This interview with Lyft VP of Marketing, Melissa Waters, is worthwhile reading. She describes a future built on drivers providing hospitality experiences: “We will continue to have drivers and people servicing vehicles. We think in the frame of hospitality and customer service.”
It’s when she dives into the challenge of building the Lyft brand that the clear gap in experience appears. Note the importance of the customer engagement, which will ultimately rely on the quality of the app and driver interaction. Lyft has described vehicles as rolling offices, hotel suites, and as other hybrid personal service/mobility experience. The people in the driver’s seat are the ones providing the human service/
Waters: High-growth tech marketing is often focused on growth marketing, which was previously known as performance marketing and direct response. It’s the nature of high-growth companies who are looking for added growth and need discipline. While all that is true, it’s fairly short term and is a function designed to deliver short-term returns. Not all young, high-growth companies have brand marketers who can think big picture and long-term early enough in the company’s lifecycle. They do a disservice by delaying brand building and general marketing principles to later on in the life stage of a company.
Soure: Forbes.com.