Adtech Firm Ivee Partners With Taxi Tech Firm CMT For New Approach To DOOH Screens In Back Seats Of Rideshares And Taxis

April 26, 2024 by Dave Haynes

Another adtech/media company is taking a run at turning the back seats of hired ride vehicles into a media environment with the Chicago-based “software mobility company” Ivee launching what it calls Smart Taxi, in a partnership with NYC-based taxi technology company Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT).

The core concept is tablet-sized screens in the back seats of ride share vehicles, and via CMT, taxis. The incentive to the ride share drivers is a monthly commission, with top drivers getting as much as $100/month. I dunno what’s in it for taxi drivers, since they’re not what I’d define as independent operators like ride share people.

From today’s announcement:

Ivee created the “Smart Taxi” experience using its proprietary passenger infotainment software (Ivee Inside), personalization technology (Ivee Intelligence), and ad platform built for the passenger economy (Ivee Ads). With Ivee Ads, advertisers can directly connect and target moving passengers with a user-centric approach for advertising that feels authentic to the passenger and their trip.

“Many brands forget how critical the customer experience is to the effectiveness of their ads,” said VP of Product, Dave Matthews. “Without a user-centric experience, ads are ignored and can even tarnish brand image because they feel interruptive.”

For the Passenger, the “Smart Taxi” Experience includes:

1. Full passenger control. Ivee’s “Smart Taxi” modernizes the experience so passengers can choose the content they view or the music they listen to.  
2. Premium content.  When a passenger enters a cab with Ivee’s “Smart Taxi,” they can choose their own content. For example: 
   1. Watch content from more than 20+ networks including ABC, Bloomberg, and other popular services.
   2. Join friends singing Karaoke on your way out for the night.
   3. Learn a new language on the way to the airport.
3. Ivee Intelligence. Ivee’s personalization technology delivers a unique experience based on contextual parameters. For example,  where your trip starts, time of day, etc. Ivee’s on-trip recommendations, curated news feed, and an interactive map help passengers make the most of their time in transit. 

By focusing on the passenger experience first, brands are now able to further pinpoint their target audience, and present the most appropriate and relevant advertising content.

For Brands, Ivee Ads Offers:

• Higher CTRs than Traditional Methods: Ivee Ads offers 6x higher CTRs than Google, YouTube, and Facebook, and 2x more Completed Video Views than YouTube and Facebook, making it a better choice for advertisers who want to achieve better results.
• Intelligent Targeting: Ivee Ads’ targeting capabilities allow advertisers to reach the right audience by geo-location, trip destination, day-part, content type, and user sentiment, making their campaigns more effective.
• Impactful Analytics: Ivee Ads offers rich analytics, allowing advertisers to track the performance of their campaigns and make data-driven decisions.

“We built Ivee for passengers. They spend 90 million minutes per day in transit just in the U.S.,” says Ivee CEO Alex Giannikoulis. “We validated our product in black cars including the world’s largest luxury mobility operator, Blacklane, and with ride-hail vehicles on the Uber, Lyft, and Via networks. Launching ‘Smart Taxi’ with CMT, a recognized mobility industry leader, is a great way to help our partner brands reach even more passengers.” 

“Smart Taxi” is rolling out in Q2 2024 to CMT’s network of 10,000 taxis. Ivee Ads has already delivered impactful results for notable brands including Fandango, Victoria Secret’s Adore Me, Wendy’s, Drizly, and more.

“Partnering with Ivee is a perfect fit,” said CMT’S Chairman Ron Sherman. “CMT has had years of experience serving the world’s best advertisers.  We know firsthand their demands for new types of  ad units, targeting, and reporting. These are all things Ivee has perfected in ride-hail vehicles. We know this ‘Smart Taxi’ experience will make a big impact for brands serving the perfect ad for their exact customer.”

The CMT end of this partnership involves payment processing in the back seats of taxis, as well as what it calls Passenger Information Screens. With ride share companies, payments are handled via smartphone applications.

The little screens in the back of cabs thing has been tried here and there for 20 years, and there are also now companies like Firefly targeting the tops of cars for digital screens that are seen by everyone but the people in the cars.

Is the $100 a driver MIGHT make a month by agreeing to have these screens put in? Dunno. It ain’t much, but if it is not a hassle or irritant, it offsets some operating costs.

I think giving people more options on back-seat entertainment makes sense, but it largely hits me as a solution looking for an an occupied time problem solved by smartphones. Would I want to be a driver that has these screens if a couple of giggling, tipsy friends pile in and launch the karaoke function. God no.