The Main Issues

As far as the public transport infrastructure was concerned, the Middle East was the best market for
an idea like that of Careem. The initiation began through bookings made only by Corporates, before
offering their services to normal household customers, before other carpool applications began their
operations in the Middle East. Not only did this helped them in lashing on to the opportunity which was
hidden from the public eye, despite of being there the entire time.

Through the use of the concept behind Gig Economy, the Careem App was developed through initial
funding, and a heavy emphasis was placed on the marketing of this app too. With the entire revenue
of the entity contingent upon the public accepting their application and welcoming it with open arms
and the only manner to do was to make Careem, a household name, known to everyone, which
required a hefty investment in the marketing segment of this budding startup.

Careem’s ROI is contingent upon the conversion of its application downloads into actual usage of the
carpool service involved in the process, which involves the monitoring of real time organic activity of
its application. Careem addresses these problems through the use of the following strategies:

Pattern Monitoring
Customer engagement and a knowledge of want the customer actually wants is an important notion
for Careem. Through monitoring the customer’s behavior in phases ranging from a need-based use to
a target infused one, Careem develops its customized usage based offers and products, in order to
cater the needs of different range of customers.

This not only helps in increasing the confidence of the customer on the product, but also provides a
sense of ownership to the customer regarding the brand. The development of the customized offers
and products and on the basis of the customer’s usage patterns contributed towards the ride booking
rates jumping to 35%, with all overall increase of 49% in ROI.

Use of Fraud Prevention System

Careem is one of the first startups of Pakistan to implement the Fraud Prevention System in Pakistan.
This helped in ensuring the transparency in the payment plan and the prevention of depletion in its
mobile performance system, which helped Careem in maintaining its focus on its loyal customers and
created a firewall against fake false reviews which could had tinted the image of this budding brand.

Thought Provoking Advertisement Campaigns

Careem has established itself as a product which is established by the people, for the people and a
brand is owned by the people. With the idea being initiated as carpool service, Careem not only
marketed itself as a product which could help you out in a dire need of conveyance but also as a
healthy part time earning option too.
This reverse psychology worked wonders for the startup, with more and more people registering
themselves as “Captains”, in turn, increasing the reach of Careem to more and more remote locations.
In addition to making people aware of the opportunity to help raise their standards through an extra
earning source, Careem’s advertisement campaigns in the subcontinent, mainly in Pakistan and India,
was a classic example of how involving culture in a campaign can increase the customer engagement
with your brand. “The Rishta Aunty” campaign back in 2017 was a great idea, which resulted in great
results for the brand solely because the customers felt a great connection to it, due to quirks attached
to the matter of “the middle men” when it comes to arranged marriages in this part of the world.
Even though “the Rishta Aunty” ad campaign had a lot of humor attached to it, but that ad campaign
also reassured Careem’s position in the market, as a brand which delivers, what it markets, because
people who subscribed to that campaign, were actually accompanied by professional relationship
advisors during their journies.

Customers and Peak Factor

When Careem first arrived at the scene, it was hailed as the best in the transportation industry, as it
gave people the luxury to book air-conditioned cars as their cabs through the ease of their cell-
phones. The uniqueness of the idea and the quality of service soon drew people’s attention and soon
after the demand and supply was out of balance due to the lack of cars and plethora of customers.
To address this issue, Careem came up with a revised pricing strategy which the charging of an extra
sum of money for a trip at times when there was either a very high demand for vehicles or the non-
availability of the Captains. This move was highly criticized by the users in the beginning and some
also termed it as a “money-making” tactic and an exploiting strategy.
However, soon people came to realize, that the same pricing strategy was formulated to facilitate the
customers at times when they needed the most. The extra surcharge was a lucrative idea for Captains
to risk taking their vehicles out in extraordinary circumstances, such as extreme weathers, lockdowns
etc. This not only increased the number of drivers facilitating the customers in crucial times, but also
acted as an incentive to the Captain as well, helping Careem to gain more trust of its users from both
a passenger and a driver’s persepective.

References

http://learn.adjust.com/rs/108-GAZ-487/images/Careem%20Case%20Study.pdf

https://www.researchsnipers.com/careem-has-introduced-a-new-brand-positioning-in-pakistan/

https://www.voice-magazine.com/careem-guide-relatable-marketing/

https://www.brecorder.com/2016/09/16/318029/careem-introduces-peak-pricing-for-pakistani-customers/

https://pakwired.com/peak-factor-of-careem-and-uber-is-explained/