Uber Technologies has launched its advertising division and unveiled Uber Journey Ads, a way for brands to engage with consumers during the ride process, in more than 30 countries, including Canada.

Brands and advertisers now have access to mobile advertising options on the Uber and Uber Eats apps. Ad options include prominently placed Sponsored Listings across Uber Eats in addition to Journey Ads that capture consumer attention during the Uber trip. Sponsored Emails deliver brand messages and exclusive offers directly to the inboxes of Uber and Uber Eats consumers.

Other formats include Homepage Billboards, Post-checkout Ads and Storefront Ads for prominent product placements at the top of a digital storefront. In-Menu Ads let restaurants entice consumers with promotional offers. In top US cities, highly visible digital out-of-home Car Top Ads let brands reach consumers based on location and time of day. In addition, Uber is piloting Tablet Advertising in cars in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

This initiative is led by advertising veteran Dr. Mark Grether, who was previously with Amazon Advertising, CEO of Sizmek and co-founder of Xaxis.

“We have a global audience of valuable, purchase-minded consumers who, as part of our core business, tell us where they want to go and what they want to get,” said Dr. Grether, general manager for Uber’s advertising division. “While these consumers are making purchase decisions and waiting for their destination or delivery, we can engage them with messages from brands that are relevant to their purchase journeys. And with 1.87 billion trips last quarter, that means we can connect advertisers to consumers on average five times per month across rides and delivery.”

In addition to helping brands connect with consumers at relevant points throughout their journeys or transactions, Uber Ads provides comprehensive reporting and analysis, allowing brands to fine-tune their campaigns. Over 40 top brands have partnered with Uber to run Journey Ads including NBC Universal, Heineken, and United Artists Releasing. According to Uber, with 100% share of voice during the entire trip, early results show that consumers exposed to the ad content for approximately two minutes, resulted in two to six times the brand-performance lift compared to other benchmarks.