India's most valuable unicorn, Ola is currently the leading ride-hailing app in India. Founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010, Ola (formerly Olacabs) has grown from a two-man startup to a company with more than 7000 employees. Ola has seen impressive growth and now operates in over 250+ cities across India, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Ola’s mobile app connects customers to the closest available rides from a range of mobility options like bikes, auto-rickshaws, taxis, and cabs. With over 1.5 million driver-partners, Ola has built the largest on-demand transportation service platform in India. It's also changing how people commute to work daily.
As of February 22, 2022, Ola had raised $5B from various investors across the world. Ola is an innovation in the automotive industry, giving customers a choice to experience different modes of transportation. The company had disruptive innovations in its business model and technologies, which helped them jump to the top of its category.
In this blog post, we'll take a look at Ola's marketing and growth strategy and how it has helped the company become so successful. We'll also explore some of the challenges Ola faces as it continues to grow, and examine how the company plans to overcome them.
About OLA
Founded in 2010 by Ankit Bhati and Bhavish Aggarwal, Ola Cabs is India's first ride-hailing app. Today, the company has its services spread out to more than 250 cities across India. While reaching out to customers in tier 2 and 3 cities is a major focus for Ola, the company recently forayed into the international market by launching its cab-hailing service in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Ola, India's largest cab-hailing company has changed the transportation scenario in India by offering a wide range of choices for transportation. It offers a variety of options for intra-city traveling such as taxis, self-drive car rental, autos, bikes, and even e-rickshaws. Ola currently offers a wide range of car types to its customers. These include hatchbacks, sedans, and SUVs, depending upon the number of travelers and budget. Ola even has taxis and autos on call to serve the users in India. The app also offers bikes on-demand, which cater to groups who share the same destination. Ola was launched not just as a taxi service provider but with an aim to solve all problems associated with the mobility sector through its comprehensive offerings. Ola has made transportation in India a lot more affordable and convenient.
OLA Marketing and Growth Strategies
Ola has been successful in attracting customers and growing its business by offering affordable and convenient rides. OLA has also implemented various marketing and growth strategies to expand its operations. Here are a few:
Providing Superior Experience to Customers
As one of the most popular ride-hailing companies in India, Ola has a responsibility to its customers to provide a superior experience. One way the company does this is by offering a variety of transportation options to meet the needs of all types of riders. Product differentiation is a key marketing strategy that OLA employs in order to gain a competitive advantage. By offering unique services such as Ola rentals, Ola city, and Ola outstations, OLA is able to appeal to a wider range of customers.
The company differentiates its product offerings by providing low-cost options for customers who are price-sensitive, as well as premium options for those who are willing to pay more for enhanced services. This strategy has helped OLA to appeal to a wide range of customers, which in turn has contributed to the company's strong growth. In addition, OLA cabs have differentiated itself from other ride-hailing firms by investing heavily in technology and innovation. Investing in new initiatives such as Ola electric, they are positioning themselves as an innovative and forward-thinking company. These marketing efforts are intended to both attract new customers and retain existing ones. In addition, they help to create a strong and recognizable brand identity for OLA. This has allowed the company to offer a superior customer experience and build a loyal customer base.
Partnership with Leading Brands
Ola cabs have partnered with some of the leading brands in India to provide its customers with a convenient and affordable way to travel. One of its most successful partnership deals is with MakeMyTrip, one of the largest travel portals in India. This partnership has helped Ola cabs to introduce its services to a wider audience and also get a foothold in the online booking space. As a result, the company has seen a significant increase in bookings and revenues. The partnership with Make My Trip is just one example of how Ola cabs have used partnerships to fuel its growth.
Collaboration with Content Creators
Ola cabs, one of the leading ride-sharing companies in India, has long been an innovator in terms of marketing and growth strategies. In 2016, the company took things to a whole new level by collaborating with The Viral Fever’s (TVF) famous series “The Permanent Roommates”. As part of the partnership, OLA cabs was integrated into the show’s storyline, with characters using the service to get around. This gave the company huge visibility and helped to build brand awareness. Moreover, it also helped to position OLA cabs as a convenient and affordable option for city-dwellers. The partnership was a resounding success and helped to propel Ola cabs to even greater heights.
Social Media Marketing and Campaigns
Ola’s marketing and growth strategies heavily rely on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to create brand awareness and drive customer acquisition. OLA cabs use creative content, attractive visuals, engaging hashtags, and influencer marketing to connect with their target audience.
Ola ran a few hashtag campaigns that turned out to be very successful. Some of Ola's successful hashtag campaigns are - #chaloniklo, #FarakPadtaHai, #HerosOfOla, #olahaina.
Wrap up
Ola's marketing and growth strategy have been very successful so far. The company has achieved a high level of penetration in India, and it plans to continue expanding its reach both domestically and internationally. One of the main challenges Ola faces is competition from other ride-sharing companies such as Uber. This challenge is compounded by the fact that Uber has a much larger pool of resources to draw on. Ola plans to overcome this challenge by focusing on differentiation. It will do this by continuing to invest in new features and technologies, as well as developing innovative partnerships with other businesses.