Advertising is coming to Lyft

Yesterday, Lyft announced their newest initiative, Lyft Media. Lyft describes Lyft Media as “Lyft’s very own media and advertising business”. Lyft breaks down Lyft Media into 4 segments, Lyft Halo, Lyft Tablets, Lyft Bikes, and Lyft Skins. Here is a breakdown of each platform.

Lyft Halo

According to Lyft, Lyft Halos are “smart digital rooftop screens that capture attention with engaging videos targeted to the vehicle’s exact location and time. Brands can reach mass audiences at the specific times and places most relevant to their business and track the performance of their campaigns through our attribution partners. This provides a level of targeting and measurement unprecedented in out-of-home (OOH) advertising.”

In 2019, Lyft acquired rooftop advertising startup Halo Cars which was the foundation for Lyft Halo. Lyft Halo screens will be visible in New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C., with more cities coming soon.

Lyft Tablets

If you have ridden in a Lyft in Los Angeles over the past year perhaps you have experienced a Lyft Tablet. These are in-car tablets that allow riders to track their route, rate and tip drivers, and control the music of their ride. Additionally, advertising partners can place ads on these tablets that will be shown to the riders. In-car tablets will first be available in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington D.C.

Lyft Bikes

Did you know that Lyft operates the largest bikeshare network in the country? Under the Lyft Bike Umbrella you will find Citi Bike (New York City), Divvy (Chicago), Bay Wheels (San Francisco Bay area), and Nice Ride (Minneapolis). Lyft bikes have over 3,000 stations, 45,000 bikes, and deliver about 36 million rides annually!

Lyft is leveraging this platform for their new Media initiative by placing ad panels on their bikeshare stations and docks. In the future Lyft even hopes to make these panels digital.

Lyft Skins

Lyft Skins is essentially a “take-over” of the Lyft app.  Through Lyft Skins, brands can reach Lyft’s 20 million active riders with a customizable branded icon and banner.

“We partnered with Cardi B for an immersive Lyft Skins campaign that went viral – generating over 2.6 million social media impressions, 50,000 code redemptions, and 2,000 tweets.” Lyft said in a blog post. 

Lyft’s vision is “to build the world’s largest transportation media network”. What do you think of this? Are you excited or annoyed to see ads coming to a Lyft near you?