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Taking stances on social issues: case study on Lyft’s social-purpose programs and strategies
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Taking stances on social issues: case study on Lyft’s social-purpose programs and strategies
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Content
TAKING STANCES ON SOCIAL ISSUES:
CASE STUDY ON LYFT ’S SOCIAL-PURPOSE PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES
by
Weizhen Zhou
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND
JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)
August 2020
Copyright2020 Weizhen Zhou
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. iii
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
i. Background ............................................................................................................................................................................................1
ii. Research Purpose and Methodology .........................................................................................................................................2
Chapter 1 ：Company Overview -- Lyft ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Background and History ....................................................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Market Fit ...................................................................................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Competitive Field ....................................................................................................................................................................................6
Chapter 2: Brand's Social-Purpose Strategy ........................................................................................................................................ 10
2.1 The trend of brands taking a stance on social issues ......................................................................................................... 10
2.2 Top Issues people care about ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
Chapter 3: Lyft’s Social-Impact Programs ............................................................................................................................................ 15
3.1 “LyftUp” Program ................................................................................................................................................................................ 15
3.1.1 Job Access Program ................................................................................................................................................................... 16
3.1.2 Grocery Access program ........................................................................................................................................................ 19
3.1.3 Voting Access Program ............................................................................................................................................................ 22
3.1.4 Disaster Response Program .................................................................................................................................................. 23
3.1.5 Bikeshare & Scooter Access Program ............................................................................................................................... 26
3.2 Roundup and Donate Program ..................................................................................................................................................... 29
3.3 Carbon Offset Program ..................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Chapter 4: Lyft’s Purpose in the News: Content Analysis ............................................................................................................ 37
4.1 Mainstream Media Reflection ........................................................................................................................................................ 37
4.2 Lyft’s Social-purpose Strategy -- Characteristics that captures media’s attention .............................................. 43
5.1 Purpose-driven Social Media Contents and Engagements .............................................................................................. 48
5.2 Purpose-driven Social Media Content Strategy .................................................................................................................... 50
Chapter 6: Assessments and Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 57
Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 60
Appendix1 ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 62
iii
Abstract
In today’s business world, many value-driven brands have been actively taking stance on
social issues since customers are proved to be more and more drawn to the purpose of a
brand, rather than just product. Lyft, which has an integration of social purpose programs
that draw considerable media attention, is deemed as a good example to study by the author.
“LyftUP” initiative is a major one worth noting. Taking discourse analysis and social media
analysis as key research method, the author found that the attributes that lead to Lyft’s
popularity in major media outlets include: the authenticity and consistency of their program
purpose; Tiered social media influencer strategies; timely and clear response to immediate
social affairs compared to their competitor, and so on. These attributes in the long run have
the potential of shaping an improved reputation for them, according to studies that suggest
the relationship between positive media coverage and company reputation.
1
Introduction
i. Background
Rather than simply drawn by product and service, consumers nowadays are becoming
more and more purpose-driven. They tend to trust brands that support good social causes
and take a stance on social issues. Purpose marketing or cause marketing has become a
significant part of the company’s overall business strategy. By reacting to the emerging
public affairs, long-discussed social topics, or contentious issues, some companies have
always sought to take the natural opportunity to take sides in an attempt to align their
brands with a social issue that people care about.
Some of the common ways companies use to address what they believe on a certain issue
include corporate announcement press releases, TV commercials, or social media
campaigns. These one-off actions may shape or accentuate their brand image drastically
at one time, and can also be followed by divided or polarized comments from the general
public, such as Nike’s Colin Kaepernick’s ad, Airbnb’s “We accept” ad protesting Donald
Trump’s ban on refugees, etc. Besides the swift one-time response to the news, branding
through long-term CSR or social-impact programs is also a common approach adopted by
many companies. Regardless of strategies, the aim is to fulfill social responsibility and lead
changes along with driving business growth in the long run.
Though it might be hard to evaluate the short-term business growth brought by goodwill
programs or brands taking stances (or not), it is believed that the company’s media
portrait
2
is significant as to influencing and reflecting public perceptions about the company. In the
era of cynicism, contentious issues and criticism seem to grab more attention from readers.
Hardly can we find that media articles are solely praising the goodwill of a company
without doubts. Simply put, if companies want to have their goodwill and efforts heard
thus achieve greater impact, they need to be strategic about it.
Among brands that are actively taking stances on social issues, the author deemed Lyft as
a good example of this. They have integrated social-impact programs into their long-term
business growth and the strategy has owned them an obviously better reputation than its
competitors. Most notably, LyftUP Ride Access initiative is one of the most impactful and
time-honored social impact program, which consists of a series of programs aiming to
provide everyone with access to affordable and reliable transportation no matter where
they are. The initiative has been mentioned by the media time and time again when
reporting different social issues. Much Impressed by LyftUP initiative, the author decided
to look into three of Lyft’s major social-impact programs over recent 2 years and intends
to give an extensive deconstruction of Lyft’s consumer-faced social impact programs.
ii. Research Purpose and Methodology
The thesis provides a case study about Lyft’s social-impact programs and social-purpose
strategies, with a discussion of the four major long-term social-impact programs that drive
Lyft’s growth as a civic-minded company, including backgrounds, the way it works, the
3
target audiences, key messages it delivered, and the strategies they adopted that win them
the coverage and engagement.
Considering the best fit for the purpose of case study, the author adopted qualitative
analysis of media content as the main research method. There are two most used
approaches to conduct content analysis: 1) conceptual analysis and 2) relational analysis.
Conceptual approach focuses on the presence of certain words, themes, or concepts within
text samples. Inferences could be made about the messages within the texts, authors, the
audience, and the context surrounding the text.
Relational analysis starts the same way as conceptual analysis does, where a concept is
chosen for examination. However, the analysis involves exploring the relationships
between concepts. Individual concepts are viewed as having no inherent meaning and
rather the meaning is a product of the relationships among concepts.2 Following one of the
two approaches according to different contexts, the author first collected samples of
mainstream media coverage of Lyft’s social-impact programs and identified the patterns
of headlines, reporting angles and tone of the contents. I then analyzed the social-purpose
strategies Lyft adopted that are positively reflected in media and what aspects help draw
quality media attention. Detailed findings are described in Chapter4. The thesis also
touches on Lyft’s social media strategies while building the social-impact programs.
