Uber India aims to start its own advertising and branding wing, so that it can better monetise users and show them ads.

The company plans to take an omni-channel approach and offer advertising through electronic display boards in cabs, the internet, television and other means. The move parallels that of Amazon and Flipkart, which have already started monetising their web traffic through digital advertising.

Currently, advertising opportunities are being offered only on cars, part of a partnership the company signed with CASHurDRIVE Marketing earlier this year, allowing the OOH agency to place advertisements on cars as body wraps across more than 30 cities in India.

“Uber India is set to become yet another marketplace for media buying and selling as the ride-hailing company opens itself and its collaterals up to advertising. The Uber app and other digital properties owned by Uber could be monetised for marketing activities, since the brand has a significant digital footprint,” Paper.vc analyst Nikhil Kanekal told Brand Equity.

The move to further monetise its user base and fleet of vehicle comes as the company exits the food delivery market. In January, Zomato agreed to acquire Uber's loss-making food delivery business in India in an all-stock transaction purportedly worth US$350 million.

Uber Eats’ India business dragged down the food delivery arm’s adjusted net revenue by 0.4% in the September 2019 quarter, according to its CFO, Nelson Chai. Cost-cutting measures by Uber globally, which included the sale of Uber Eats India, has been extensive with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stating that the company now expects to be profitable by the end of 2020.

Sourced from Brand Equity, Inc42, VCCircle, The Guardian