| Overview |
| The Idaho Department of Commerce teamed up with Uber Seattle to give Seattle commuters a taste of Idaho’s sunny weather on one January workday with ‘Vitamin ID’ branded umbrellas. |
| Challenge |
| Seattle is Idaho tourism’s largest market, and Idaho wanted to reach this market in an innovative and non-traditional way. Idaho tourism and Uber had similar objectives – Idaho wanted to create a memorable, mid-season awareness experience and Uber wanted to further embed itself as the most innovative and customer-focused rideshare partner in Seattle. |
| Insight |
| In late January, there are about two months of winter before spring weather comes to Idaho. January 20 was selected based on several factors including rainy weather reports and Uber’s rider data suggesting that more commuters use Uber mid-week. Seattle has an annual mid-winter break in late February, making the timing for the campaign perfect for trip planning to Idaho. |
| Idea |
| The 12-hour event took place in three waves: the first wave during the morning commute (6:00-9:00 a.m.) and a second wave (9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.) to capture late commutes and early afternoon rides, and a third wave (3:00-6:00 p.m.) during afternoon rush hour. 100 Uber drivers were utilized, and Idaho tourism selected several social influencers from Seattle to showcase the campaign. Users who engaged on Uber’s app received a free one-way ride, and given a Vitamin ID umbrella. Idaho’s sunny day messaging and a blue sky inner lining allowed commuters to be walking billboards for Idaho tourism. |
| Results |
| Idaho’s awareness event exceeded expectations for both Idaho tourism and Uber. Their efforts directly contributed to a record number of Seattle visits to north and southwest Idaho during Seattle’s mid-winter break holiday. Thousands of Vitamin ID-inspired photos and social media posts (over 5,500) were shared, resulting in Idaho becoming a trending topic in Seattle on the date of the event. |
