And it's not that we replace anything because all of those things are wildly important, but we add a new layer to it, a new freshness to it, as you call it out. That I think just adds more relevancy for any brand if they can, if they're riding those moments and really showing up in a powerful way in that specific moment. It's just a, it's more, I call it real time, contextual, you know, which I think is really compelling right now.
- [15:04]
A
I absolutely agree. The fact that you are bringing to bear the immediacy of there's a signal that's happening right now and hey, brand, advertiser and other partners, you have an opportunity to leverage that moment right as it's happening to enhance the customer experience, to say, okay, here's the signal, here's what we're going to do to make their experience even better by giving them something that's relevant to them. So I think that's incredibly powerful. So follow up then is what makes advertising within the food delivery sector different from other retail focused consumer verticals? What type of, and I'd love to hear particularly around CPG brands, what types of brands are seeing the most success on uber ads and why?
- [15:58]
B
Yeah, I mean obviously the ones that see the most success are the ones that have the easy ability to do add to order. So think Code Pepsi, some of the big CPGs that are already part of the ordering system. But the other thing is that food delivery is just super, just inherently high intent. People are already in a purchase mindset, often within really minutes of making that decision. But what we're also seeing is grocery and retail has tripled in on a year over year basis and it continues to grow strongly with advertising in categories like personal care. So want another stop? We can pick that up along the way as well. So we're really seeing kind of this crossover. So you asked about food delivery. So if you think restaurant, we got that. If you think from a grocery store, we've got that. You actually have some crossover too, which is prepared meals, which are really high margin for retailers, can also be a meal replacement, a different kind of meal that you could order from the restaurant side. So we're working really hard to blur the lines and to really just capture the moment that a consumer is going through versus bringing our lines of business to the market as individual types of buying opportunities. And I think the easiest place to make that example, and maybe it's too obvious, but the super bowl, right. We know who's getting in a car to go to the Super Bowl. We know who's getting in a car to go to a bar to watch the Super Bowl. We know who's getting in a car to go to somebody's house to watch the Super Bowl. And we know somebody who ran out of Doritos and needs some more delivered to their home because they're watching the Super Bowl. So it's just the way that we can surround this contextual pop culture moment through all these different angles, I think is where we're really trying to lean in and show more about the lifestyle moment or the, you know, the, the event that you're going through as a human and all the different angles that we have to it. Does that, does that make sense to you? As I explain that?
- [18:15]
A
No, it does. And I'll give another PVSB real world example I mentioned to you. I took my daughter up to Halifax to see my mother, my daughter's grandmother, and I was ordering out dinner. Of course, I went to Uber Eats, got, got a nice steak from the local steakhouse in Halifax. My daughter, not so much a steak eater, she wanted McDonald's. So I tagged on a McDonald's order. And as I was placing that order, I suddenly saw an advertisement about breakfast. Are you all set for breakfast? I'm like, oh, my God, I forgot to get eggo waffles for my daughter for breakfast and I don't want to hear her moaning in the morning. So I tagged on some eggo waffles and some syrup and a couple other things, and I got all those delivered, all within the experience. So I understand exactly the value proposition that you're bringing by including brands into the food service experience. It's proven to be very effective. Obviously, you deal with advertisers of varying sizes. How do you balance the needs of big national CPGs with a lot of the smaller ones may be concerned? Oh, Uber. They're only going to cater to the big Fortune 100 consumer goods companies. I'm probably not going to be able to play in their platform. How do you balance the needs and democratize your capabilities for brand advertisers of all size?
- [19:43]
B
Yeah, it's actually one of the things that I found most compelling about the role coming over here. And it feels a little bit like Facebook 2019 in terms of where does the revenue really come from? And the revenue does come from a small restaurant all the way up to some of the largest Global brands. And because we're a technology company, we have a product group that very early on built sponsored listings that are self service and so you can have one restaurant, five restaurants or 5,000, and you have this very easy way to buy sponsored listings and just really get a great return for your business. And then on the higher end of that, we have a global sales force and sophisticated measurement capability that can, that can serve as some of the largest global advertisers as well. So we try to make sure that we're providing a good merchant experience no matter how large or small you are. We also have quite a broadly distributed sales force. So we have people who are on the business side, I would say of the delivery business or the mobility business. And on the delivery side in particular, we have people who, you know, get those merchants on the platform and then as part of customer service of being on the platform, they also are given services to understand how our ads and how our offers can actually drive their business. So it's a pretty sophisticated sales model.
