Uber’s Lion Dance on demand

Uber used a creative strategy to connect with consumers during the 2016 Chinese New Year. In cities around China and in Singapore, customers could use the Uber app to call for a real life lion dance at their location. They made a simple service that you could use, similar to how you would call for a ride using the app, and the user would be billed for the dance using their Uber account.

This campaign resonated with audiences because it provided users of the app with an easy and fun opportunity to celebrate the holiday in a traditional way. The lion dance is a popular and key element in festivities and is said to bring good luck. Many businesses are known to order the dance in hopes of good fortune in the coming year. Making it twice as clever, Uber focused the campaign on the user experience and the holiday, pushing the service as an advertisement.

This campaign worked because it took an element of Chinese culture, made it accessible through an on-demand experience, and it had people using the app to engage in the Chinese New Year campaign.