McDowell's No.1 Soda partners with DriveU to launch SHARE

McDowell’s No.1 Soda by United Spirits Limited – a Diageo Group Company has joined hands with the app based Start-Up, DriveU which offers on-demand driver service, to launch a new feature within the app called SHARE, through which friends can commute together and share the cost.

The partnership creates first of its kind benchmarks where a consumer brand and a startup come together to provide a need-based consumer offering, that is based on a long term revenue sharing model. Through this long term revenue sharing partnership, McDowell’s No.1 Soda will provide marketing support and generate demand for DriveU with an ambition of generating ½ million downloads and completing 1 Million rides in the first year of association. A strong mainstream and digital campaign will be rolled out with celebrity drivers championing for the SHARE feature.

On an average, urban in-city commute takes up between 2 and 4 hours on a week day resulting in a person spending a significant part of their life in simply commuting to work and back. The SHARE feature is aimed at making better use of this commute time by establishing a new social setting. Now users can, within the comfort of their own vehicle, spend their time more effectively by sharing the ride and bonding with their Yaars. This is essentially a quality of life innovation for urban travelers - employees utilizing DriveU SHARE are less stressed when they get to work and when they return home as well. The feature allows DriveU customers to share the cost of the driver therefore also making the experience of hiring a driver hassle free and economical.

The partnership also supports United Spirit’s celebrate responsibly motto and will reinforce the Never Drink and Drive message.

Subroto Geed, Senior Vice President – Marketing, at United Spirits Limited says “As partners in growth, McDowell’s No. 1 soda and DriveU are coming together for a unique association that is based on USL’s next generation marketing thinking where we engage with the right partners to create a personalized experience and bring alive our brand purpose. McDowell’s No.1 Soda has been building a narrative around celebrating the bonds of Yaari and through the SHARE feature we will be able to provide an avenue for friends to spend quality time together while travelling. This partnership is a true marketing innovation and we very excited to be working with a young and edgy start-up like DriveU”

“DriveU in partnership with McDowell’s No.1 Soda is proud to unveil world’s first and only ‘Driver Share’ facility. This innovation is a big move for us and is expected to dramatically increase our user base to meet our revenue targets. We plan to grow DriveU business by tenfold over the next year, while operating across India’s Top-10 Metros. With the SHARE feature, one can now invite friends to share the ride with them. It feels great that with this partnership each one of us are doing our part to reduce traffic congestion and carbon footprint and at the same time encouraging the consumers to not drink and drive.” said Ramprasad (Rahm) Shastry, CEO of DriveU.

The McDowell’s No. 1 Soda and DriveU SHARE feature is available immediately across all DriveU markets - Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai metros.