Think back to 2017 when Uber was publicized for its scandalous claims including sexual harassment, a sexist office culture and high turnover amongst executives. These types of behaviors impact an organization all the way down to its consumers – negative brand perception, boycotting, loss of revenue, etc.
A year prior to these claims, Uber attempted to rebrand in 2016. The company presented a mission statement that spoke to the collaboration between bits and atoms. Bits represented technology and atoms represented people and everything involved in the Uber ecosystem.
The company wanted to portray the message that they wanted to grow beyond the car sharing service we’re all familiar with, but it didn’t come across that clearly. Uber’s messaging failed to resonate with their target audience. In fact, it made their target audience cringe! They tried to sound ethical and caring, but the company came off as forced and ingenuine.
Finally, the last mistake many felt Uber made during this rebrand was changing their logo. Many had a hard time identifying the logo with the brand and again, felt it didn’t resonate with them.
Uber’s New Logo in 2016
It’s no surprise that Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, resigned in January 2017. The company welcomed their new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, in August 2017.
The new CEO was determined to win back their consumer’s hearts. So, in 2018 the company went through another rebrand. Their new message – MOVE – move forward and forget the past. Uber wanted to reinforce that they are an excellent car share service and that everything about this new redesign symbolizes that.
The rebrand began by spending over a 1,000 hours interviewing people all over the globe to see how their brand was perceived in different markets. These interviews helped shine a light on where the disconnect was between users and the brand.
They used this information to build a brand that would be able to scale globally and communicate Uber’s new core value of safety for passengers. The rebrand included a new simplified logo, an updated color palette, new custom typeface, and an improved in-app experience.
Example of Uber’s new illustrations that were incorporated throughout the website.
References:
Hempel, J. (2016, February 2). The inside story of uber’s radical rebranding. Wired. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.wired.com/2016/02/the-inside-story-behind-ubers-colorful-redesign/
Kim, R. (2018, September 17). New uber rebrand of 2018. Medium. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://medium.com/@thedesignmood/new-uber-rebrand-of-2018-94c5cae8d34e
Wilson, M. (2018, October 3). Uber has a new brand. again. Fast Company. Retrieved March 31, 2022, from https://www.fastcompany.com/90235065/uber-has-a-new-brand-again
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