Uber Final Essay

1) Uber was founded in San Franciso in 2010. What was the largest obstacle that the company had to face then, and how does it relate to the Uber launch currently in Philadelphia? In October of that year, the company got a cease-and-desist order from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, as well as the California Public Utilities Commission objecting to the “cab” name since it was called UberCab but they did not have a cab license. Uber faces similar issues in Philadelphia in which the PPA (parking authority) is finning UberX drivers for not having license to be commercial drivers.

2) Pricing is one of the core elements in a Marketing Plan. Uber’s pricing is based on “Surge Pricing.” Explain “Surge Pricing”. In your opinion, is Surge Pricing a positive or a negative for the company? Surge pricing means that the company will charge a higher rate during hours of high demand; during weekends and holidays Uber chargers several times the regular rate per mile and effectively motivating drivers to be on the streets and therefore accommodating the customer demand. This is a great strategy specially that Uber shows the price of the ride before you get into the car. It pushes more drivers in times of need, which leads to happy customers and profitable results for Uber.

3) What is your opinion of Travis Kalanick? Is he a good guy – or a bad guy? He is a bussniess first and last, his definition as a good or bad person has nothing to do with my opinion of him which is based strictly on his business strategy. I find his business strategy smart and efficient, he managed to build a revolutionary service that is fitting for people’s needs.

4) What is the basic marketing difference between Uber and Uber X? UberX is for the economical, efficient rider who wants to get from point A to B with minimum cost and does not care about the comfort of the ride or size of the automobile. Uber on the other hand provides users with Limo or “luxury” quality that usually accommodates higher number of people and provides high comfort during the ride, which comes at a higher cost.

5) Uber has partnered with Open Table, Trip Advisor, Expensify, Hyatt, Trip Care and Starbucks. Why would these companies choose to build their marketing plans with Uber?

The same way social networks are more successful with integrations (example: youtube videos are shareable to facebook with one click), integrating Uber with these services will guarantee a larger target audience and more connivance for the riders.