Examples and findings are elaborated in Chapter5.
2“Content analysis,” Columbia University mailman school of public health, accessed Feb 26, 2020.
https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/research/population-health-methods/content-analysis#Overview
4
Chapter 1 ：Company Overview -- Lyft
1.1 Background and History
Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT), formerly named "Zimride" (launched in 2007), was founded in
2012 headquartered in San Francisco, CA. It is a ride-sharing company currently operating
in 644 cities in the U.S. and 12 cities in Canada. It aims to create a multimodal platform that
provides riders personalized and on-demand access to different transportation options. It
is the second-largest player in the on-demand ride-sharing market, owning a market share
of 39% as of March 2019. By the end of 2019, Lyft has an active rider volume of 22.9 million.
It has served over 30 million riders, and nearly 2 million drivers, with its revenue,
increased from $343.3 million to $2.2 billion over the two years, and bookings grew from
$1.9 billion to $8.1 billion.3
The company was founded based on the idea of its founder and CEO, Logan Green. While
he was a college student at U.C. Santa Barbara, the need to commute to and from L.A. to
visit his girlfriend had become his inspiration to find a better way to get around. He then
launched the first car-sharing program in the university. John Zimmer was another co-
founder who was then a student at Cornell, majoring in Hotel administration, actively
seeking ways to apply the principles of hospitality outside of hotels and restaurants. A city
planning course he was taking lighted up his interests in integrating hospitality with
3 Goodwatercap," Understanding Lyft: Driving the evolution of transportation," Goodwatercap, published March
27, 2019.https://www.goodwatercap.com/thesis/understanding-lyft
5
transportation to improve people's quality of life. Then the two came together in 2007
when Zimride, a carpool matching service for colleges and companies, was incorporated.
In 2012, Lyft, as what we now recognized, was launched and pioneered the idea of on-
demand and peer-to-peer ride-sharing.
Lyft's mission is "to improve people's lives with the world's best transportation." It holds
a vision of "changing the way our world works ride by ride, and building a connected city
and community-driven future." 4 They work to improve people's lives "socially,"
"economically," and "environmentally,5" as stressed in the IPO 8-k form document.
1.2 Market Fit
Transportation is a big part of consumer spending in the North American market.
Americans spend over 1$ trillion a year on cars (much more than food expenses). Each car
is only used five percent of the time, while there are 37,000 traffic-related deaths and an
additional 58,000 deaths caused by air pollution6generated from road transportation.
People and cities are involved in an unhealthy and inefficient car ownership ecosystem.
Lyft provides a marketplace of ride-sharing, a win-win solution that benefits both drivers
and passengers. For car riders, they don't have to own a product in order to enjoy its
4 "Lyft Mission and Vision Statement," Mission Statement Academy, published August 4, 2019, https://mission-
statement.com/lyft/
5 Lyft, Inc." Form 10-K Annual Filing," SEC filing details, published February 28,
2020.https://investor.lyft.com/sec-filings/sec-filing/10-k/0001759509-20-000009
6 Lisa Eadicicco, “Lyft's founders describe how far the company has come in a new letter in its IPO
filing,”Business Insider, published Mar 1, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.com/lyft-ipo-founders-letter-2019-
2
6
benefits. Under Lyft's model, more ways of transportation will be available in a safer, more
affordable, reliable, and enjoyable way, such as ride-sharing, bike, scooter sharing, thus,
the market finally adapted.
According to Lyft, there are over 300,000 Lyft riders who have given up their private cars
due to the better alternative Lyft has offered. In 2018, 46% of the Lyft riders said they used
their cars less because of Lyft. By providing riders with the best way to enjoy all modes of
transportation in one place, Lyft strives to deliver the true freedom to ride.7
1.3 Competitive Field
As one of the largest and fastest-growing multimodal transportation networks in North
America, Lyft provided a full-fledged ride-sharing marketplace and facilitated essential
procedures to enable drivers to provide their service to riders, including lead generation,
billing, settlement, maintenance support, and other related activities.
Ridesharing
Connecting riders and drivers across the United States and Canada, the scale of Lyft's
network and the capacity of their technology support allow them to optimize earning
opportunities for drivers and offer convenient rides for riders, bringing sustainable value
to both riders and drivers. 8 In terms of competitors, 'Via' currently runs in Chicago,
7 Lyft. Inc, “Investor Relations,” Lyft Investor Relations, accessed in Feb 2019, Investor Relations | Lyft, Inc..
https://investor.lyft.com/investor-relations/
8 Lyft, Inc." Form 10-K Annual Filing," SEC filing details, published February 28, 2020.
https://investor.lyft.com/static-files/981ad93a-5d97-4f7f-8937-5682ca83cba7
7
Washington DC, and New York City. 'Gett' acquires 'Juno' in an attempt to open up the U.S.
market but develops in New York and New Jersey as of now.
Scooters and Bikes
Market research found that 35% of the trips in vehicles are no more than 2 miles, which
suggests that accessible and affordable short-distance transportation options are in high
demand. Lyft operates a network of shared bikes and scooters to address the needs of the
efficient short commute during heavy traffic. It makes a great supplement to the first-mile
and last-mile of a multimodal trip with public transit. They have utilized real-time analytics
and data science to help them optimize bike and scooter distribution and rebalancing,
reduce operational costs and improve customer experience to the greatest extent.
After the acquisition of "Motivate" in 2018, Lyft is currently the most significant player in
the bike-sharing platform of the United States and is in a good state leading the sustainable
mobility market. Teamed up with exclusive cities and local government partners across
the States, Lyft has brought expertise in managing this bike system.
Public Transit
In eight major cities in the U.S., Lyft offers to integrate public transit data into the Lyft App
so that riders could get a robust view of transportation options nearby and recommends
efficient transit routes to their destination. This initiative aimed to provide practical,
equitable, and sustainable transportation to the communities, a solution that is not
designed to make a profit but to engage with our customers.
