Uber chooses agency for global customer experience projects

Uber has appointed New Commercial Arts, the UK-based agency startup, for global customer experience projects.

The app company operates taxi-booking business Uber and delivery services, including Uber Eats.

Danielle Hawley, global executive creative director of Uber, said: “Uber is a company that cares deeply about customer experience. We look at strategic and creative challenges through that lens, and so do New Commercial Arts. That’s why we’re excited to be working with the team at NCA.”

James Murphy and David Golding, two of the co-founders of Adam&Eve/DDB, quit to launch New Commercial Arts in May 2020.

They positioned their new startup as a fusion of brand communications and customer experience. The Uber brief appears to be an endorsement of that offer.

Rob Curran, co-founder and chief experience officer of NCA, said: “Uber is one of those special brands that truly understand the brand-building power of customer experience. They’re the kind of client we created this agency for. We're thrilled to be working with them.”

NCA declined to comment further.

The agency has previously won Halifax’s integrated account, including customer experience, and Vodafone in less than six months.

Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, and Nelson Chai, chief financial officer, talked on the company's most recent earnings call about the importance of customer experience to drive and expand the business into adjacent categories.

Uber already has a strategy called “Riders to Eaters”, known as R2E, in which the app company seeks to convert taxi passengers into food-delivery customers.

“We’re going to use the same exact learning to build the adjacent categories”, such as grocery delivery, Khosrowshahi told investors.

Chai added: “Ultimately, we want to make sure we provide the best experience we can for the end users.” 

Uber's passenger bookings slumped but delivery orders surged during the coronavirus lockdown.

The company appointed WPP's MediaCom as its global media agency earlier this month in an expansion of its existing relationship in the US and Australia. 

Uber spent $1.3 billion on advertising expense in 2019.