{"id":21400,"date":"2022-12-06T18:29:18","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T18:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/06\/uber-hires-ex-apple-amazon-exec-to-lead-uk-ad-business\/"},"modified":"2022-12-06T18:29:18","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T18:29:18","slug":"uber-hires-ex-apple-amazon-exec-to-lead-uk-ad-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/06\/uber-hires-ex-apple-amazon-exec-to-lead-uk-ad-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Uber Hires Ex-Apple, Amazon Exec to Lead UK Ad Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In October 2022, Uber formally launched its advertising division in the U.S.<\/a> promising in-app ads with the power to grab people\u2019s attention while they waited for a car or tracked a takeout delivery. Now, it\u2019s scaling that business with the appointment of Paul Wright in the U.K.<\/p>\n

Wright will join the tech company as its first head of Uber Advertising in the U.K. and Ireland. He brings with him experience from Apple where he lead its now-shelved iAd mobile ad network<\/a> in EMEA and APAC. He more recently served as head of international tech business development and partnerships for Amazon, followed by a position onboarding brands to retailer FarFetch\u2019s ad platform.<\/p>\n

He confirmed his appointment on LinkedIn, saying he would be tasked with setting up a dedicated team in the market. Adweek has reached out to Uber for further information.<\/p>\n

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Mobility media<\/strong><\/h4>\n

In late October, Uber unveiled a dedicated\u00a0advertising division<\/a>\u00a0which launched with 100 staffers in the U.S. and a new ad format\u00a0called Journey Ads, which will target \u201cpurchase-minded\u201d consumers.<\/p>\n

Uber\u2019s big pitch to advertisers is ultimately built around using its first-party data and insights across its ride hailing and delivery apps, giving big brands \u201ccompelling new surfaces and closed-loop attribution to reach Uber\u2019s audience of 122 million monthly active users.\u201d Other options to reach Uber\u2019s 122 million active users include sponsored emails, sponsored listings, post-checkout ads and in-menu ads.<\/p>\n

Uber has positioned these buys as \u201cmobility media.\u201d However, the premise is similar to retail media offerings from the likes of Amazon, Walmart and Deliveroo, which recently unveiled its own media and ecommerce platform for brands<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to GroupM<\/a>,\u00a0retail media spend will represent 18% of global digital advertising<\/a>\u00a0and 11% of total advertising by the time 2022 is out. By 2027, it estimates that retail media advertising will increase roughly by 60% to reach $160 billion.<\/p>\n

When it launched its ad business Uber announced plans to ramp things up quickly with offices in Australia, Brazil, France, Mexico and the U.K., saying its ambition is to scale Journey Ads to more than 30 countries out of the 70 Uber operates in. Wright\u2019s appointment is part of this strategy.<\/p>\n

Other key hires have included ex-LinkedIn exec Michael Levine to lead Australia and New Zealand<\/a> and Gr\u00e9gory Blay-Desforges joining from TikTok to lead France.<\/p>\n

Uber Advertising is being overseen globally by ad veteran Dr. Mark Grether, who also worked at Amazon, as well as being at the helm of ad tech companies Sizmeka and Xaxis. His big sell to brands is that Uber can engage customers with messaging relevant to their purchase journeys.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith 1.87 billion trips last quarter, that means we can connect advertisers to consumers on average five times per month across rides and delivery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Over 40 clients have already partnered with Uber to run Journey Ads including NBCUniversal and Heineken. The business said early results showed customers were exposed to ad content for two minutes<\/a>, resulting in \u201ctwo to six times the brand-performance lift compared to other benchmarks.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n