8
Autonomous Vehicles
Lyft has many strategic partnerships that offer access to autonomous vehicles, including
major ones such as Waymo and Aptiv. Since January 2018, Lyft has facilitated 100,000
rides in Aptiv auto cars in major cities.
Lyft Rentals
For drivers who want to drive with Lyft yet could not get a car themselves, they could get
access to a flexible rental car with Lyft's Express Drive program. In addition to this
program, Lyft began a pilot program in 2019 to offer rental cars to riders who need a car
for a long-distance trip, such as errands, weekend escape, etc. The incentive comes with
these attractive options, including free rides to and from the passenger's rental spot and
unlimited miles no matter how far the customer travels.
Comparatively, Lyft is better at handling P.R. crises and growing its reputation than its
competitor. Uber's mishap at crisis management, which naturally migrates a bunch of
customers to Lyft. The cumulative impacts and fallouts gave Uber a hard time repairing its
image and thus allow its competitor Lyft to step up and fill that space. As Lyft's business
grows and thrives, its social and economic impact enlarges as well. For example, Lyft riders
increased their local spending by $2.5 billion over the year 2018 due to more accessible
options of transportation. It is also progressive in fulfilling social responsibilities. All Lyft
rides have been made carbon neutral, under the carbon offsets initiative in 2018, by
9
purchasing offsets for above one million tons of carbon emissions. The socially-responsible
image helps appeal to its stakeholders.
Other Competitive Edge
Comparatively, Lyft is better at handling PR crises and growing its reputation than its
competitor. Uber’s mishap at crisis management. which naturally migrates a bunch of
customers to Lyft. The cumulative impacts and fallouts gave Uber a hard time repairing its
image, and thus allow their competitor Lyft to step up and fill that space. As Lyft’s business
grows and thrives, its social and economic impact enlarges as well. For example, Lyft riders
increased their local spending by $2.5 billion over the year 2018 due to more accessible
options of transportation. It is also progressive in fulfilling social responsibilities, all Lyft
rides have been made carbon neutral, under the carbon offsets initiative in 2018, by
purchasing offsets for above one million tons of carbon emissions. The socially-responsible
image helps appeal to its stakeholders.
10
Chapter 2: Brand's Social-Purpose Strategy
2.1 The trend of brands taking a stance on social issues
The definitions of CSR (Corporate social responsibility) have been evolving since this idea
emerged in the 1920s.9 The most commonly-adopted one is "the business's obligation to
conduct the affairs of the enterprise to maintain an equitable and workable balance among
the claims of the various directly interested groups, a harmonious balance among
investors, employees, customers, and the public at large. In other words, it is a self-
regulated business model that holds itself socially accountable to a wide range of
stakeholders. It is more of an obligation for a company to do good for the sake of societal
goodness if it means the sacrifice of some immediate benefits from the business.
People start to pay attention to consider the purpose of a company when they make
decisions about what to buy or where to work. Consumers have a choice and demand more
out of business than sole profit. They want companies to lead positive social changes, and
they hope they can align with the vision, the mission, and the actions of that company. The
trend of buying on belief is on the rise10.
While social purpose, as a more popular concept today, indicates that the company is born
to fulfill a social cause; everything the company does increases social good; since it is doing
9 Richard E., Smith. "Defining Corporate Social Responsibility: A Systems Approach For Socially
Responsible Capitalism." (2011). Master of Philosophy Theses. 9.: 3-5.
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=od_theses_mp
10 Terry Tguyen. “Uber wants to redeem itself. Does the public even care?” Vox, published September 5,
2019.”https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/9/5/20849632/uber-public-relations-crisis-qanda)
11
good to society by merely conducting its business. The more the company grows and
profits, the more social good it brings to society. These two concepts are not mutually
exclusive, and usually, the shared parts could be integrated into the company's business
strategy as a growth accelerator.
According to the latest 2019 Trust Barometer Special Report from Edelman, a leading
public relations firm, business is now more trusted by the public than the government,
with 14% more respondents having more trust in business over the government in the
United States. According to the surveys, 67% of the consumers believe that trust towards
brands or companies has a direct impact on their purchasing decision, and is tied to
customer loyalty. Some said that a company's good reputation may get them to try a
product, but if brands fail to get their trust, they would soon stop buying it.
Over the years, people's perception of brand trust has evolved. They now tend to evaluate
if the company is trustworthy from different levels: from product experience and customer
experience, to impact on society. When asked about why it is becoming important to trust
the brand they buy, the majority (69%) of the people said they have growing concerns
about "brands' impact on society" in the age of "prevalent fake news and misinformation".
And since brands are more involved in societal issues, they hope brands would be able to
stand for their values.11
11 Edelman." Edelman trust barometer special report: In brands we trust," Edelman.com, published June
2019.https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/201906/2019_edelman_trust_bar
ometer_special_report_in_brands_we_trust.pdf.
12
Research by global market research company Mintel has revealed that as many as 56% of
Americans12 wouldn't buy products from brands that they consider unethical. More than
one third (35 percent) of consumers stop buying from brands they perceive as unethical
even if there is no substitute available, and 27 percent stop purchasing even if they think
the alternative from competitors is lower in quality.
Overall, more than two thirds of consumers feel that ethical issues are becoming more
critical. So cause-marketing or social-impact programs are not only a mission to bring
positive changes to the world, but could actually turn to profits. Influencers, too, care about
who and why they work with. It has been found that 23% of the influencers would like to
contribute to a cause-based brand because they simply hope to give back to society as part
of the goodwill campaign. Others would also consider whether their personal image has a
fit with the company and if the company is indeed taking action to support a meaningful
cause. They see "environment, marginalized communities and animals" 13as important
issues to them.
2.2 Top Issues people care about
12 Mintel Press Team, “56% of Americans stop buying from brands they believe are unethical,” MIntel,
published November 18, 2015.https://www.mintel.com/press-centre/social-and-lifestyle/56-of-
americans-stop-buying-from-brands-they-believe-are-unethical
13 Ko Im. "Infographic: How Much Influencers Like to Take a Stand". adweek.com. November 17, 2019.
https://advance-lexis-com.libproxy1.usc.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5XHV-
K5G1-DYRK-H52V-00000-00&context=1516831.
