Didi Australia appoints new marketing leader to fuel growth drive

Rideshare platform Didi Australia has appointed a new head of brand marketing as the Beijing-headquartered company chases slow “sustainable growth”. Can it compete with the ubiquitous brand of its competitor, Uber?

Didi Australia has appointed a new head of marketing to grow the brand as a challenger to Uber

Rideshare platform Didi Australia has appointed a new head of brand marketing, Timothy Farmer, as part of the company’s plan to ­pursue steady and “sustainable growth” in Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Farmer arrives at Didi after eight years at The Walt Disney Company, where he led the partnerships team for Disney, and led the marketing team for the launch of its streaming platform in Australia and New Zealand.

Prior to Disney, Mr Farmer, who hails from the UK, worked as a media buyer and planner in agencies in London and Australia.

Didi, which is headquartered in Beijing, China, entered the Australian market six years ago.

While Didi doesn’t share local numbers about the performance of the business, the company says it has seen “healthy” local growth in the past 18 months.

At a global level, the business is in the throes of a pivot to profitability, after regulatory scrutiny over a data security issue overseas stymied growth. According to its ­latest financial statements, the company posted a revenue increase of 55.4 per cent to 49.4 billion yuan ($10.4bn) for the quarter ending December 31, 2023.

Mr Farmer’s appointment in Australia comes as the company launched a partnership with Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer loyalty program last week, which allows customers to earn points for the airline on all Didi trips.

The incoming marketer’s arrival also comes at a time of change in ridesharing in the local market.

Just two weeks ago, Indian rideshare company Ola announced its exit from the Australian market, leaving Didi as the remaining ­challenger to its ubiquitous competitor Uber, which dominates the category.

Uber, whose brand name is used as a verb by many users, has become famous for its effective marketing and advertising over the years. Uber is a prolific and highly awarded advertiser in many markets, including Australia.

Didi Australia's newly appointed head of marketing, Tim Farmer

The challenge for Didi, therefore, is a formidable one but it is also a creative test for the emerging Didi brand. However, in the spirit of healthy competition, Mr Farmer explained that Uber’s presence is beneficial to the growth of the rideshare category as a whole. “I think we just have to look at our rival Uber to show the power of creativity,” he said. “They’re almost the benchmark for marketing in the country at the moment in terms of what they’re doing, which is great for us – ­because (it’s) growing the category and it’s creating heaps of ­demand,” he said.

Having already studied Didi’s brand metrics, Mr Farmer said many customers are aware of Didi, but he sees an opportunity to help customers better understand it, other than being an alternative to Uber. Mr Farmer said the company would use marketing and advertising to create a more distinctive Didi brand in Australia, and would lean into communicating the “value” it offers customers. This also includes helping its consumers “better understand who we are, and where our offering does and doesn’t differ from the competition”, Mr Farmer said.

“As part of this, I think it is important that we aren’t just following our competitors and imitating them,” Mr Farmer said.

“Instead, I think we need to find our own unique space and story in the market and let consumers know what makes us different or special so that we develop a brand identity and personality that is consistent with our offering, but that also gives consumers a reason to ride or drive with us out of preference.”

Over the past six years in Australia, Didi’s investment in brand marketing – which aims to grow long-term reputation and recognition – has been “minimal”, ­according to the company.

It has largely relied on performance-led marketing activities, particularly when the company first launched in the market. However, Mr Farmer’s appointment signals this will change.

“It’s a blank canvas,” Mr Farmer said of the task ahead at Didi, adding that “slow, sustainable growth” was discussed as a goal for the business during the hiring process for the role he now occupies.

“And that really appeals to me in the sense that, sure, you can grab users and customers with price points. But the whole idea behind this is to build a strong local brand that people have some loyalty to, and some trust in. As we start to build out what value looks like, that will inevitably see (our) spend shift into a brand space,” he said.

Having focused on bringing the Didi product to the market, Mr Farmer said the investment in its marketing comes at an opportune time for the business.

“We’re in a stage now where we can really start to focus on marketing. Consumers are so smart. We could market the brand however we want. But if the product doesn’t stack up, it’s short lived,” he said.

He added that the business can now move toward creating a “personality” for the brand. This will also aim to communicate “bringing value back to Australians”, he said.

“We are in a great time for leaning into that message and trying to look at what that means.”

Although Mr Farmer is still newly embedded within the business, he already has his eye on ­potential pathways to achieve Didi’s growth goals.

Partnerships, like the newly launched Virgin Australia initiative, are likely to be part of the plan. He also mentioned publishers may be part of the marketing mix, including digital youth publishers.

“I think that’s where a lot of our audience could lie, as value conscious but highly social and active consumers. I feel like that is an ­opportunity for us to make some inroads there,” he said.

He also explained that the plans may include the engagement of advertising, creative and/or media agencies.

“It’s quite a small business here, which means we can be quite agile. But it does mean we probably will need the support of some agency partners. But that can come in many guises. We’ll definitely be having conversations over the coming months to see what that looks like,” he said.

“In my experience we are pretty spoiled for choice in Australia on the creative front.

“Australia is one of the most creative markets in the world. As someone who gets out of bed and does marketing, it’s quite exciting to hear some of the crazy ideas that are going to come out in the coming months. That’s a really cool thing.”