Selling Uber One

"This is how we do it!" - singer Montell Jordan and also Uber's leadership on promoting the company's monthly subscription product

At least one analyst on Uber’s February 8 earnings call wondered why Uber wasn’t pushing its subscription product, Uber One, harder. 

In the first question asked of Uber executives, Goldman Sachs managing director Eric Sheridan wondered if the company was actively promoting the subscription service, or if it was instead relying on virality and popularity to sell users on a monthly subscription that includes free restaurant and grocery delivery and 5 percent off rides, among other perks. 

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi answered, in part, “O​​ur efforts here are quite active. I mean, we are pushing Uber One.” 

It was a particularly well-timed question, as viewers of Sunday’s Super Bowl viewers can attest. In a star-studded 60-second commercial, Uber promoted its $10/month subscription to an audience of millions. The ad features music producer P-Diddy and a roster of nostalgia-inducing musicians from Montell Jordan to Haddaway, each humorously attempting to write an Uber One theme song. 

In a press release about the ad, the company said, “While millions of people across the world reap the benefits of Uber One each day, we realized that we still had some work to do to get the word out about our membership program.” 

It was a well-timed reminder that loyal subscribers and the boost to business that comes with them are increasingly important to third-party delivery platforms working hard to turn a profit. 

Last week’s Uber numbers support this. 

While delivering results deemed favorable by investors, Khosrowshahi noted that the membership program is now available in 12 countries, with over 12 million members.