Uber unveils integrated ‘Where to?’ campaign, enlisting This Girl Can director for first UK TV ad
Uber UK has launched what is arguably its biggest above the line campaign to date, asking users ‘Where to?’ in out-of-home, online, cinema and press, as well as drafting the director of This Girl Can for its first TV ad.
Uber TVC
Kim Gehrig, who also counts John Lewis’ Man on the Moon spot among her directing credits, worked with Uber’s in-house team and BBH London to create the glitzy TVC. It follows a young couple – Grace and Miles – on their first date in glitzy, cinematic style, showcasing how the app puts users in control and takes them to all manner of places seamlessly.
“When we embarked on our film, the brief was to make it look as effortless as possible,” recalled Gehrig. “We rehearsed for days, and the challenge was how to get our dancers from one end of the set to the other in 60 seconds. As the film is one shot we had nowhere to hide. Every action and movement needed to be efficient, telling the story and getting us through cars as quickly as possible.
“Every scene needed to have its own story as well as move us through the set. We designed the set to start feeling real, then it deconstructed as the film progressed. The more our couple fell for each other, the simpler the set became. The cars always a portal to a new location. It was a lot of fun to do, even though it took all day and night to achieve one shot.”
This idea of ease translates into the ‘Where to?’ campaign’s OOH home creative. A range of posters, which will go live in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Edinburgh, depict how Uber easily helps you get from A to B; animated versions of this creative will go live on digital.
The initiative has been developed over the last seven months and will run over the course of six weeks. Mannig Gottlieb created the media strategy.
Rachael Pettit, Uber’s UK head of marketing, said: “We are really excited to be launching the first chapter of our brand idea. ‘Where to?’ represents the endless possibilities when you open up the Uber app and this theme will run through all of the creative work.
“Millions of people rely on Uber to get a reliable ride at the touch of a button and we wanted to bring this simplicity to life through the ad.”
Ian Heartfield, deputy executive creative director of BBH London, added: “You don't often get the chance to set the tone of voice for a game changing global brand from scratch. It was an awesome brief, one that we wanted to smash out of the park with work that is simple, joyful and above all else, different from everything else out there."
The ad falls into a contemporary category of creative inspired by the screen and stage. Pandora's latest work follows a runner as she explores the sets of famous album artwork, while La La Land was the muse for Hotels.com's marketing department last month.
