Keeping the Rider fleet motivated, whatever the weather

12.04.22 | by Louise Byrnes, Deliver Hero Brand blog link

Delivery Hero has over half a million Riders on the streets everyday. Come rain or shine, this crucial group is a key part of the delivery ecosystem.

The Partner Marketing team is a driving force behind these efforts, and at the end of 2021, they joined the Brand Team to work more closely with Brand Managers, Designers, Content specialists and Researchers. 

We sat down with Stefan Meilof, Director of Partner Marketing to tell us why the team made the move and what they’re focusing on right now.

Hi Stefan! Start by telling me about the team and what you do. 

Simply put, Partner Marketing takes care of everything related to the Riders from a marketing perspective.

From recruitment campaigns, communication and education during the first weeks of work, to rider research, equipment and product development – it all sits within our department.

How has this changed? 

Over the past 5 years our objective has changed along with the challenges of the company, and with this, the team has moved across different departments. We started as part of the Logistics Team – this was a time when we were focused on hiring riders at scale, and worked on solving the challenge of processing high volumes of applications.

Two year later we moved to the Marketing department, as the challenge changed to finding enough applicants. We started to focus on optimising acquisition campaigns to highlight the rider role and create lead generation strategies with our channel managers. 

Now our focus has shifted to become the most attractive option for riders – there are a lot of well known delivery companies on the scene, so our objective is to stand out from the competition and be the preferred partner of choice.

This has brought us over to the Brand Team, and since then we have been able to work closely with Brand Researchers, Content specialists and Designers to work on an attractive and relatable employer brand for the rider community.

What project are you most proud of? 

I can’t pinpoint just one thing! But I will say it has been really satisfying to see the growth of the rider community expand to huge numbers. I remember when we had team drinks to celebrate hiring 1.000 Riders in one month, we now hire much more than that in just 24 hours, all across the globe!

It shows that our hard work and scalable mindset has really made a difference and we have added value as a team.

Tell us about the research. 

To build a brand that connects with your audience you need to look inward.

By doing a lot of research we get a good understanding of the motivations and expectations of our riders and the perception they have of themselves and the company. We want to know how they feel about the job, if they are satisfied with the experience and whether they trust the company… Even down to the Rider app, do they understand all the features? How can it be improved?

We use these findings to develop and refine our communication strategies. Riders are a key part of the delivery ecosystem, so we want to make sure we understand their needs completely and support them.

What is your main focus at the moment? 

The focus is to create a measurement framework on how we resonate with the rider community and improve the way we communicate with our Riders.

We want to educate better and celebrate milestones, but also be grateful and more empathic. A good employer doesn’t just pay well and on time, but also gives recognition and says ‘Thank You’ every so often.

From improving the rider experience, to making the kit more attractive- we want to be the top choice for our partners.

Tell us more about the kit.  

Riders can get various items they need for the job, like t-shirts, jackets, bags and helmets.  All of the key pieces are created from scratch in collaboration with our production partners. They go through various stages of testing to ensure they can withstand the test of time- we need to guarantee safety, durability, waterproofness and most of all, comfort!

This is a huge exercise in itself with so much hard work feeding into managing production, transportation and inventories. These items are managed and stored in warehouses all around the world, for example, the central warehouse supplying Europe is located right here in Germany. 

We also offer additional items like hats, warm underlayers and coin pouches- it’s up to the rider how full-on they want to go with the items, but as a minimum they need to wear a helmet, bag and jacket to ensure safety and clearly display the brand to our restaurant partners and customers. 

There are different partnerships in place that allow the rider community to access other benefits at low cost. For example discounted service providers, so they can use their phones outside of shifts and still experience benefits.

What has been your biggest challenge?

We work with so many different markets- the requirements and culture changes significantly depending on the country.

As you can imagine, the fleet in Pakistan and Taiwan are vastly different. And the way we motivate the Riders in Dubai, would never work in Sweden. Figuring out what makes our Rider fleet tick, is an exciting puzzle every time.

We need to make sure the different brands are resonating with riders across LatAm, Europe, MENA and APAC. We work on finding a solution for every market and that can be very challenging!

It sounds like there is a lot of work going on! What is the main ambition for the future? 

To be number one partner choice for riders across all markets! We want to empower our riders and celebrate with them, and this feeds into everything we do. 

We are also looking at how we can apply the knowledge and tools we already have to improve other areas of the business. For example, we want to help educate Vendors when they join our platform. Or celebrate with them their first 1.000 orders, acknowledge their milestones, and make them feel part of the community and DH ecosystem. 

Our Rider tools are very flexible and scalable. We can easily replicate research, websites or communications to other parts of the business. It is all about bringing that feeling of support and collaboration, so the entire ecosystem (Riders, Vendors and Customers) come together and feel the benefits.

original post:
12.04.22 | by Louise Byrnes, Deliver Hero Brand blog; link