How Lyft Plans to Accelerate Its Momentum With a New Brand Marketing VP and Agency Roster

The ride-share industry has run into some bumps along its path to remaking the business of transportation around the world.

The sector’s already tense competition only heated up in recent weeks as China’s Apple-backed Didi Chuxing scored a record $5.5 billion funding round after effectively blocking Uber’s mainland expansion efforts. Gett also acquired smaller rival Juno for $200 million.

While Uber, Travis Kalanick’s once-indomitable market leader, stumbles from one crisis to another—the latest being a federal investigation of its “Greyball” software program—perennial underdog Lyft sees an opportunity to position itself as a socially conscious alternative in a crowded, cutthroat field. This opening comes nearly a decade after founders Logan Green and John Zimmer pioneered the model with campus-based Zimride.

Becca Lawson, Brand Marketing VP, Lyft

Lyft hits the gas

On the marketing front, the nearly five-year-old startup recently made two big changes by hiring Pandora veteran Becca Lawson as its vp of brand marketing, and choosing Wieden + Kennedy New York and DigitasLBi San Francisco as its new creative and digital media agencies of record, respectively.

“Becca is a world-class marketer and the right person to lead Lyft through our next stage of growth,” said the startup’s vp of marketing and fellow Pandora veteran Melissa Waters. “[Her] commitment to compelling and effective campaigns will have a huge impact on Lyft’s brand.”

The account went to W+K after a late 2016 review that involved some of the hottest shops in the business like Droga5 and Alldayeveryday (Uber currently works with Deutsch on a per-project basis).

“We are pretty selective, and for us this was a no-brainer,” said Wieden + Kennedy New York managing director Neal Arthur in explaining his agency’s attraction to the business. “We just love the category and how disruptive they are within it.”

Arthur cited a “personality” that permeates everything the Lyft brand does, from the pink mustaches that once defined the company to its decision to donate $1 million to the ACLU in response to President Donald Trump’s proposed immigration ban in January.

“We’re energized to be partnering with Lyft to educate consumers about the benefits of ride-sharing and what it means to be a part of the Lyft community,” added DigitasLBi North America CEO Tony Weisman. “Lyft not only invented ride-sharing—they also care about their people and the communities they impact, just like us.”

Where the rubber (soul) meets the road

But how does Lyft plan to stand out in an increasingly crowded field?

Lawson called her brand’s personality “fun, irreverent and provocative,” indicating that Wieden’s work would focus on “what makes the Lyft experience different.”

Neither agency nor client could discuss the themes of future campaigns, but one big hint appeared in the form of a full-page print ad in The New York Times in March. It promoted “Round Up and Donate,” a program that allows riders to round their fare up to the nearest dollar and donate the difference to partner charities including the USO and the ACLU. Without calling out Uber by name, it sought to differentiate the two companies just as public pressure led Travis Kalanick to step down from his would-be position on Trump’s advisory board.

The new vp called it “an example of perfect intersection between brand, product and values.” She continued, “That is the sweet spot: talking about our difference around care for the community, and allowing our rider base to participate.”

“One of the things that was so exciting about joining Lyft is that I believe building a powerful brand is about making an emotional connection with consumers,” said Lawson. “There is an absolute magic that happens in a Lyft every time a rider shares a ride with a driver. Our drivers prefer Lyft passengers, who prefer Lyft drivers. It’s all about the connection and community that happens in that car.”

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Patrick Coffee

@PatrickCoffee

Patrick Coffee is a senior editor for Adweek.