Facing a controversial and difficult-to-navigate external environment, Lyft needed a brand and social strategy that paid attention. Nouvel Âge Media helped the executive team at Lyft make sense of the volumes of social listening data and provided recommendations for turning the tide of negative sentiment.
Background: Lyft, Prop 22, and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Lyft is a taxi-hailing app popular in cities across the USA. As part of the sharing economy, Lyft aims to bring flexible earning opportunities to its drivers while providing efficient and accessible transportation to its riders. This is Lyft’s most significant asset: its people and the flexibility it affords ‘gig’ workers.
However, during the pandemic and its aftermath, Lyft and other gig economy applications fell under the spotlight and faced broad negative sentiment. As the pandemic raged and lockdowns became commonplace, Lyft and its competitors faced criticisms around driver safety, earnings, and financial stability. As Lyft classifies its drivers as independent contractors, public criticism was elevated at the lack of job protection Lyft could offer its drivers during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
In California, this criticism came to an intense head as Lyft faced legislative challenges in the form of Prop 22 – a controversial piece of legislation that, when passed, allowed companies like Lyft to classify their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Debate raged on both sides, with high-profile politicians and celebrities weighing in on labor rights and the gig economy.
However, during the pandemic and its aftermath, Lyft and other gig economy applications fell under the spotlight and faced broad negative sentiment. As the pandemic raged and lockdowns became commonplace, Lyft and its competitors faced criticisms around driver safety, earnings, and financial stability. As Lyft classifies its drivers as independent contractors, public criticism was elevated at the lack of job protection Lyft could offer its drivers during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
In California, this criticism came to an intense head as Lyft faced legislative challenges in the form of Prop 22 – a controversial piece of legislation that, when passed, allowed companies like Lyft to classify their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Debate raged on both sides, with high-profile politicians and celebrities weighing in on labor rights and the gig economy.
Our Solution
In this intensity, Lyft needed an up-to-date, accurate picture of the social commentary surrounding its brand and its actions. They needed a social media and social listening campaign that reallylistened and data insights to help them stay on top of the buzz. Finally, they needed prompts to take their marketing in the right direction. For all of this, they trusted Nouvel Âge Media.
Our team worked with Lyft for almost three years, covering the duration of the pandemic and the Prop 22 campaign. We used NetBase Quid to deliver enterprise-level listening data. Then we turned this data into beautiful, intuitive, easy-to-navigate dashboards and reports to provide at-a-glance insights to Lyft’s executives.Â
Alongside our data for Lyft, we also undertook competitive analysis by doing the same social listening for Uber. This gave us a comparison to a direct competitor at a time when the industry as a whole was experiencing challenges. Lyft was able to, in real-time, compare trends, sentiments, and mentions with their biggest competitor. This general social listening report was delivered twice weekly, ensuring that the social media was able to respond promptly to a shift in sentiment.Â
Our team worked with Lyft for almost three years, covering the duration of the pandemic and the Prop 22 campaign. We used NetBase Quid to deliver enterprise-level listening data. Then we turned this data into beautiful, intuitive, easy-to-navigate dashboards and reports to provide at-a-glance insights to Lyft’s executives.Â
Alongside our data for Lyft, we also undertook competitive analysis by doing the same social listening for Uber. This gave us a comparison to a direct competitor at a time when the industry as a whole was experiencing challenges. Lyft was able to, in real-time, compare trends, sentiments, and mentions with their biggest competitor. This general social listening report was delivered twice weekly, ensuring that the social media was able to respond promptly to a shift in sentiment.Â
To complement our general reporting, we delivered specialized Prop 22 reports covering critical moments of the campaign. As the campaign grew and the deadline neared, we stepped up our reporting style, offering Lyft weekly, twice a week, and then daily analyses on the campaign, including the most prominent voices, the most viral tweets, and the most significant sentiment trends.
At the height of the political campaign, Lyft aimed to shift negative sentiment with their carefully crafted #RidetoVote strategy, which ran from September to November 2021 and aimed to help people get to the polls by giving a free ride worth $15.
At the height of the political campaign, Lyft aimed to shift negative sentiment with their carefully crafted #RidetoVote strategy, which ran from September to November 2021 and aimed to help people get to the polls by giving a free ride worth $15.
In November, when the campaign drew to a close, we produced a meaningful breakdown of the campaign data, giving valuable insights on how Lyft could capitalize on its momentum. In a unique report curated specifically for this campaign, we helped Lyft make sense of its reach, navigate its influencer strategy, and understand what it did well and what approach needed to change going forward.Â
Data → Action
Data alone isn’t enough at critical industry moments like the Prop 22 campaign and crises like the Covid-19 pandemic. We know that big brands like Lyft need to use social listening metrics to their advantage, rapidly pivoting their strategy in the face of public sentiment and building on the success of their previous campaigns.
Nouvel Âge helped Lyft turn data into actionable insights by building on our intuitive reports. We supplemented our reporting with strategic direction and identified opportunities to share their message. With our finger on the pulse, the social listening team at Nouvel Âge Media provided recommendations for influencers to partner with, strategic messages to share, and elevated critical pieces of data to the executive level to inform decision-making.Â
Throughout a challenging three-year period, Nouvel Âge worked as a trusted partner to Lyft, helping them navigate industry challenges and shifts in public sentiment and giving their executive team the data they needed to create strategies that resonated with their riders and drivers.Â
Learn more about what working with Nouvel Age Media can do for your brand. Schedule a discovery call here.
Nouvel Âge helped Lyft turn data into actionable insights by building on our intuitive reports. We supplemented our reporting with strategic direction and identified opportunities to share their message. With our finger on the pulse, the social listening team at Nouvel Âge Media provided recommendations for influencers to partner with, strategic messages to share, and elevated critical pieces of data to the executive level to inform decision-making.Â
Throughout a challenging three-year period, Nouvel Âge worked as a trusted partner to Lyft, helping them navigate industry challenges and shifts in public sentiment and giving their executive team the data they needed to create strategies that resonated with their riders and drivers.Â
Learn more about what working with Nouvel Age Media can do for your brand. Schedule a discovery call here.