13
According to 2019 PORTER NOVELLI/CONE GEN Z PURPOSE STUDY, this is an era that
stories of global strife hit newsfeeds daily, and Generation Z feels and cares deeply for the
topical issues impacting the world around them.
The research concluded that "the one priority issue" Gen Z (1997-2012) want companies
to address include: environment, hunger, and poverty, human rights, economic
development, health & disease, education… issues that have long been discussed by people.
From 2017 to 2019, the study found a major shift in the percentage of people (26%) who
used to consider hunger and poverty issues as "the top priority issue" of 2017. In 2019, the
most voted issue turned to the environmental issue (26%) from poverty. In terms of
specific hot-button issues in today's news that companies should look to solve (not
exclusive to the top societal issue mentioned before), the list is long and detailed. They see
these as urgent issues that companies should take part in addressing them and provide
solutions. Employment opportunity creation topped the newsworthy issue list for two
years from 2017-2019. Though dropped slightly in importance from two years ago (91%
in 2019 vs. 96% in 2017), Gen Zers still have high expectations for these companies to
address employment issues in the U.S.
The topics listed behind include racial equality (90%), sexual harassment (90%), and
women's equality (89%). Gen Zers also believe companies play a big role in addressing
14
climate change (85%), religious freedom and tolerance (83%), and immigration (81%).
Overall, 90% of the respondents hold that companies should take action on these issues.14
As it happens, many brands are already contributing their part. For example, Yoplait's
'Mom on' campaign, Nike’s ‘run like a girl” campaign. These brands create commercials
that do not reflect ongoing subject, but are bold in their stance on certain issues, with a
clear risk of offending people who would take an opposite view. It turned out memorable
and outstanding from the crowd.15 While there are also brands that are not only explicit
about their value but have integrated their social purpose into their long-term business
plan. They advance their values that citizens might feel related to promoting their services
or products at all levels --Lyft is an example.
14 Novelli Porter. 2019," 2019 Porter Novelli/Cone GenZ Purpose Study," Conecomm, published October
2019. https://www.conecomm.com/research-blog/cone-gen-z-purpose-study
15 Nikki Gilliland. "Five Brand Campaigns that took a stand in social issues," econsultancy blog, published
January 4, 2018. https://econsultancy.com/five-brand-campaigns-that-took-a-stand-on-social-issues/
15
Chapter 3: Lyft’s Social-Impact Programs
In this chapter, the author introduces Lyft’s long-term social-impact programs in great
details. Inspired by “strategic planning model (SPM)” widely used in PR and marketing
campaign planning, the author overviews the program from the following aspects: context
and background; how the program works; target audience; partnership (if applicable); key
messages each program intends to convey. The fact-based information in this sections is
mainly retrieved from Lyft’s official website, policy, Form 8-k and Form 10-k investor
relations report, as well as report done by business research institute. It is a result of
deconstruction and synthesis by the author.
3.1 “LyftUp” Program
Inadequate transportation is a barrier to employment opportunities and economic
advancement for millions of Americans. Everybody needs access to reliable and affordable
transportation to commute to and from work, go to school, see the doctor, or participate
in social life. Study revealed that nearly 4.5 million Americans don’t have easy access to
affordable, reliable transportation, which is an obstacle for them to maintain basic daily
needs or pursue a better life.
Over the years, Lyft has launched multiple ride equity programs offering free or discounted
rides to those who need it most. Their unremitted efforts include programs focusing on
disaster response, grocery access, job access and voting access and green transportation. In
16
the last quarter of 2019, Lyft combined them and integrated into a comprehensive initiative
entitled ‘LyftUP,’ which includes five sub programs: Job access program; Grocery access
program; Voting access program; Shared Ride and Scooter program; and Disaster Response
program.16
3.1.1 Job Access Program
Background Lyft has drawn from community research that "commuting time
is the single strongest factor in the odds of escaping poverty."
Lyft's 2020 econo mic impact report shows that 44% of Lyft
rides start or end in low-income areas, and Lyft ride saved
passengers 178 million hours compared to other means of
transportation.
Program Briefing On October 17, 2019, Lyft launched a Job Access program in
35+cities in the U.S., teaming up with well-known national
partners including Goodwill, United Way and the USO. Free Lyft
rides will be provided to unemployed individuals who need to
commute to and from job training programs, interviews, and the
first three weeks of new employment (before they get their first
paycheck) ，which gives them a fairer chance at success. This
program has an annual commitment of $50 million from the
company's budget.
16 “Lyftup program”Lyft, accessed Feb 20. https://www.lyft.com/lyftup.
17
Target Audience 1) The unemployed individuals who have difficulty accessing
affordable transportation to and from job interviews
2) Younger generations whose life could be greatly impacted
by their level of mobility.
3) Formerly incarcerated, immigrants, refugees, people with
disabilities, and low-income workers or unemployed
people living in low-income areas.17
4) Generally people who live in low-income areas; Veterans
and people living with disabilities, who are in the middle
of job searching.
Key Messages 1) This new program commits to close the short-term
transportation gaps related to job access or employment
training. People of all ages and abilities should have an
opportunity to improve their economic status through
employment.
17 Jessica Klein. “Lyft is helping nonprofits to get low income workers to their job interviews and first
weeks of their new jobs.” Fastcompany,https://www.fastcompany.com/90418584/lyft-is-helping-
nonprofits-get-low-income-workers-to-their-job-interviews-and-first-weeks-of-their-new-jobs
18
2) Transportation is critical for those who are currently out
of employment, and could make a difference between a
lost opportunity and long-term employment, especially in
major sections (job training program, job interviews, first
three week of a new job) through the employment
pipeline.
3) Partnered with leading national and local organizations,
Lyft called for increasing awareness and enlarged
attention to the disparity of transportation resources and
level of mobility.
Partnership United Way and 211
The USO
Goodwill
National Down Syndrome Society
Year Up
Generation
#cut50 (Dream Corps)
The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
Upwardly Global
19
3.1.2 Grocery Access program
Background According to USDA Economic Research Service, around 23.5
million people in the U.S. do not have easy access to fresh,
nutritious, healthy food. Nearly half of them are low-income
workers. These people live in what we call "food desert" lacking
in full-service grocery stores and farmer's markets. To get
nutritious food, they have to travel far and stretch their time and
budgets.
