Nothing can save the taxi industry’s branding issue
Try as it might to fight back against the behemoth that is Uber with clever campaigns and crafty repositioning, nothing can save the taxi industry in the eyes of consumers until its biggest branding problem is addressed. Mumbrella’s editor Vivienne Kelly explores what needs to change.
On Tuesday night I was attacked in a taxi on the way back from an industry event.
On top of everything else, my phone had run out of battery – which will resonate with those of you who know me and are all too familiar with my standard response of “I’m tired and I need to charge my phone” when asked how I am – compounding the difficulty of the situation I was in.
I haven’t actually revealed to anyone the full extent of what happened and why I was found out the front of my building doubled over and hyperventilating, preferring instead to drip feed different parties different elements of the story so I can manage the narrative without having to spend too long retelling and analysing it at any one time.
Given that Mumbrella wasn’t created for us to all work through my issues via pop psychology – wouldn’t that be great though? – I’ll spare you the minute-by-minute breakdown of what happened.
The incident, however, did raise two serious issues relevant to adland.
One, is the taxi industry’s horrendous branding and image issues.
13 CABS and Adam Ferrier’s Thinkerbell can do everything in their power to reposition the brand, attempt to sell it as a fairer, more reliable and safer alternative to the likes of Uber, and transform the legacy business which struggles with consumer loyalty – but it means fuck all if the reality out on the streets is giving users a different experience.
Above: 13 CABS’ trying to improve its image
I was so incensed and shattered by the time I was helped inside, that the only thing I could think to do was send Adam an angry email about the disconnect between the company’s rebrand and repositioning, and my actual experience.
(Sidebar: How much Mumbrella / adland Kool Aid have I consumed for branding issues and advertising campaigns to be one of my first thoughts after a traumatic experience?)
Above: Uber’s latest campaign
It must have been such a bizarre email to receive. Sorry, Adam.
I almost didn’t send it, as it really wasn’t Adam’s fault or issue, and I knew that the more rational Vivienne who awoke the next morning would only have more fuel for her anxiety.
But send it I did.
And this is where the brand jumped into action.
Adam had responded by 5:24am and Simon Purssey, 13 CABS’ head of client services, had called by 10:05am.
Even more impressive is that even after it subsequently emerged it wasn’t a 13 CABS taxi involved in the incident, both the company and Adam continued to check in to see if I was okay, and apologise for the conduct of someone who didn’t even work for their brand.
In one sense, my incorrect conclusion that the driver was from 13 CABS shows the all-penetrating strength of the 13 CABS brand – in that I automatically assumed the taxi – any taxi – I was in was the responsibility of 13 CABS.
It also presents an almost-insurmountable challenge for 13 CABS though: they become tied to brands which aren’t their own, and are held accountable for the conduct, experience and offerings of the industry as a whole.
Various circumstances led my traumatised brain to believe it was 13 CABS. So I ran with that in the moment.
I did my Honours thesis a decade ago on history and memory, and the interaction between telling and retelling stories, and how this can create and then re-enforce inaccurate recollections of experiences.
Essentially, every time we tell a story, it alters our memory of what actually happened – and years and years down the track, the way we retell a tale of trauma, hilarity, the mundane, the mediocre and the monumental, can be very far removed from what actually happened. We can alter our own memories accidentally via storytelling, and genuinely believe that something which didn’t happen, did.
Brands too have to contend with this quirk of humanity and the folklore and misconceptions it can create.
If I hadn’t lost my mind at Adam via email, which prompted Simon to call me, and us to ultimately realise I was laying blame with the wrong company, I would be telling everyone who would listen (and even those who wouldn’t) about my horrendous 13 CABS experience.
It would become true by my telling and retelling, and 13 CABS would suffer as a result.
It’s likely, however, that most consumers would have fallen into that trap. I guess that is one of the perils of being a market leader and trying to mount an industry pushback against a challenger. Every message you send out will be compared to the new kid on the block (Uber) and the reality on the ground, and everything the industry as a whole does, can be seen as a direct reflection of your own, separate, brand.
It’s a challenge I’m sure Adam and Simon will continue to battle with, and one without an easy solution.
Beyond the image and branding challenges instances like this generate for the taxi and ride-sharing industries, the second issue this highlighted is the continuing and often underestimated risks that come with this job for me and many other women.
Evening events come with the territory. So, how does one best get home?
I am frequently lambasted by people in the industry when they realise I intend to walk back to the closest station and get the train home instead of the seemingly more practical and efficient taxi/ Uber.
