Our partnership with Uber Eats has resulted in one of the most recognised brand platforms in the world. As an agency, we have grown with the brand across markets, to take it from the initial category-defining TVC to a globally successful platform that encompasses award-winning executions across all channels.

The original brief was one of those brilliantly ambitious questions: how do we make a taxi service the first port of call for takeaway food?

What followed was culture-shifting work that collides the wonderful diversity of human taste buds with a singular category occasion: dinner time. Using the cultural pull of a wide range of celebrities, we created the platform: “Tonight, I’ll be eating…” 

The idea brought together unexpected celebrity duos to create a multiplier effect. The initial campaign was launched on slim budgets with local well-chosen celebrities. Strategically, we set out to create cultural ‘high-five’ moments that surprise and delight and keep Uber Eats top of mind in the face of rising competition. 

We continued to push boundaries with the platform to drive cut through. We ambushed the Australian Open by bringing together the television network, production companies, media agencies and the world’s best tennis players to subvert traditional programming with a media-first “Tonight, I’ll be eating…” moment. Based on the insight that people don’t want more ads, they want more tennis, we chose not to act like a brand and instead act like an extended part of the match.

As Uber Eats extended into the US, we were faced with a new challenge. Uber diversified to include non-food deliveries in its offering. We flexed the platform in a now iconic Super Bowl spot and turned the problem into the solution: just because it is called Uber Eats, doesn’t mean you can always eat it. We tapped into timely cultural themes and celebrities to bring fresh humour to the platform. It elevated the brand from player in the category to brand as culture. 

Since its inception in Australia, the platform has rocketed Uber Eats from #4 to #1 in the category, earning the food delivery service brand awareness of over 90% (higher than KFC, Domino’s and McDonald’s). Now in its fourth year, the transformative platform has been taken to nine markets across the globe including Taiwan, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. “Tonight, I’ll be eating…” has picked up over 38 awards from every corner of the globe including seven Cannes Lions and three Ad Campaign of the Year Awards.

Our work has been category-defining, taking its principles from the best of PR strategy to earn disproportionate fame for the brand. By tapping into key cultural figureheads and trends, we took a brand that behaved as a basic utility and transformed it globally - from a brand that lives in the app store to a brand that is part of everyday life.

We think our work for Uber Eats is relevant to Monkey Shoulder as an example of the power of a global brand platform that can be expressed with local cultural resonance to drive real commercial effect.