Program Briefing Discounted Lyft car rides are provided to low-income families
and seniors who commute to and from grocery, markets, food
pantries, or SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
led by U.S. Department of Agriculture) benefit appointments. Lyft
has partnered with local nonprofits and grocery providers to
rollout this Lyft Grocery Access Program in 14 cities. These cities
include Washington D.C., Atlantic City, Baltimore, Charlotte,
Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia,
Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond. It will impact
around 23.5 million people in the U.S.
20
How it works The pilot program first started in Washington DC. As it runs, the
Grocery Access Program provides local families with $2.50 flat-
rate (slightly different among states) shared rides to grocery
stores Lyft has appointed or partnered with.
Users will take a survey first to see if they qualify for the program.
The questionnaire will ask them for name, number of family
members, zip code, frequency of fresh grocery shopping, types
of transportation typically used to get to grocery stores, average
household grocery budget.
Participants will be notified when ride credit has been added to
their Lyft account. When ready to shop, participants can simply
open the Lyft app and enter their destination. offers will show up
under the Promo section of the Lyft app. Qualified customers get
a $2.50 flat-rate fare for a Lyft Shared ride to travel to
participating grocery stores and farmers markets. To incentivize
drivers to accept rides from program participants, Lyft agrees to
cover up to $16 in additional costs for the fare.
Target Audience Low income families and seniors who live in “food desert,” places
void of fresh grocery and other healthful whole foods.
21
Key Message Low-income families and seniors who live in “food desert” places
void of fresh grocery and other healthful whole foods
- Lyft’s goal is to make healthy food more widely available,
with a flat-rate charging per ride to partnered stores.
- The program will help ease the family’s pressure of a
squeezed budget on groceries.
- To low-income families: health and food security should
not be compromised. Lyft is here to help. By reducing
money and time costs reaching for fresh, healthy food,
overall physical health, and well-being in underserved
communities or impoverished areas will be largely
improved.
- On average, the program reduced the shopping commute
time by nearly half, from 35 minutes to 17 minutes.
Partners Local Food Access Consortium constituted by grocery providers
led by Lyft in 18 cities. The most well-known ones include
Martha’s Table in Washington D.C., an NGO dedicated to provide
health and wellness resources to children and their
neighborhood regardless of zip code in D.C. good nutrition;
22
BMS Family Health and Wellness Centers in Brooklyn that
provides various forms of quality health care services to the
community.
3.1.3 Voting Access Program
Background Voting is an important manifestation of citizenship and political
participation. It is all citizens’ fundamental right to reach the
polls and make their vote count. Yet in 2016presidential election,
it’s estimated that more than 15 million eligible voters didn’t
make the polls because of mobility limitations.
Introduction
The program was first launched in 2018. This election year 2020,
instead of slashing 50% off Lyft rides travelling from and to the
poll, free rides will be provided to the polls throughout the entire
primary calendar and the general election.
The ride will be offered in partnership with local non-profit
partners who will distribute rides directly to people in their
networks whom they identify as most in need of transportation.
Target Audience 1) Youth who has mobility issues
2) People with disability and illness
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3) People lived in underserved communities who might give up
voting due to transportation issues.
Partners 1) League of Women Voters
2) National Federation of the Blind
3) Student Veterans of America
4) National Urban League
5) Voto Latino Foundation
Key Message 1) Political participation is crucially important for every
citizen. Lyft is working to help fulfill their fundamental
rights and eliminate potential barriers related to
transportation in promoting the level of democracy in the
society.
2) Those who are disabled or with illness should be given extra
support to get to the polling station.
3.1.4 Disaster Response Program
Background Amid and after severe natural disasters like wildfire, hurricane,
earthquake, tornado, etc, transportation for evacuation
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purposes is much more needed than usual. Back in 2017 Lyft
drivers have led the way selflessly helping passengers affected
by devastating natural disasters. And Lyft thus has started
building partnerships with local communities and nonprofit
leaders to provide rides when disasters hit.
Program Briefing In 2019, Lyft has officially announced the Disaster Relief Access
Program, a part of City Works program. Through this program,
Lyft will reveal how they evaluate, respond to disasters and how
they coordinate so that more resources are accessible.
How it works In the moment of receiving an incoming natural disaster notice,
the operations team will evaluate a series of factors including but
not limited to road conditions, nearby drivers, and relationships
with local government agencies, to get an understanding of
where we are able to step in and help.
Whenever the condition is relatively safe for a ride, Lyft will
support disaster-hit individuals to find shelters and other refuge.
Free code is needed for a free ride that is shared by non-profits,
local news organizations and Lyft’s social media page (Instagram
and Facebook). Working with the Facebook team, the updates on
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policy and free rides code could be found on Facebook Crisis
Response page.
To better help people in the disaster, Lyft teamed up with United
Way and 211 and Airbnb’s open homes to provide
transportation service as well as accommodation information
for them to resettle. Collaborating with Team Rubico, Lyft
provides transportation support to first responders and trained
volunteers as well in an effort to align with these people who are
important in protecting the disaster-strike community,
Target Audience Disaster-hit community
Partners United Way and 211
Team Rubicon
Facebook Disaster Response Program
Teaming up with Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization
Key Message 1) Lyft has a goal of making transportation as easy as possible
for those in need. In these moments, connecting passengers
with their loved ones and helping them access valuable
community services becomes more crucial than ever.
2) Lyft promises to keep rides affordable during difficult times
and ensure people stay safe and get to wherever safe.
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3.1.5 Bikeshare & Scooter Access Program
Background Earlier in June 2018, Lyft acquired Motivate, previously the
largest bike share operator in the U.S. (the operator of Citi Bike
in New york City and Ford’s GoBike Program in San Francisco.)
for $250 million, which paved the road for it to compete in the
bikeshare market. As part of the LyftUp initiative, the ultimate
goal of this program is to get more people to abandon car
ownership as much as possible and embrace the low-cost,
sustainable and environmental-friendly multi-modal
transportation option. Transit, bikes, small electric vehicles, and
infrastructure like a safer street, are all together in the battle
against car ownership.
