Hailing rides is largely a functional activity – you need to get from point A to point B, you call a cab which charges you the minimum with bare basic or premium features.

You could drone on about free Wi-Fi in your cabs, tabs you provide for premium entertainment content, lowest fares, availability, shorter routes, perfect algorithm for pool cars, and so on.

Instead UBER decided to appeal to the emotional side claiming they care for us like our family members. Men and women are crooning on primetime television and radio that they care for their family members and that they should switch to UBER for comfort.

They have hit two stones with this strategy:

a) They have moved from the functional aspects of the business to the emotional one. Ola has introduced a lot of features in their attempt to capture market share, but UBER has subtly captured the imagination, bypassing all the clutter with a simple message – We Care.

This strategy for turning functional products to emotional and vice-versa is well known but few brands have done it successfully. It is like creating a blue ocean in marketing while your rivals are still trying to list their features. UBER could do as they already are a market leader and have a presence in more than 25 Indian cities.

b) They have countered the nationalistic fervor (if any) for their ‘Made in India’ counterpart. Indian consumers have always welcomed international brands with unequivocal enthusiasm. So much so, that local brands have taken a beating while competing with resourcefulness and perceived quality of a foreign brand. Some claim that the mood today is a little different (especially towards Chinese products). UBER with its cleverly drawn ads has cleansed such thoughts from its user psyche with one stroke.

These ads assumes more significance in light of a recent news that in Hongkong UBER will be costlier than normal taxis. Till now UBER worldwide had come up on the ploy of free rides, credit, coupon codes and ultimately being cheaper than the taxi. This might indicate a shift in their policy where they might be increasing rates even in India. Already there is a lot of noise from drivers over curtailment of benefits from UBER.

But for now enjoy the ads that cajole you to junk your car and take an UBER. After all an old minority driver caring for a pregnant lady will always the right notes.