- [21:27]
A
Sounds like a powerful ecosystem that you're taking all of your partners to. Again, focus on delivering a, a relevant customer experience for your, your users across the different Uber capabilities. Let me remind our audience that today I have the pleasure of speaking with our dear friend Christy Arjun from Uber Advertising. Okay, so let's, let's talk. Proof is in the pudding. Would love to hear. I'm sure you've got a couple of case studies tucked away in your back pocket, so let's, let's, let's pull one or two of those out and help us understand what good looks like on Uber advertising for a brand to succeed.
- [22:08]
B
So you pretty much know if I prepped for today's conversations, I'd have a couple of good case studies.
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A
I know you would never come. You don't bring a knife to a gunfight, Christy. Come on, you know how this works.
- [22:21]
B
Indeed, Indeed. You know, I have a couple of what I would consider simple examples, but I kind of want to share the insight that goes into it before I actually talk about the component parts. So one of the things that we have learned about our platform users, Uber customers, we call them gen Uber. And the thing that is really interesting about them, and it's not a millennial versus a Gen Z or it's not like that. It's just people who have embraced how Uber can facilitate their lives and make their lives more enjoyable. The one thing that comes through loud and clear is that what they're really looking for is digital to be so effective that they can quickly move into physical. So they will buy things on the fly from platforms where they really trust the information that they're given and that the actual transaction will be easy, fluid, and it'll show up when it's expected to show up. And so this transition from digital to physical really informs a lot of the programs that we think about. And so a simple example is in Florida and Miami and Coral Gables, we did this, you know, take luxury to a new heights program with Lemaire and if you booked a Uber premier vehicle through mobility, then you would go home with. With Lemaire. You go home with Lemaire after you're out at the bars late at night in Miami and Coral Gables. Of course, we've all been to Miami and Coral Gables and understand the nightclub scene down there.
- [24:01]
A
I think late in Miami is different than Leighton Coral Gables. Coral Gables is a couple hours earlier.
- [24:06]
B
You get where I'm going.
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A
Yeah, I understand.
- [24:08]
B
And you know, so this idea of, you know, you book the car, but you get in the car, you're on your way home from being out at night, and there's this beautiful goodie bag that's sitting in the car that just kind of all of a sudd. You go home with something that you didn't expect that actually is of quite high value. We also did one with Ulta Beauty that's somewhat similar. We worked to surprise Swifties with ultra beauty samples as they made their way to concerts on board of an Ulta branded uber shuttles that were taking everyone to the concert venue. And then we also did another really fun one with Diageo at holiday time, which, you know, if you order Diageo to be delivered, then you Diageo products, then you have either a caroler or a Christmas tree that comes along with it. So, you know, really doing all of these moments that are not only great, like in the moment, and really capture something wildly relevant from a pop culture perspective in a market that matters. We also, some of those, you can see the extensibility of that as well from a social media perspective. And so it just. That's kind of this. A lot of the work that we're doing out of our newly kind of stood up or codified creative studio, which is designed specifically to bring these kinds of experiences to life.
- [25:33]
A
Well, as much as I like Swifties, I actually like icons even more. Those are the followers of a certain K pop band that's preferential for the cpg.
- [25:43]
B
I think we've got a different thing we need to execute on.
- [25:46]
A
I know, I see Something happening there. They are a hot property. We're going to have to talk. Apparently, you know, there's a guy I know who's the business manager for the band on licensing. We'll talk about that later. Anyhow, so let's talk about data because at the end of the day we want to make decisions that are data driven, that tell us it's the best use of advertising dollars. So what role does data play in particularly segmenting and targeting audiences within your platform? And how do you balance everybody you want? Reach. Reach is very important because if you don't have reach, then why are you spending all this time designing an audience? But you also want a very personalized experience. So how do you balance those two in helping your brand craft meaningful campaigns?