Program Briefing Lyft is empowering thousands of young people by providing
free, one-year bikeshare memberships for Lyft-operated
systems. In collaboration with the YMCA, memberships will be
distributed to eligible 16- to 20-year-olds for the entire year. By
logging into Lyft app, passengers can find the nearest bike
station and unlock via app following instruction.
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Lyft has struck deals with e-scooter startup company ‘Spin’ and
placed thousands of scooters in major cities. Users can reserve
for a scooter in advance and find the nearest accessible scooter
via Lyft Community Pass, one of the options on Lyft app.
The program was first launched in congestion-filled areas. Lyft
with its partner ‘Transform’ has together developed income
eligible programs and community outreach to ensure
transportation access and affordability to those in need.
Target Audience 1) The general public who would consider give up car
ownership and pursue a low-cost and low-carbon means
of transportation.
2) Youth who has a lack of budget on transportation
3) Underserved communities with poor infrastructure
Key Messages 1) Lyft’s work with bikes and scooters is aiming for
transportation equity, safer streets, transit integration and
environmental sustainability. Convenience, affordability
and easy access are the biggest features of Bikeshare
service.
2) Lyft is committed to make Vision Zero a reality.
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3) “By committing significant financial resources to these
offsets, we’re building into our business a strong incentive
to pursue shared rides and the displacement of gasoline-
powered vehicles. The more shared rides and clean
vehicles on the platform, the fewer carbon offsets we will
need to purchase.” ---John Zimmer, CEO
4) This initiative makes possible an economized integrated
transportation plan for the public, providing an easy option
for passengers to connect to public transit which
accelerates public and private mobility.
5) Working collaboratively with individuals and city
organizations, Lyft will rely on capital and technology
solutions to expand protected bike lanes and reduce
speeding.
6) Bikeshare program is Lyft’s most affordable transportation
option and is committed to transportation equity. This
move will effectively change the poor mobility condition of
historically underserved communities.
7) Long-term access to bikes could be life-changing for youth
in underserved communities. A bike is an opportunity
which brings freedom.
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Partnership 1) Lebron James and his athlete empowerment company
‘Uninterrupted.’
2) The Y, the leading nonprofit committed to strengthening
community by connecting all people to their potential,
purpose and each other
3.2 Roundup and Donate Program
Introduction Round Up & Donate is a built-in function of the Lyft app which
allows riders to ‘round up’ a ride fare to the nearest whole dollar
and then donate the difference to a worthy social cause of the
rider’s choice.
To see the causes riders can donate to, they may tap ‘Donate’ in
the Lyft app menu or go to the webpage ‘Round Up & Donate.’
This action is totally on a voluntary basis, riders will never be
forced into the donation. The amount of donations will not be
counted into the prices for rides. It will be included in the
receipt after riders pay for the ride. An annual report will be
sent to riders about tax deductions related to the donation. The
results depend on whether the organization of the cause of the
rider’s choice
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We'll send you an annual report with all your tax deductible
donations for tax purposes. Whether your donations are tax
deductible depends on the cause. If the organization qualifies
for tax deductions, then so will your donation.
Key messages As a civic-minded company, Lyft initiated this program to promote
the level of civic engagement awareness and encourage people to
contribute to social goodness once every ride. Little difference can
drive big change.
By donating to charitable social causes of people’s own choice,
Lyft will get the data of what social issues people are concerned
about. Understanding what riders are caring about enables Lyft to
better facilitate the community and develop more impactful
social-purpose programs in the future.
The initiative sparks conversations over the ride. Multiple causes
might be communicated between the rider and driver -- This is
how a community is built.
Riders are given simple options to do good. They may feel fulfilled
by the feeling that they like to be a certain type of good person,
which is the source of happiness for many.
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Partners/Issues Lyft has partnered with several non-profit organizations and
each of them represented a social cause. These include:
The Y : Helping young people connect with social, educational
and economic opportunities across their communities through
access to bikeshare and more
The American Cancer Society: Ensure all patients have access
to cancer treatment through free and reliable rides with the
“Road To Recovery” program
USO: With donations, USO help keep U.S. military service
members connected to family, home and country, and provides
free transportation to U.S. veterans pursuing civilian
employment opportunities.
United Way Worldwide: Through Ride United, United Way and
211 provide free rides so those in need can get to job interviews,
disaster relief services, food pantries, and more.
RAICES: RAICES compassionately advocates for human rights,
equality, respect, and the right to migrate.
The Trust for Public Land:nonprofit organization with a mission
to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy,
livable communities for generations to come.
Human Rights Campaign: The Human Rights Campaign
envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are ensured of their
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basic equal rights, and can be open, honest and safe at home, at
work and in the community.
SickKids Foundation: Inspiring communities and individuals to
take up the fight by investing in our Hospital, its mission, and
health and scientific advances donations make possible.
Contributions to SickKids Foundation through Lyft Round Up &
Donate are not tax deductible.
Black Girls CODE: A non-profit organization that aims to give
girls the coding skills and technology education they need to
thrive in the digital space.
ACLU Foundation: For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked
to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties
guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States
Covenant House Vancouver: A source of unconditional love and
absolute respect for youth experiencing homelessness by
providing access to life-changing services.
CPS: The New Chance Fund: The New Chance Arts and
Literature Fund ensures arts enrichment education for Chicago
schools in need.
Fred Hutch: At Fred Hutch, world-renowned scientists pioneer
breakthroughs to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, HIV/AIDS
and other life-threatening diseases
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Health Alliance for Austin Musicians: HAAM provides access to
affordable health care for Austin’s low-income, working
musicians with a focus on prevention and wellness.
Contributions to HAAM are tax deductible for federal income tax
purposes.
Phoenix Children's Hospital: Phoenix Children's Hospital
provides hope, healing, and the best health care for children and
their families.
Detroit Public Schools Foundation: Detroit Public Schools
Foundation serves more than 52,000 students with the vision
that every student will receive the support needed to achieve
their full potential.
CHEO Foundation: Empowering communities to further the
physical, mental and social well-being of children and youth in
eastern Ontario and western Quebec.
