What can radio learn from Uber?

Uber has taken the public transport sector by storm and it’s captured the hearts and minds of passengers worldwide, including here in Australia.

So what’s Uber done that can offer lessons for the radio industry?

Its gets down to two things  – product and technology.

Uber saw a gap in the market for an improved product. Its product basically falls into three categories – quality cars, great drivers, great service. 

Those three product attributes combine with the latest state of the art technology . The technology handling bookings, payment, time of arrival etc.

It’s all App driven which is how consumers are increasingly accessing services as well as media.

Uber has managed to generate massive word of mouth and has actually created ‘raving fans‘. They are basically Uber ‘disciples’ spreading the word around the world talking about how great it is compared to the old taxi   ‘experience’. Passengers are loving the new Uber experience.

Are your listeners raving fans?

Do they love the experience of listening to your station?

Do they talk about your show or station?

Ubers point of difference from the old taxi industry is quality, cleanliness, reliability, friendliness and up to date technology, the only seeming advantage the traditional taxi industry has over Uber is that it has taxi ranks and you can ‘hail‘ a taxi on the go.

It’s no wonder Uber now has a market capitalisation of somewhere around $40 billion.

It may prove to be the Napster of transport, and we all know what happened to Napster. Looking ahead it could be a legal minefield. One colleague likened it to pirate radio stations of the past, operating successfully without paying the licence fees.

So what can the radio industry learn from Uber? Make sure you have a great product driven by superior technology.

Brad March is a Director of Radio Today, is a former CEO of Austereo and has been named Media Executive of the Year. He’s Director of Marchmedia and Pacific Retail Management