- [26:39]
B
Yeah, and obviously audiences are at the very root of everything that we do. And then, you know, the, the outcome on the other side of it, as I like to say, we're selling, we're selling performance, not, not an ad placement. And it's, I just think the proposition we have, we're just beginning to tap into the how we can really differentiate from an audience perspective. But if we've got all of this real time contextual data that's coming in and our ability to, to bring it to the marketplace in the form of an audience or more of a. Let's target these number of activities over this time frame, you can start to see how we can change what is traditional thinking in terms of I need to run a four week campaign. It's like how about if you run 7 million moments over an extended period of time where you have the opportunity to add more Coca Cola to the order, it really starts to shift traditional ways of thinking about things that I'm really super excited about. The other thing that we're leaning into as well is as we all know, a big part of growth for these businesses is not only what you can run on your own platforms, but what you can run off platform. And so being able to target these moments when somebody's in a car, what do we know? You get in the. While you order the car, you're staring at our app. When you get into the car, you're still staring at your app to make sure all the data matches and you give them your pin. If you have that set up on your profile and then you go on TikTok or you go on Pinterest or you go on YouTube. The ability to target off platform within the time frame of a ride is something that's really interesting. And we're pursuing as well. So there's all of these ways that Uber works because it's real time signals that will change, start to shift. The way that we think about some of the traditional media components that we're used to, which is everything's four weeks and it's got to be this reach and frequency during this time frame where if you show the benefit of just real time contextual versus kind of traditional ways of blocking and tackling media campaigns, I think that's going to be, that's the area that we're leaning into to right now to bring to market.
- [29:09]
A
I also think about your heritage in working at omnichannel retailers and where retail media fit in. A lot of that the message or the experience was to a large degree about, well, you're going to get some value out of this. And when you're actually serving up an advertisement to someone who's already in the moment, they've bought the food and your Coca Cola, it's not necessarily about, oh, I'm going to give you 20% off. It's, it reminds me of in, in the brick and mortar world when Coke would just put 1 liter bottles next to the rotisserie chicken. They didn't have to discount it, they just had to inspire people to do something like that. What you're offering an advertiser like Coke or any other beverage manufacturer in that in this case is they're buying this meal. You now have a chance to be their beverage. That is part of the consumption process. And that's not about discounting, it's about offering a better experience to the, to the consumer. So I can see why that is so compelling in what you, what you bring to them. Yeah. All right, let's talk about KPIs, because in this day and age, in closed loop marketing, you're expecting to be able to measure performance, particularly if you want to shift advertising dollars from traditional mechanisms that are no longer as powerful as they used to be. Linear television, print advertising. They want to go somewhere else, they need to go somewhere else. But today's marketers are quite familiar with what closed loop marketing systems like retail media offer. So I guess my question is, what are the KPIs that you think are most important for brands that are advertising through your platform and how the insights have influenced some of these campaign adjustments as you focus on those KPIs?
- [31:17]
B
Yeah, you know, I'll kind of, I'll kind of pull it apart maybe in layers or different sections. In terms of how I think about it, we have 30 million predictions every second and we handle over a million trips every hour. So we have lots of data that comes in and we have really great technology that fuels this platform as well. And so we've got this really interesting data proposition in a different performance proposition saying all of that. We still are roas IRO as incrementality. Incrementality continues to be the thing that if we are running a performance based campaign where we're expecting to add something to a basket or even show that it influenced the next order, we are very much leaned in on incrementality and incrementality from a global brand perspective down to a local franchisee perspective. And so we will continue to lean into that. And we think that's really important, especially for campaigns that we believe can be and should be performance based. We also though see the value of branding and brand relevance in the way that this platform can drive that. So think of the experiences that you were describing. You know, a brand showed up at the right moment when you were trying to figure out how to haul a bunch of stuff to wherever you are going with, you know, the XXL Uber vehicle. You know, if you show up the right way in that moment as a I see you kind of messaging, then actually we see a lot of time spent in our app and with the brands and a lot of favorability as a result of the brands showing up in such a relevant way in that moment. So we expect that, you know, we expect to deliver a full funnel measurement offering that can suit either a big brand who just wants our data ported over via API into their marketing mix modeling, or again a smaller franchisee who wants to know incrementality in particular. Indeed running an ad on our platform drive sales for their restaurant. So it's a full suite and it's complex and we still have work to do to make sure that every advertiser, no matter how big or small, is comfortable with the way that we're doing the measurement and to make sure if we do have one that says 400% return, I don't believe that we're certain that we can back that up or fix whatever flaw there might be in our measurement capability because it's a broad spectrum and a really important part of what we do.