3.3 Carbon Offset Program
Background In the United States, carbon emission from the transportation
sector is a stubborn problem. Petroleum-based fuels like
gasoline from our vehicle and fuel distribution infrastructure
is the leading cause of greenhouse-gas pollution. Even with the
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advent of clean energy, the pollution from cars, trains, planes,
and ships has never stopped increasing since the Great
Recession period.
Program Briefing Lyft has planned two steps to address this issue, a short-term
action and a long-term plan. The first step is to immediately
compensate for the carbon footprints it released, which took
effect in November 2018 . In collaboration with 3Degree, a
sustainability company based in San Francisco, Lyft uses
carbon offset as a tool to fund vehicle-related emission
reduction projects and projects addressing other
environmental impacts such as non-climate air and water
emissions in general.
The long-term step is to build a 100% renewable electricity-
powered ride-hailing platform, which will greatly slash the
carbon footprints on Lyft’s platform. This initiative has come
underway as a program called “Express Dive”(electric car
rental program) kicked off. The electric vehicles program and
the bikeshare program are both part of the carbon offsetting
efforts.
35
How it works By purchasing carbon credits from its partner 3Degrees, Lyft
will make sure that an equivalent amount of carbon pollution
is out of the atmosphere for every ton of carbon pollution
released by its drivers -- either by offsetting (removing) them
completely such as growing trees etc.; or reducing release by
adopting clean energy.
Partner 3Degrees: provides renewable energy services, including PPAs,
RECs, community solar and more, to organizations looking to
meet sustainability goals.
Key messages 1) Lyft has taken increasing responsibility to commit
additional resources to their value in order to maximize
the positive impact of the Lyft community.
2) Lyft has been purchasing enough carbon footprint offsets
credits from its partner to neutralize the emissions
generated from Lyft trips, which makes Lyft a 100%
carbon neutral company.
3) Environmentalists will not feel burdened to take a Lyft
ride. It is climate-friendly.
4) Lyft is doing an unlimited all-round job in protecting the
environment. Not only are they committed to purchasing
enough renewable energy to cover the mileage it operates,
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but are equally responsible for the electricity
consumption of Lyft’s office space, and driver’s hub in
every city.
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Chapter 4: Lyft’s Purpose in the News: Content Analysis
4.1 Mainstream Media Reflection
In this chapter, the author provides an analysis of the media representation of Lyft's social-
impact programs. The research is conducted on a qualitative level, using content analysis
as the main approach to deconstruct the contents collected and explore the major
narratives conveyed by mainstream media. By analyzing the contents from different
dimensions (such as headlines, narratives, tone, contexts) of the news coverage, I then
summarize the key impressions Lyft has left on the audience through mainstream news
coverage from the standpoint of a general newsreader.
The purpose of the content analysis is to understand and interpret how Lyft's social impact
programs may have shaped its media portrait. From the company's media portrait, the
author is able to get a sense of how well Lyft's social impact strategy has played out --
whether and how their strategy helps increase media exposure and build positive
narratives in media reflections.
The author used "google advanced search" to collect relevant news releases, opinion
pieces, and interviews that cover Lyft's movements in its social impact programs.
According to Google algorithm, the newest algorithm prioritizes original reporting while
presenting the most comprehensive and latest news coverage at the same time. The search
details are displayed in the chart as follows. The time range of the coverages selected is in
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a one-year period, which started before Lyft’s IPO and ended a year later. This time frame
featured a lot of corporate efforts and media reflections that shaped the company’s image.
Advanced Search: Find pages with keyword “Lyft” and the program name, listed in the
chart as below
Time Frame: Feb 1, 2019 - Feb 1, 2020
Article Type: News article
Keywords Results
Quantities
Lyft Social Impact Program 240
Lyft Carbon Offset program 270
Lyft Jobs Access program 210
Lyft Grocery Access program 240
Lyft Bikeshare Program 240
Disaster Response program 260
Lyft Roundup and Donate
Program
284
The results show that Lyft's social-impact programs are well-reported in terms of the
number of coverages. The author then goes through the sources and headlines of all results
39
and collects the ones from influential publications (see appendix118). The targeted source
contains nationally-recognized mainstream news outlets:
1) Top 100 Newspaper ranked by total circulation 19 as well as Top 100 Media
Publications20 based on traffic and engagement, such as CNN, Forbes, Fortune, Fox, NBC,
MSNBC, ABC, the Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post etc.; 2 ）industry
focused outlets in technology and transportation, such as the Verge, Venture Beat,
FastCompany, Digital Trends, Wired, Geekwire, Engadget; Travel + Leisure 3 ）
Community-specific outlets such as LGBT, The disabled etc.
After reading through selected media coverages multiple times to get a sense of their tone
and implications, it has been found that the overall tone towards Lyft's social-impact
programs in the coverage is positive to neutral, varying from one program to another. It
could be detected that each program is captured in a different angle and that the media
have different emphasis in their narratives.
Specifically, The Job Access Program is generally praised by the media as an all-good
decision that no one would want to be cynical about even in the age of cynicism. Round Up
and Donate program is the most frequently mentioned initiative, usually included at the
18
See Appedix1
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R1qky9UtYgYUCgItNxkwWMu6EJTzvZJ7uV0Pq_IpE0o/edit#gid=0
19
“Top 100 Newspapers in the U.S.,” Infoplease, published March 31, 2018 https://www.infoplease.com/arts-
entertainment/newspapers-and-magazines/top-100-newspapers-united-states
20
Liron H. Bobrov, “US Media Publications Ranking H1 2018,” similarweb, published July 11, 2018.
https://www.similarweb.com/corp/blog/us-media-publications-ranking-h1-2018/
40
bottom part of an article to support the notion that besides the program mentioned, "Lyft
has always been committed to helping the community working together with their non-
profit partners." Though it does not have large quantities of coverage on its own, it has
gained plenty of backlinks and mentions. Since the comprehensive LyftUP initiative
launched, media mentions have surged. Once a component in this initiative is mentioned,
the others are touched on naturally.
Having a celebrity as a program ambassador is the other factor that wins media attention.
