The support that local communities have received from companies both large and small since the start of COVID-19 has been a “faith in humanity restored” moment for many of us. It is inspiring and encouraging to see so many companies, large and small, chip in as much as they can even so far as to forgo profits temporarily to help out their partners and customer. However, we have also seen a few companies that threw their hat into the ring to support their partners but didn’t throw it quite far enough…
Uber Eats recently announced their initiative to support local Canadian restaurants through their food delivery service amidst the pandemic, allowing customers to donate to their local restaurant of choice. Uber will then match every dollar that is donated and put it towards the Canadian Hospitality Foundation Employee Relief Fund until they have reached their target goal of $500,000. A relief fund is a fantastic way to give back, but they fell short on a very rare opportunity to provide more than any company normally would.
Right now restaurants need every single dollar that they can possibly bring in. So the question remains, why didn’t Uber Eats reduce the high fees that they force restaurants to pay to be part of the service. Even if just temporarily. Right now they are putting the responsibility squarely on the customer to donate extra to help out restaurants who are struggling. This is all while Uber continues to rake in huge commissions off of each order. We believe that this could come back to bite them as word spreads through social media from restaurant owners who take almost no profit while using the service.
We also believe that Uber has a unique opportunity to push their marketing exposure even further through truly unique and custom-designed community programs such as:
- providing relief programs to their employees and drivers.
- offering a meal-for-meal program. For example, every meal ordered would be matched by Uber and donated to local hospitals to support the healthcare/frontline workers.
- teaming up with other Canadian food delivery services to generate a larger donation pool.
Brands like Uber spend hundred of millions of dollars a year in digital marketing with the sole goal of trying to endear themselves to the hearts and minds of consumers. Our approach would be far less expensive and would be the kind of thing that goes viral across all platforms. Brands like Uber should never underestimate how truly impactful their community-focused initiatives can be, but they need to be well thought through. A donation matching scheme is a good start but it simply isn’t enough. Step it up Uber!
Thoughts on how Uber could be more innovative with their support programs during COVID-19? Let us know in the comments section!
———-
Article Written by:
Dean Horsfield
Founder of Little Bear in the Forest | Digital Marketing Agency
Connect With Dean on LinkedIn 
