Grab launches ads business

GrabAds will offer mobile billboards, in-car engagement, and in-app engagement for brands.

Grab launched its advertising business unit GrabAds to facilitate an online-to-offline (O2O) platform for brands as they engage with their Southeast Asian consumers, an announcement revealed.

GrabAds will give additional revenue streams for driver-partners and delivery-partners who have full flexibility in choosing their preferred advertising option to best complement their driving income.

According to the firm, driver-partners and delivery-partners across the region who participated in past ad campaigns earned an additional 10% through GrabAds. The unit’s offerings including in-car advertising or in-app customer engagement are modular and customisable for each market.

GrabAds has already inked partnerships with firms across Southeast Asia. In Singapore, they have tapped Carblicity, IRIS, Display Science and MMI Media Group to aid global and Singaporean brands as they do their marketing campaigns across the country.

Moreover, Grab signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mediacorp to co-create tailor-made content for in-transit viewing on Grab’s in-car tablets so that passengers can watch high-quality content such as short-form dramas, sitcoms, variety shows, and headline news as they are on transit.

“GrabAds helps brands tap into our extensive vehicle fleet and increasing digital footprint to reach a wider audience base in Southeast Asia,” GrabAds head Nasheet Islam said.

GrabAds offerings will fall into mobile billboards, in-car engagement, and in-app engagement.

Mobile billboards will be put into Grab’s fleet of cars, buses, and bikes. In Indonesia, ads on GrabBike generate the highest brand recall among all out-of-home advertisements whilst Singapore buses wraps are especially suitable for location-specific campaigns as they run on pre-scheduled, high-traffic routes.

Meanwhile, in-car engagements include in-car branding, digital display,in-car sampling and in-
car retail where brands can engage passengers in short-form content through tablets in Grab vehicles. Driver-partners in Singapore who offer in-car retail services receive additional commission for every in-car purchase and free sample redemption.

For in-app engagement, brands can do interactive widgets like games, quizzes, content by brands that can be accessed Grab’s everyday app. Brands can go a step further to delight customers with exclusive promo codes for Grab rides.