You Don’t Really Have To Care, Just Act Like You Do!

It’s the weekend. You’re going out with your pals and you know that adult beverages will be involved. So what do you do? You call a Lyft like the responsible adult you are! But Lyft is claiming that they what you to be responsible in other ways.

On August 28, 2018, Lyft announced that they have partnered with various voting registration organizations to encourage riders to registrar and vote in the upcoming November 6 elections. The company is offering half-priced and free rides to voting polls on the day of the election as well.

Lyft claims to truly care about their riders and employees exercises their right to vote, however, I just call it a great marketing campaign. Throughout the numerous scandals their top competitor, Uber, has had in recent years, Lyft has tried to position itself as the most “woke” alternative (Solon, 2017). So much so that being hyper socially and racially aware has become their positioning strategy. Capitalizes on your biggest’s competitions racial, sexual and social scandals but displaying your company as the most concerned about racial, sexual and social injustices is just brilliant.

Many journalists and news outlets praise Lyft on their “genuine” concern beyond their own company, but I am a bit more cynical. If you notice, every time Lyft partners with an organization to better society, there’s always a catch. That catch tends to be: sign up with Lyft and use our service to get you there. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, however, let’s not call Lyft “advocates” so much so as “great marketers”.

Other companies that want to stand out from the competition need to take a look at what Lyft is doing and follow. With such a polarized political climate and a hyper-sensitive country, this new wave of we-care-use-our-service marketing might be the way to go!

References:

The Ride to Vote: Use Lyft to Exercise Your Rights. (2018, August 28). Retrieved from https://blog.lyft.com/posts/2018/8/22/get-out-the-vote

Solon, O. (2017, March 29). Is Lyft really the ‘woke’ alternative to Uber? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/29/is-lyft-really-the-woke-alternative-to-uber