Southeast Asia ridesharing app Grab has unveiled its new advertising arm, which aims to provide brands with an omnichannel platform to reach commuters.
Called GrabAds, the new business unit will provide additional revenue for Grab’s drivers, who will carry advertisements from brands on tablets inside their cars and emblazoned outside their cars.
Brands who have already signed up for GrabAds are Singapore companies Carblicity, IRIS, Display Science and MMI Media Group; Karta and Interads in Indonesia; United Neon in the Philippines, while Singapore largest broadcaster Mediacorp will help Grab create content for the tablets so that commuters can watch dramas, sitcoms, variety shows and headline news.
Grab hopes that by working with brands and media partners through GrabAds to carry personalised ads, content and experiences, it can generate mass awareness and create bespoke experiences for commuters.
GrabAds’ offerings
- Mobile billboards
Journeying more than 100 million kilometres per week and seen by more than 10 million people per minute across Southeast Asia, brands can turn Grab’s fleet of cars, buses and bikes into their own roving billboards to generate mass offline awareness. In Indonesia, ads on GrabBike generate the highest brand recall among all out-of-home advertisements.
Using a fleet of 1,000 GrabBikes, Shopee achieved 85% in brand awareness within 90 days. In Singapore, bus wraps are especially suitable for locationspecific campaigns as they run on pre-scheduled, high-traffic routes.
- In-car engagement
From in-car branding and digital display to in-car sampling and in-car retail, brands can creatively turn car interiors into their canvas. They can showcase engaging short-form content on Grab’s in-car tablets and transform cars into mini mobile pop-up stores for customers to learn, test and purchase new products while in commute.
Driver-partners in Singapore who offer in-car retail services receive additional commission for every in-car purchase and free sample redemption.
- In-app engagement
Build and customise interactive widgets – games, quizzes, content, etc. – in Grab’s everyday app that has been downloaded onto more than 100 million smartphones in Southeast Asia. Brands can go a step further to delight customers with exclusive promo codes for Grab rides along with a little surprise message.
Unveiled last month, Grab’s new app experience features a news feed that provides information relevant to exactly when consumers need it. Featuring news, reviews and entertainment, brands can co-create contextualised content with Grab for specific occasions and serve them to customers while they are on the go.
“As our online and offline worlds become one, brands are now more focused than ever in designing and delivering seamless integrated experiences for their customers across multiple channels. GrabAds helps brands tap into our extensive vehicle fleet and increasing digital footprint to reach a wider audience base in Southeast Asia,” said Nasheet Islam, head of GrabAds at Grab.
“GrabAds is a great way for our driver- and delivery-partners to increase their incomes. Together with our campaign partners, we are committed to helping driver- and delivery-partners achieve additional and consistent monthly income from GrabAds, while helping brands achieve maximum exposure and engagement with their customers.”
Earlier this month, Grab announced that it had raised $2bn in funding from Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), OppenheimerFunds, Ping An Capital, Mirae Asset - Naver Asia Growth Fund, Cinda Sino-Rock Investment Management Company, All-Stars Investment, Vulcan Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Macquarie Capital and other investors.