The general vibe that is forced back upon me varies from “Lol are you poor?” to “Eww, why would you get the train?”, with a little “Stop being a weirdo and just jump in this cab”, thrown into the mix.
Here’s the reality though: after years and years of late-night suburb hopping as a woman in Sydney, I feel safer on the train.
I’m so sick of (but simultaneously grateful for) texts from people in the industry which pop up on my phone less than 120 seconds after I shut the door of a car and prepare for a stranger to drive me home: “Let me know when you get home safe”.
One Friday night I smoke bombed on Commercial Radio Australia’s Julie Warner, and then yes, my phone once again, ran out of battery.
I didn’t charge it until well into the Saturday afternoon, and then found a string of increasingly concerned texts, culminating in “Seriously, are you alive?”
Laugh as we do about it now, the reality is we all know in the back of our minds that there is the possibility something had happened.
It’s horrendous to recount how many times I have been at risk on my way back from adland events, and indeed, occasionally at the events themselves.
So I get the train when and where I can.
Not only does it give my busy brain time to decompress (“Why did you have to look like such a d*ckhead trying to scoff that spring roll into your mouth while talking to ‘insert executive’s name here’?”, “Did you have to go back to the cheese board SO many times?”, “When that person said ‘Oh, I LOVE Mumbrella’, were they being sassy and sarcastic?”, “Should I have spoken to more people?”, “What stories did I miss tonight?”, “How much is this company going to hate me when I write about that stuff-up on stage?”) while digesting TOFOP or blasting Sam Smith (don’t judge my high-culture tastes!) – but I feel safer and, thus far, have made it home without incident.
Long may that continue.
A version of this article first appeared in Mumbrella's Best of the Week newsletter on Saturday. Sign up here
It’s only Tuesday today. How did this happen on Tuesday? Typo?
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Hi ‘Umm’,
Glad this was your “key takeaway”.
Tuesdays happen every week. It’s the miracle of time and space!
Vivienne – Mumbrella
I resisted Uber for a long time until on a recent trip to Melbourne the cab driver from the airport couldn’t find Flinders St, wouldn’t turn on the GPS on his phone and was generally rude. On my return tp Sydney the cab driver to my home had no ID displayed, had never heard of my quite large North Shore suburb, and needed help to find the Harbour bridge. Since then it’s Uber for me.
No amount of clever advertising will help, the problem is the drivers who consistently underperform, leave the meter on night rate in the morning, won’t use their GPS and air conditioning unless you insist, and generally provide a poor experience.
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Tuesdays are the worst, it’s difficult to get passed this fact.
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They will never fix the reputation of taxi’s until they make them safe, which seems to be a long shot. Also, my husband’s taxi was twice the cost of my Uber from the same place to home. How is that okay? As a female, I will never get a taxi now. Nor will my 20-year-old daughter.
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Issues of brand vs. category aside; Vivienne, what you have described in the first sentence and in following paragraphs appears to be an assault and its immediate aftermath. Mindful of the difficulties surrounding your memory of the event, I still wonder whether this is something for the police.
I do hope you are ok.
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It’s staggering how much money I will pay to not get in a taxi.
Awful to hear you had to go through this but unfortunately it is one of a number of such incidents I have heard from women I know.
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Vivienne, I sincerely hope you’re ok after this experience. I first read about it in your weekly roundup. I can’t imagine how horrific it was.
What you say about the taxi industry is, unfortunately right and is a textbook example of above the line promises made and unfulfilled below the line (which, in my humblest at least, is where brands really grow).
Experience with a single brand can either elevate or sink all players in the taxi industry. As you pointed out, in that traumatic situation you thought it was 13 CABs. Entirely plausible and as you say, because it’s the brand making some noise it becomes the top of mind, which is the aim, though it can go either way based on experience.
It may also be why – apart from what I’m certain is authentic care for you – Adam and Simon from 13 CABS, followed through so fully. Commend them both for that and for their recognition that as the ones waving the flag, whether it was their brand or not, they attracted the attention.
I don’t cab much myself these days; I’m train, light rail or good old-fashioned drive myself, so can’t speak personally or specifically about 13 CABS. My memories of cabs aren’t great, and there’s not one single brand I can cite for that (13 CABS not amongst them, since they’re relatively new players and I haven’t ridden in one). I have spoken to friends who’ve caught 13 CABS though and it sounds like nothing much is different.
So maybe they still have some work to do. An advertising strategy and brand positioning is a critical step, and long overdue. However, if those responsible for delivering the brand promise fail (either by failure of the brand to implement a whole of brand approach, or a failure of operators to follow the rules) then it will amount to nothing and drive the brand – and industry – down even deeper.