- [34:18]
A
You brought up marketing mix modeling. I think you know from your previous experience that that very often for retail media it is undervalued in mmms. Do you think you've kind of cracked that code in, in what you're delivering? You mentioned through the APIs and helping brands actually make sure. That their investment in your commerce media platform is. And retail media is, Is measured appropriately and is given its due credit.
- [34:49]
B
I think we've still got a long way to go. I mean, if I'm going to be really honest about it, I think the most important thing is that we're being transparent and that we're willing to. We want to stand up against all of the different marketing tactics that are out there. The other thing that I find really interesting about Uber is there is so much love because of the personal experiences that so many marketers have had with Uber and the platform. And, you know, all those moments that we participated in with them that there's a. There are a lot of people that are rooting for us because they get it conceptually. So they're really working closely with us to help us continue to refine how we do what we do and make sure that we do show up well in the marketing mix models. And so it's not a, it's almost a different kind of relationship because we're not part of the joint business plan and the trade dollars and all of that negotiation. Like they are genuinely investing in Uber advertising because they get intuitively and through the initial data that they're looking at that this is something that's really powerful and about consumer. Changing consumer behavior and where consumers are going, that they're leaning way in and working with us to make sure that we're holding ourselves accountable for the long haul.
- [36:17]
A
All right, I want to talk a little bit about campaign development and how you're tailoring campaigns that resonate. You made mention with the fact that you obviously have very diverse local markets versus a national audience. So what does working with Uber ads entail around the very localized customer experience?
- [36:40]
B
Yeah, I think the universality of our platform, it's just really hard for anyone to match. And so I think that we do it better in many ways because what we do is so personal to begin with because it's, again, it's something that each of us is doing in that moment that matters quite a bit in that moment. And again, back to 180 million users doing this on a daily basis, you know, or doing this globally. It's a. We are really covering a broad, broad spectrum. And so I, you know, we, we really work with brands, the bigger brands especially. We spend a lot of time understanding what the objective is, what are they trying to accomplish. We have a lot of activity with the studios as new movies come out because we know they know, we know that Uber plays a big part in people Going to the theaters and seeing these movies when they come out. And we'll do the, you know, we'll do Jurassic park wrapped vehicles to get people to the theater so that it's really highly. And, you know, it really will do it based on where the movies are being released and where the movies are playing really well. So doing that, even for a big global release, shows our ability to really customize based on what's going on in market. And then, as we talked about earlier, then you'll still have Acre Pizza that, you know, they have three stores, but we know that they're, like, one of the favorites in the area. So we'll just dial up the volume on that and make sure that, you know, they get there because they're creating a really great experience. We make sure that. That, you know, that they're really playing up well. And they always offer a good delivery experience for people that order through them. So it's a kind of a. We can go really big and we can have fun, and we can also go to which restaurants are going to give our customers the best dining experience and make sure that that's, you know, prominent in what's served to them.
- [39:03]
A
Christie, you brought up pizza. There's nothing more locally irrelevant than pizza. Where I live in the shadow of New Haven, Connecticut, the pizza capital of North America. Between the. The eternal battle of which is better, Frank Pepe's, Sally's, or Modern. I always remind people, don't forget Supardi's over in West Haven. The. That's a very low. I was. I was literally coming out of Cannes last year, and I had a Modern Pizza T shirt on and a guy flying out of Cannes at the same time. He goes, you're from New Haven, aren't you? I said, I am, because I love you. How local is that? It doesn't get more local. All right. You obviously work with some really great brands, but there are a lot of brands that haven't. Haven't entered into your platform. So what advice would you give to those brands, particularly in consumer goods, that are looking to Uber as being a possible place for them to drive growth through digital advertising? Why should they. How do they get started? What should they do next? What's the next step to really bring that to life and find out, is this right for me? Because it sure sounds like for a lot of them it is.
