Delhi rape: Uber effectively proves its branding is a lie

“Safety is Uber’s highest priority and in India, we work with licensed driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option, with layers of safeguards such as driver and vehicle information, and ETA-sharing to ensure there is accountability and traceability of all trips that occur on the Uber platform,” says a statement by Uber reacting to the rape of a passenger by a driver in Delhi.

There is considerable chatter on social media regarding the role of Uber in the rape, with many suggesting that the focus should be on the rape rather than on Uber.

This is what Nishita Jha tweeted:

Fixating on Uber distracts from the point that women are unsafe on their way to and from school, work, home, in buses, in cabs, on foot.

— Nishita Jha (@NishSwish) December 7, 2014

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Deepak Shenoy believes that Uber has not done enough to prevent such situations.

With great valuations comes great responsibility. Uber's going to have to do more driver (not just owner, but driver) vetting.

— Deepak Shenoy (@deepakshenoy) December 7, 2014

Milind Khandekar suggests that the Uber rape is more about Delhi than it is about Uber.

#Uber story is shocking, it's two years since 16/12 & nothing changed in Delhi.

— Milind Khandekar (@milindkhandekar) December 7, 2014

Most of the tweets on the issue are variants of the three published above, and Deepak’s Shenoy’s view best mirrors my view on the incident.

At the core of the issue is the fact that a Uber driver is the culprit. It was not a black and yellow cab driver, not an autorickshaw driver, not a bus driver, not a driver from a common-or-garden car hire company. If any of these drivers was the rapist, conversations would be focused entirely on the rape and the rapist.

The problem for Uber is that Uber is a big brand - and brands make unsaid promises and make unwritten commitments. It is these promises and commitments that lead to young woman, such as the victim in this case, to opt for Uber rather than for other modes of transport. The Uber brand has been built with a big, big promise on safety - not implicit but clearly spelt out.

“SAFEST RIDES ON THE ROAD”, Uber promises.

“Wherever you are around the world, Uber is committed to connecting you to the safest ride on the road. That means setting the strictest safety standards possible, then working hard to improve them every day. The specifics vary depending on what local governments allow, but within each city we operate, we aim to go above and beyond local requirements to ensure your comfort and security - what we’re doing in the US is an example of our standards around the world,” Uber goes on to say.

When such a commitment is made by a brand, and sustained through an efficient PR machine, the brand needs to ensure that the commitment is kept. For its failure to keep the commitment, Uber needs to be more than rapped on the knuckles.

It is likely that the victim felt safe in the Uber - and therefore decided to nod off even though she was in a hired car. It was a Uber, wasn’t it? And they promise safety, don’t they, she might have told herself.

Safety is one reason for consumers to be loyal to a brand and to pay a premium for a product or service. In a country as unsafe for women such as India, women consumers would put safety ahead of all other attributes when evaluating car hire options.

The Delhi incident will do considerable damage to brand Uber with all their women consumers, and unless the brand immediately demonstrates action to ensure that their commitment to safety is absolute, Uber’s differentiator doesn’t exist.
They might as well be a black and yellow taxi company.