June 2024 — Cannes, France
Uber made waves on the French Riviera this year—not for its rides, but for its ambition. At Cannes Lions 2024, Uber transformed its beachfront villa into a command center for its $1 billion advertising business, delivering a clear message to brands, agencies, and holding companies: Uber isn’t just a transportation app, it’s an ad platform built for the real world.
Led by General Manager of Uber Advertising Kristi Argyilan, the company showcased its growing suite of ad products across Uber Eats and Rider apps, signaling a bold shift toward commerce-driven, data-rich, context-aware advertising experiences. And it did so not just with PowerPoints, but by leveraging its own platform—targeting arriving media execs en route from Nice Airport to the festival with app-based invites to the Uber Villa.
A Platform in Motion: What Uber Is Selling
Uber’s pitch hinges on a simple but powerful idea: people spend real time inside its ecosystem. On Uber Eats, CPG giants like Unilever and Kraft Heinz have long utilized sponsored listings. Now, Uber has introduced video ad formatsthat appear during the order tracking phase—claiming completion rates north of 30%.
But the bigger transformation is happening inside the Uber Rider app. From the moment users open the app to track a ride, they’re met with high-impact static and video ads. These are hyper-targeted, full-screen takeovers that deliver 100% share of voice for an average of two minutes—an ad format Grether argues outperforms most social platforms.
Inside the vehicle, digital screens now offer yet another layer of brand immersion. Today these are static, but Uber plans to roll out in-car video ads as the default, creating what Grether describes as the "next generation of CTV."
“Think of the car as your new living room. This is a 20-minute, undistracted, high-intent window—ideal for entertainment, fashion, and travel brands,” he told The Drum.
Global Inventory, Local Precision
While most of the new ad formats are currently available only in the U.S., Uber’s 2024 roadmap is global. Grether revealed a plan to scale across Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the UK, France, Australia, Japan, and Taiwan, with country-specific sales and account teams currently being hired.
This global rollout also includes digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens on car rooftops in seven U.S. cities. These placements are dynamically optimized by location—whether it’s Fifth Avenue or Wall Street—adding geographic nuance to its data-fueled ad offering.
Data as the Differentiator
At the core of Uber’s proposition is one word: data. Grether argues that Uber’s platform offers a level of behavioral insight that social platforms can’t replicate.
“We know where people go in the real world—how often they go to the movies, to the grocery store, the gym, even the salon. That gives us a predictive, location-based dataset that’s incredibly valuable for targeting and measurement.”
Uber's first major data-driven partnership came to light during Cannes: a landmark deal with Omnicom, giving its agencies privileged access to Uber’s first-party data for campaign planning. Grether confirmed that Omnicom is the first holding company onboard—but not the last. Conversations with WPP and others are already in motion.
Results, ROI, and Real-World Impact
Proving advertising ROI remains top of mind. For Uber Eats, the connection between ad exposure and transaction is easy to track. The Rider side, focused more on brand awareness, leans on metrics like impressions, completion rates, and soon—attention-based measurement via third-party partnerships.
Uber claims 130 million monthly active users, and early A/B testing suggests that showing ads in cars actually increases Uber usage. The company’s internal research indicates that ad placements can enhance the ride experience when done right.
But Grether is also aware of the backlash some users feel about being served ads in a paid service. He insists user experience remains paramount, and that ad quality is strictly vetted by Uber’s in-house creative team.
“We’re not running ads just to fill space. They have to be additive. If the ad doesn’t meet our brand bar, it doesn’t go live.”
The Road Ahead
Uber Advertising’s trajectory is clear: unify real-world behavior with digital precision, monetize moments that matter, and build the next frontier of media—inside the ride.
From test drive CTA buttons for auto brands to exclusive entertainment previews, Uber is betting big on a future where mobility, delivery, and media converge. And with a projected $1 billion in ad revenue this year, it's no longer a side hustle—it’s a central pillar.
As Cannes 2024 wrapped, Grether summed up the momentum:
“We’ve gone from proving the concept to proving the scale. Now it’s time to prove the impact.”