Uber wanted to launch a new subscription service that let people save money across its platform. After a year of building awareness through its owned channels, Uber hit an awareness ceiling, meaning new memberships were flatlining at around 850K; Uber wanted to reach 1.6m by the year’s end.

There was a big gap between where we were and where we wanted to go.

We needed a campaign that drove awareness of their new product and the savings on offer - not as simple as it sounds.

We had a product with an inherent contradiction at its core: paying money to save money. We didn’t really have one killer hero benefit, and we were talking to people who were drowning in subscription services that they didn't need and were looking to cut back.

A set of problems that tripped other markets up, we needed to avoid that mistake.

The idea positions Uber One as a membership for people who eat food and go places, turning a savings subscription into something exclusive, for everyone. It does this by tapping into the UK’s obsession with Hollywood stars, but showcasing that they (like everyone else) eat food and go places. This sparks an unlikely friendship between one of the biggest acting stars on the planet and a more recent addition to the Hollywood acting fraternity, who meet on set.

The temptation was to lean heavily into savings, but everyone else was shouting about how good their savings offer and we were lacking one show stopping savings benefit.

We looked at the collective benefit our savings could offer and quickly came to realise we had a truly unique offer.

A service that lets people save on groceries, taxis and takeaways - things that people do all the time anyway. That was our benefit: saving money in the background on things that everyone does all the time.

Next we had to decide how to act. We looked at loyalty schemes but all they offered was a quick dopamine hit through savings and felt a bit bargain basement as a result. We looked at memberships, which offered a more consistent benefit that spoke of a better lifestyle.

That felt true to our offer, so we adopted the body language of a membership.

The ad moved from concept to being produced within four months. Much of that time was spent casting (desk research rather than auditions!) Two actors of different stature, both recognisable. Iconic Hollywood star meets up-and-coming, British actor.

The production was designed to make the most of the time (2 days) we had with talent. This included splitting production one-day location, the other utilising virstSal production screen tech.

The direction allows the performances to shine, giving space for tension to build and the friendship to grow and flourish. The film feels intimate and is understated enough to be believable and unexpected.

Visually it takes us to a world of romantic comedy. The cinematography meets the actors at their level and draws us into a short romantic film, led by their performances.

The resulting ad was shown online (global) and in cinema (UK only).

We overshot our targets with +53% of Uber One sign-ups, seeing Uber One reach 2m UK members (well past our 1.6m target) months ahead of schedule.

4% increase in Uber One awareness amongst Gen Pop

5% increase in category users

7% increase in existing Uber users

Our ad performed above or in norm across brand attention, memory, and brand linkage. This success was reflected across our channel mix too with big uplifts across awareness and ad recall (+6.4pts YT DV360, +9.3pts YT Select, +12.5pts Spotify, +3.4pts on TikTok).

Due to the nature of the campaign design - a news-worthy story - the reach far exceeded the paid media investment, with earned media providing extra reach beyond the UK target.

It also managed to place Uber in natural conversations about eating food and going places, which could have been lost in a campaign with a more nuanced message.