FREE NOW

FREE NOW is Europe’s most popular taxi app, and is the first of its kind to bring black cabs and private hire vehicles (PHV) together in one app.

As part of its UK relaunch in September 2020, FREE NOW ran a 6-week campaign which focused on London and aimed to communicate its unique service proposition: giving passengers the choice of black cabs and PHVs.

After the campaign, FREE NOW were left asking questions about the reception of its branding, and clarity of the USP.

The Challenge

Savanta were appointed to help identify any changes that needed to be made so that FREE NOW could adapt its strategies ahead of the campaign’s second wave.

Most fundamental for FREE NOW was to:

• Validate whether the ‘50ft woman on roller-skates’ creative metaphor was understood and found appealing

• Understand the advertisement’s impact on consumer behaviour

• Generate the maximum return on investment before the second wave of the campaign

Our approach

We decided that our Essentials Creative Test was the ideal solution to quickly validate and understand the creative. To measure stand out memorability, a Clutter Reel Approach was used.

In December 2020, we conducted an online survey. Over the course of six days, we spoke with over 600 Londoners ages 25-50 (50:50 male:female) about their opinions of FREE NOW’s campaign.

It was essential that we only surveyed individuals who would consider using a ride-hailing service.

The outcome

Our research highlighted areas of both success and weakness in the first campaign.

Elements of the campaign that needed reworking were identified in advance of the second release, which enabled FREE NOW to make the necessary changes so that the second wave would generate the maximum return on investment.

Using our Essentials Campaign Evaluation tool, we discovered that FREE NOW’s Brand Love had almost doubled over the course of the campaign, which generated discussion and advocacy around the brand.