????Uber和其他品牌的合作幾乎讓人目不暇接。

????10月21日，也就是所謂的“回到未來日”，Uber攜手百事可樂在倫敦推出了免費乘坐德勞瑞恩轎車的活動，并在途中為乘客提供《回到未來》主題飲料。更早些時候，部分城市的Uber用戶還獲得了免費乘坐寶馬7系轎車的機會，此舉旨在推廣寶馬的新車。

????特別值得一提的是，作為按需打車服務商，Uber為自己制造了眾多讓人印象深刻的頭條新聞（包括打官司和負面新聞在內）。這些一次性噱頭當然有助于Uber保持曝光率，但該公司還有一項覆蓋面更廣的營銷策略，讓Uber一直成為人們的關注焦點，也讓合作者接踵而至。

????目前跟Uber合作的品牌很多，其中喜達屋酒店集團會將Uber乘客的搭車里程轉換為酒店的積分。另一個品牌是Capital One，它向Quicksilver信用卡持有者返還20%的乘車費用。Uber的其他合作伙伴還包括美國運通、希爾頓和貝寶。

????當然，品牌合作絕非新生事物，Uber應該也不是第一家借此大獲成功的企業。說句公道話，10月21日讓人們免費乘坐德勞瑞恩轎車的公司甚至都不止Uber一家。但毫無疑問，該公司的這項策略帶有鮮明的Uber烙印。

????正如顛覆性技術研究機構Altimeter首席分析師布萊爾·索利斯所說：“Uber是一個基于軟件的平臺，它把實時、移動和社交這些因素集于一身，因而成了新合作模式的催化劑。”

????Uber加快了按需經濟到來的速度，與此同時，在消費者的選擇比以往任何時候都多（也更移動化）之際，Uber還幫各大品牌解決了接觸到并留住消費者的問題。

????索利斯指出：“[Uber的挑戰]是它必須接觸到大眾群體，而傳統品牌和服務面臨的挑戰在于它們需要接觸到新渠道中的那些消費者。在這種情況下，雙方的合作把兩個完全不同的世界連在了一起。”

????換句話說，Uber的策略可謂一舉兩得。索利斯認為：“這種做法非常聰明，它還展示了新平臺如何敲開創造性機遇的大門。我是一名分析師，也是喜達屋會員和美國運通用戶，這些合作確實給了我更多的理由來使用Uber的服務，就像所有旨在提高用戶忠誠度的措施一樣。”

????眼下Uber顯然是按需拼車市場中的龍頭企業，對其他品牌來說，搭上Uber的順風車是一項明智的營銷決策。此舉能讓這些品牌走近一個很大的用戶群體（Uber雖未透露過自己的用戶數量，但僅在紐約市，該公司提供的乘車服務就已超過3000萬人次），并通過為這些乘車的移動用戶的提供增值服務，直接接觸到這些消費者。

????至于跟美國運通等方面的合作給Uber帶來了多少收益，進行合理評估并不困難。索利斯說：“基于這些品牌花在Youtube和推特等新平臺上的資金，我只能認為跟Uber合作價格不菲。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：Charlie

????校對：詹妮

????Hardly a day goes by without Uber launching a new brand partnership.

????On Oct. 21, the so-called Back To The Future Day, Uber offered users in London free rides in a DeLorean in collaboration with Pepsi, providing complimentary beverages en route. Earlier this week, Uber passengers in select cities were treated to free trips in the BMW 7 Series to promote the new car.

????Especially for an on-demand taxi service, Uber has landed itself an impressive number of headlines (legal battles and negative press excluded). And while one-off stunts certainly help keep Uber relevant, there’s a broader marketing strategy in place that keeps the company top of mind—and others lining up to get on board.

????Among the many brands currently running partnerships with Uber is Starwood, which awards passengers hotel points for each ride they take. There’s also Capital One, which gives Quicksilver cardholders 20% back on rides. Other partners include Amex, Hilton, and PayPal.

????Of course, brand partnerships are nothing new, and Uber is hardly the first company to find great success with this method. And to be fair, it wasn’t even the only company to offer free DeLorean rides yesterday. However, it’s undeniable that the company has put its own spin on the strategy.

????As Brian Solis, principal analyst at Altimeter, says, “Since Uber is a software based platform that combines real-time, mobile, and social, it’s a catalyst for a new model for collaboration.”

????Just as Uber hastened the arrival of the on-demand economy, it’s helping other brands parse the problem of reaching and retaining customers when they have more options (and are more mobile) than ever.

????“[Uber’s challenge] is that it has to reach the masses,” says Solis. “At the same time, the challenge traditional brands and service face is that they need to reach new connected customers. At the moment, these alliances bring two disparate worlds together.”

????In other words, its strategy kills two marketing birds with one stone: “It’s all very clever though and demonstrates how new platforms open new doors to creative possibilities. As an analyst, and also a Starwood member and Amex holder, these partnerships, like any loyalty-based program, do help me justify additional use of Uber,” says Solis.

????For other brands, hitching their wagon to Uber, currently the clear leader in the on-demand ridesharing market, is a sound marketing decision. It gets them exposure to a sizable user base—while Uber doesn’t share numbers, it’s delivered more than 30 million rides in New York City alone—and allows brands to reach a mobile audience by adding value to their rides. While Uber also gets additional exposure from partnering with Starwood and others, it’s also poised to benefit in a much more tangible way.

????As to how much the company pockets from teaming up with Amex and others, it isn’t hard to make an educated guess. “Judging by how much money I see brands spending on Youtube or Twitter or other new platforms, I can only imagine that it’s not inexpensive,” says Solis.