Uberpreneurship: The Entrepreneurial Value of Not Branding

UBERPRENEURSHIP: TO BRAND OR NOT BRAND, THAT IS THE QUESTION C Diniso & C Schachtebeck

INTRODUCTION Uber has enjoyed a meteoric rise in SA and abroad Defining Uber s market not easy public road transport? Unique business model does not own vehicles, maintain vehicles or employ drivers ensuring low cost base Uber still making a loss fighting regulators, marketing spend, incentive spend Despite significant marketing spend, no branding on vehicles, contrary to opposition, allowing almost anyone to be an owner-operator, subject to requirements such as background and licensing checks, owning a suitable motor vehicle and having motor vehicle insurance Low entry barriers have driven growth Lack of brandings supports drivers, allowing them to offer services on different mobile applications, as traditional meter-taxi services, as private transport, or merely as a part-time after-hours job Vehicles not easily identifiable (recent safety concerns) 2

PROBLEM STATEMENT Uber has rapidly established itself in the public transport marketplace as a viable alternative to other forms of public transport. Uber drivers and owner-operators have faced numerous challenges around the world, experiencing violence from other transport providers, as well as licensing and legislative issues. Despite these challenges, Uber has grown and increased its presence exponentially. One firm advantage Uber owner-operators have over other branded transport providers is the lack of branding, thereby allowing the same vehicle to be utilised across different platforms, as well as for private trips. This flexibility allows owner-operators to become platform-independent, thereby allowing for cross-subsidisation opportunities. Yet, to date no study has conceptualised the entrepreneurial and marketing value of a lack of overt branding in the transport sector holds. 3

RESEARCH AIMS To conceptually propose the entrepreneurial opportunity value of a lack of branding for Uber owner-operators The study culminates in a novel conceptual framework, derived from a narrative review, that highlights and describes the entrepreneurial value of not branding 4

LITERARY OVERVIEW Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is derived from the French term entreprendre , meaning to undertake The person who takes initiative to gather resources, manage a venture and assume the risk of doing so. Culminates in the creation of a new business venture Overriding profit motive, with innovation and societal transformation often part of the package Entrepreneurship is NB for country: innovation, providing job opportunities and positively contributing to GDP Entrepreneurship not to be confused with small business management/ownership The management guru Peter Drucker states that entrepreneurship is based upon the same principles, whether the entrepreneur is an existing large institution or an individual starting his or her new venture single- handed. It makes little or no difference whether the entrepreneur is a business or a non-business public- service organisation, not even whether the entrepreneurs is a governmental or non-governmental institution 5

LITERARY OVERVIEW Entrepreneurial opportunity Not every entrepreneurial opportunity is a viable one A viable opportunity has the qualities of being attractive, durable and timely and is anchored in a product or service which creates value for its buyer, end user and initiator. It offers a competitive advantage and rewarding, forgiving and durable profit margins and returns to the enterprise Entrepreneurial value created in 2 stages, (1) new venture formulation, (2) venture monetisation Failure often occurs at stage 1, and customer value needs to be created to reach stage 2 Four types of value can be created Functional/instrumental value: product attributes, usefulness & fulfilling customer needs Experiential/hedonic value: very subjective, feelings and emotions from customer s point of view Symbolic/expressive value: meaning and value of product Cost/sacrifice value: monetary sacrifice by customer Various ways to harness an opportunity 6

7 Timmons and Spinelli (2007)

LITERARY OVERVIEW Brand equity Brand equity = the incremental utility or value added to a product or service by its association with a brand name and/or symbol A set of attributes and credits associated with a brand name and logo which increase or decrease the value of the products in the minds of customers and organisation Various sources of equity: Brand Equity Brand Awareness Perceived Quality Brand Association Brand Loyalty 8 Source: Gupta & Adil (2014)

9 Source: Kaynak, Salman and Tatoglu (2008:341)

LITERARY OVERVIEW Views on Brand equity Brand loyalty = the customer s unconditional commitment and a strong relationship with the brand Brand awareness = consumers recognise and recall the brand under different situations, culminating in brand image Higher levels of awareness associated with elevated levels of favourable brand associations, creating unique associations and an image of quality Benefits of branding Gives consumers assurance about the product s quality, increasing willingness to pay higher price, thereby higher profit Limitations associated with strong a brand: Brand has to perform consistently to meet consumers expectations Increased marketing and advertising expenses Build brand at expense of customer service Uber states that it s name implies topmost", "super", and "above". Therefore, customer service, and not branding, should be at the epicentre of this company s strategic focus 10

METHODOLOGY Qualitative Research using a Narrative Review Methodology. Analysed by means of content analysis Components of each discovered conceptual model were analysed in terms of their relevance and potential in creating entrepreneurial value Databases searched: Ebscohost, Emerald, de Gruyter, Springerlink, Researchgate, Google Scholar and SAePublications The conceptual model combines major findings from the branding and entrepreneurship body of knowledge 11

FINDINGS Lack of brand recognition Lack of brand association Brand loyalty Personal brand equity Market context Entrepreneurial value Resources Opportunity 12

CONCLUSION The study proposes a novel conceptual framework that combines established entrepreneurial opportunity theory with theories from brand equity. Benefits of conceptual framework: Uber owner-operators, as well as other transport providers, can utilise the framework to better understand the value in a lack of branding. Other transport providers can evaluate whether additional entrepreneurial and business value could be derived from removing existing branding. Entrepreneurs can further enhance their businesses value proposition by harnessing elements of the proposed conceptual model, such as utilisation of resources, analysis of competitor branding activities, as well as recognising the potential in usage of multiple platforms. Academics and researchers can use the conceptual framework to develop measuring instruments Deepen research in a cross-disciplinary manner in the field of entrepreneurship and brand equity 13