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This is why we say that Brands are Glass boxes. Everything a company does, is part of the Brand. Samsung was know for 12 months as the Exploding Battery Company, not it’s marketing messages. Incidents like this matter more than clever marketing.
I spend more and more time these days working with business owners to improve the functional aspects of their business and then communicating them. Customers are much more interested to hear about a new feature, that ensures passengers get home safe, than a slick ad campaign that makes empty promises. This is how you build loyalty & advocacy.
Brand needs to sit a lot closer to business in companies. Brand is not an add-on it’s an integral function of the the business and the company culture. Adam & Co have done a great job but if the rest of the business is not addressing systemic issues then nothing long term will come of the work. I hope they are.
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A continual desire to take a flimsy point of view to advertising results in dangerous promotion of sometimes questionable brands and causes. Sorry to hear about your malady m’lady.
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Why do people keep buying the particular brand of phone with the crappy battery?
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I got in an Uber and I had a very bad experience. Very bad. There was no one to call. No way of calling anyone. I’ve reported it now. But that’s it.
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I haven’t seen the 13CABS ad until today and I love the quirkiness.
However, yes, there is “no surcharge” but that’s nothing to celebrate or highlight if all you end up with are miserable taxi drivers who complains how tough life is turning the entire trip to a Dr Phil session, they wish each trip is $100 in value because $20 is not good enough, and you have the special bunch who asks if you know your way because if you don’t, they will try to take the not-so-quickest route to your destination. You also have the elite group who just makes you feel it’s an ultimate privilege you are in their cab to the point that you are actually not welcome in the first place in their royal presence. Saving the best for last, I once gave $10 tip and Mr. taxi driver actually asked “is that all?” and he was not joking.
To be fair though, the suburban taxis and/or the newer taxi drivers are slightly more friendlier. From experience, they are slightly better than Uber in those non-CBD areas.
BTW, isn’t a booking fee, when you call for a taxi in advance, defined and classified as a “surcharge”? #justsaying #thereisasurchargeafterall Debatable perhaps?
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Great synopsis of the varied taxi driver audience.
You forgot one though, the “I’ll just give you a card, you can message me anytime guy”. Literally no advantage for the consumer: you still get all regular charges against you, its just not validated by the taxi company.
Good point on the surcharge. How can I, a regular Joe Suburban, schedule an airport trip from my home without incurring this fee?
Oh wait there is an answer: Uber.
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Sympathy seems to be the only response for the assault itself.
On Taxis – As said in the piece, branding doesn’t matter when the staff literally assault the customers. I’ve never experienced an assault myself but having been subject to highly sexualised conversation from the driver close to half the time I’ve got in a taxi.
Why the hell drivers think their customers want to talk sex with a random stranger is beyond me. Something deeply wrong with that industry.
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The no surcharge messaging is clearly not true. It’s a vacuous statement. Anyone who has tried to get a taxi on New Year’s Eve, a sport match or any other high demand event, will have the experience of taxi drivers only willing to acxept passengers travelling to certain locations or for fixed, inflated fares. It’s a transparent surcharge with Uber vs a surcharge via flagrantly cheating the system with Taxis
Advertising can’t stray that far from the real consumer experience, without setting the campaign up for failure.
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Right now, 13CABS are trying to show their difference from Uber. But, perhaps they should be separating themselves from taxis instead. Something that says ‘not your average cab company’ or ‘take a cab not a taxi’.
PS hope you’re ok Vivienne.
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‘Past’, not passed. You’re dismissed.
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2 days in a row.
I live in a taxi-able distance from central manly. That is to say, close enough to be happy but far enough away to occasionally say “hey ill take a taxi home” particuarly with groceries etc if i have them.
Guess what?
CAN I HAVE CASH PLEASE OTHERWISE I WONT TAKE YOU. TWICE.
I dare say, you cant pump CPR into a brand that is clearly dead. If the people working at ground level are continuosly letting you down there is no amount of work you’ll be able to ‘creatively’ do that will breathe life back into what is a relic, bit like a dinosaur. Any questions – id be happy to answer them but I literally cant believe how dreadful that service is.
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Uber ban their drivers who get lower than 4.2 average rating, so either the bad experience was just to you or the driver is new. This is why, on average, uber is excellent.
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use Sheba instead. female drivers only. you don’t have to feel uncomfortable about a thing, or be paranoid if you’ve had a few drinks.
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had horrendous experience with 13CAB driver last night, let’s see if Simon Purssey, calls me the next morning…..or is that level of customer service just for journo’s?!
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