Gett on developing a culture of innovation and the importance of data

The taxi app sector is a highly competitive market, particularly with Uber gaining fares and market share from traditional cabs and taxi services such as Addison Lee, as well as putting pressure on other on-demand taxi apps operating in the UK, including Gett.

At the Festival of Marketing this year Remo Gerber, chief executive officer of Gett in the UK and Western Europe, will take part in a panel titled ‘Riding the back of the data revolution: Disrupting the megabrands in data-driven markets’.

The company rebranded in April to Gett – a name it already uses in the US. It included a plan to develop its offering beyond taxis, branching out to food delivery, beauty services and home cleaning.

Marketing Week caught up with Gerber on how the company uses data, its brand perception since the rebrand and why the fiercely competitive on-demand taxi sector is a driver for innovation.

Q. What do you think will be the next disruptive force in on-demand transport?

It’s hard to know as the latest disruptive technology, with the ability to connect a driver with a passenger via smartphone apps at both ends of the transaction, is still maturing.

Consumer behaviour is shifting and although it’s increasingly popular, this method of obtaining transportation isn’t fully established, especially the further away you go from London. So the many players in the space are still refining and optimising their business models. This is likely to be the status quo for some time.

Q. What has been the biggest change in the transport sector?

We’re dealing with the personalised consumer now – we build industries around them, rather than simply manufacturing a product and waiting for someone to come along and consume it.

Transport is likely to become part of a bigger sector of connecting suppliers with consumers; and transport will be an integral part of that – whether it’s taxis, real-time goods delivery or services in the home and office. Thanks to GPS and app technology; it remains a nascent beast.

Q. Gett is operating in a fiercely competitive market, how do you ensure you stand out and gain users?

We focus on a high quality service from the drivers and the London black cabs we work with, to the innovative technology we bring to the consumers. This means we bank a lot on word-of-mouth, and then support that with traditional marketing messages and techniques.

Q. How do you ensure you are continually innovating within the business?

Competition is a strong driver for innovation, but still being new to the transportation sector, we look at things with different eyes. Lastly, it is about building a culture of innovation. It’s very cliché but you need to develop a team that constantly asks itself, ‘is this the best we can do? Can we do better? How can we be different?’

Q. How does Gett collect and use data?

We measure data constantly, recording data points of car positions and consumer behaviour in the sales channel. The data is used at an aggregated level to make design decisions, optimise processes and user experience.

Q. Has the rebrand had any impact on consumer perception?

The Gett rebrand was hugely successful and the consumer perception significantly changed, especially since the launch of our first on-demand product – a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne and two flutes delivered within 10 minutes to your door.

Q. What does the future hold for the brand?

We are building the platform to service a full range of consumer needs at near real-time speed, which will of course keep us busy. Parallel to this, we will continue to expand our transportation offering geographically. This year alone, we have opened in 24 new cities in the UK.

To hear more from Remo Gerber or to find out more about the Data and Analytics stage at the Festival of Marketing visit the website, where you can also book tickets.