- [40:13]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I, by way of background, too, and you touched on this at the very beginning. Like, I've. I've experienced this business from every angle Like, I've always been in the media space. I've been a buyer, a seller, a client, an ad, you know, an agency person. And I just think that it's always pertinent for brands to really think about what does it mean really to be in this space of mobility media and you know, real time contextual. Like, how does that change the way that you think about advertising programs in that moment? Because there's going to be more and more platforms, broad platforms like this, that are going to come out. ChatGPT is going to have advertising incorporated into it. And so really pause for a minute and don't try to compartmentalize everything, but try to think about what's different and unique and a great learning opportunity. Because there are a handful of platforms that are actually changing consumer behavior in really important ways. And you know, suddenly we're the company that can get you anywhere. We can get you anything. We do, you know, courier like services as well. And we can get you something faster than our favorite delivery services can. I don't have to wait a day. I might have to wait 20 minutes or a half hour. And you know, the immediacy is, is quite pertinent. And so what does that mean for your brand when you insert the brand in that kind of environment? So really think beyond like the banner or the video and what you're trying to create for the consumer on the other side of it. Because for all of us as consumers, it's all changing before our eyes every single day. It's super exciting. It's everything we've talked about for years. It's now actually right in front of us. And the other piece is lean into experimentation. Don't do a quick, it worked or it didn't work. It's why didn't it work this time? And what should we be, what should, how should we evolve and move on to the next iteration of experimentation? There's no doubt that we've been talking about contextual for a while, but this layer of real time contextual is just incredibly rich. And I think we're going to have more and more opportunities like real time contextual come up in the marketplace. And so how do you want to think about it from an audience perspective, a measurement perspective, and then the media channels themselves what needs to be digital world versus physical world. And how cool that now we can just blend that. I'm not going to, I'm not saying phygital. We just, how do we just create that really smooth, elegant. You know, I was just on my phone and now I've got a caroler at my front door kind of. Kind of motion that is really becoming the expectation, especially for Gen Uber. And then all of the consumers that are learning their new behaviors because this is so fluid.
- [43:27]
A
Well, you didn't, you didn't say fidgetal until you said actually phygital. But you also didn't say AI enough. So I have to say AI AI four times. Okay, we hit our quota. Kristi, we're good.
- [43:40]
C
All good.
- [43:42]
A
To our audience. Thanks for joining us twice each week for our great podcast conversations. I know this one will not disappoint you. This was, this was absolutely charming and we greatly appreciate the 39,000 plus followers on LinkedIn. I can't believe 39,000 people are following us. And we're so happy that you trust us to both educate and entertain you with our content. Please follow us on your preferred listening platform, Apple Spotify. Hey, if you just ask Alexa, she'll play the CPT guys podcast. I know I set off like 500 devices by just saying that right now. I apologize if I did that, but we really look forward to seeing you in person. We're at Grocery Shop. We're not at Shop Talk Fall this year, but we're at a couple of other places. Look for us there. We'll be at down in Nashville in November and then of course CES in Las Vegas in January. Please do. Please do. If you see us come up, say hi, ask for a selfie.
- [44:44]
C
We love that.
- [44:44]
A
That makes us very happy. We're very. We love what we do. We're here to educate and entertain you and, and if you've got feedback, give it to us right to our face. Nothing makes us happier. My big takeaway. You've created a platform that creates very contextual signals for brands to be able to advertise high intent and an opportunity to do that without necessarily a traditional discount solution. Sometimes it's just about inspiring them with your product at exactly the right mind based, right moment based upon what it is that they're doing, going somewhere or having bought something if it's being delivered to them. Really great opportunity for brands to succeed and grow their business through your platform. Christy, as always, thanks for coming back. Please don't be so much of a stranger. I know we keep in contact and we talk at events, but come back on every once in a while.
- [45:47]
C
We love having you here.
- [45:48]
A
You're part of the family and you've come back twice more. You get that check. Anyhow, thanks as always for coming.
- [45:55]
C
Exactly.
- [45:55]
A
Schedule my next two episodes. I want that jacket by next week.
- [45:59]
B
Peter, this was all my pleasure. Thank you so much for letting me hang out with you today.
- [46:04]
A
Of course Sree is jealous that he couldn't be with us. That was the one thing he was using four letter expletives about. I can't believe I'm not going to be with Christie today. But sorry Sree, you missed out. This was a good one. Anyhow, to our audience, as always. As I said, we always appreciate you following us and and we look forward to you joining us on the next episode of the CPG Guys Podcast. Goodbye.
- [46:43]
C
The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPG Guys, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPG Guys, llc. The views expressed by guests are their own, and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. The views expressed by CPTGuys LLC do not represent the views of their employers or the entity they represent. CPTGuys LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we present in this podcast.