The bike scooter program that has raised so much attention from the media (sports news
and business news outlets) featured a successful partnership with LeBron James and his
athlete empowerment company. Similarly, Lyft's creative idea of inviting Alicia Keys to go
undercover as a Lyft driver for a day received a large amount of exposure. The regulatory
issues around share bike policy in big cities as well as lawsuits with the city of San
Francisco, are what the media would be curious to cover.
Lyft's immediate response to ongoing social events or issues also accounts for a large
proportion of media coverage. Due to the nature of these programs, which naturally relate
to major public issues, Lyft also takes advantage of every chance to respond to ongoing
affairs in the public domain, thus promoting their social-impact program in the meantime.
The issues that hit the news headline included:
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Disaster Relief: Lyft has actively responded to unexpected incidents such as LA wildfire,
Utah Hurricane Harvey as well as PG&E blackouts with not only free rides but shelters,
drinking water, and air conditioning.
Immigrants Right: Standing up against Donald Trump's Muslim Travel Ban and taking
steps to protect immigrant rights won Lyft enormous good reputation. Donating 1 million
to the American Civil Liberties in support of legal actions with immigrant issues, the press
also emphasized that they raised $3 million for ALCU through their Round UP and Donate
program while Uber did it badly.
Racial Equity: After the police fatally shot a 22-year-old unarmed black man in Sacramento,
Lyft's CEO john Zimmer stepped out saying that they were taking steps to address racial
discrimination and announced that 'free rides will be provided to students who will be
attending in ‘March for Our Lives rallies.' One of the press releases regarding this issue is
headlined "Lyft pushes its "ethical values" vs. Uber."
When covering issues related to the company's ethics, social responsibility fulfillment, the
biggest competitor Uber, who has been trapped by scandals and PR mistakes, is always
used as a comparison to Lyft, which is regarded as a civic-minded company. Most of these
coverages are triggered by the discussion around the two company's different reactions to
Trump's Muslim ban -- and this history still has an undesirable presence in today's news
cycle.
Overall Narratives
42
From all the articles analyzed, the following five kinds of narratives are most common,
which depicts the full picture of Lyft's media portraits. The overall tone and attitudes
towards Lyft's efforts are neutral to positive.
#1 Lyft has always stuck to its mission and has committed to be a corporate citizen. The
program Lyft has launched is a one-of-its-kind goodwill initiative that fits into the social
context and targets the people in need the most. Lyft is successful at telling a "feel-good"
story in the age of corporate greed and scandals. It is making a practical and meaningful
move since they stick to their mission, addressing the needs of people who are vulnerable
in society due to the limitation of mobility. It targeted a tough societal issue that has a huge
impact on people's life. It actively partnered extensively with charities and well-known
NGOs to find recipients of the program.
#2 It is praised for its socially responsible efforts that integrate its business strength in
public mobility with social goodness. Their plan is "holistic," "long-term," and "far-sight"
is what differentiates their brand from others. Complementing each other and serving one
shared goal, these programs are part of each other and aim to bring profound change for
people in the long run.
#3 While most remain positive and hopeful about the company's efforts, concerns and
doubts follow along. Some of the company's goodwill plans involve controversy that may
sound hypocritical, such as the carbon offset program where investment in carbon offset
companies contradicts their rising profits from polluting cars. Bike and scooter-share
43
programs face regulations and lawsuits for potential monopoly that would limit their
business growth and hurt investors.
# 4 A better image than its competitor Uber. Though there are concerns and questions over
Lyft's programs, Lyft clearly has a better reputation over Uber in terms of its corporate
social responsibility issues. Choosing Lyft over Uber satisfies customers' conscience and
makes them feel better more than the opposite.
4.2 Lyft’s Social-purpose Strategy -- Characteristics that captures
media’s attention
The media representation of Lyft presented the audience with an image of an ethical,
genuine and capable corporate citizen. Aligning with the company’s strategy, the company
has successfully demonstrated the following characteristics which helped them get media
attention. There are several elements that help build the positive aspects of the media
narratives analyzing from the media coverages.
1) Clear and Transparent Stance on Social Issues
Lyft sees the chance of responding to social and ethical issues as gaining a reputation
advantage over its competitor Uber, which has run afoul with regulators and been trapped
by scandal. It has a very clear stance as to taking stances on certain social issues, such as
gun violence, gender and race. According to Lyft’s co-founder John Zimmer, “If we disagree
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with the policy we are going to be transparent about it and we are going to justify why.” 21
He pointed out that “while the company is not an non-profit organization, charity, or
activist group, Lyft still insisted on highlighting “obvious” ethical values.”
2) Research-supported Social Purpose Initiative
Use solid research statistics to back the necessity and importance of the social-impact
program. The fact base could originate from the company’s own research team or credible
research institute.
According to Lyft’s Impact department, Lyft has a strong research team. They believe that
there is a deeper story inside every issue. They adopted fact-based research to provide
clarity in the area of transportation and the future of our cities. Insightful and presentable
analysis reports on broad-range transportation issues could be found.22 They also stay
tuned about the results of other meaningful research in social equity issues conducted by
other organizations. For instance, Lyft’s Job Access program used research data from
Stanford University to point out that the problem exists that over 4 million people failed
to go through the employment pipeline because of transportation barriers. This concrete
figure and reasoning behind the number provide Lyft with validity in addressing the issues.
21 Alexi McCammond; David McCabe, “Lyft pushes its "ethical values" vs Uber,” Axios, published Mar 28,
2018.https://www.axios.com/lyft-march-for-our-lives-activism-cofounder-meeting-f5ea3d1b-ff7e-4e40-a8a2-
815ad9843cdc.html
22 Lyft, Inc.“Lyft Impact analysis,” Lyftimpact, accessed Mar 1, 2020.
https://www.lyftimpact.com/analysis
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This paved road for the company to further justify why they are competent at this and how
they have done a successful job in the past.
3) Long-standing Partnerships
A huge network of reliable partners supported and empowered Lyft’s good social purpose.
Working with different types of partners in different fields, Lyft has maintained a good
relationship with national non-profit organizations in civic engagement, social justice, and
human rights; business chamber; veteran organization; hospitals and research centers.
The quality and influential national and local partners get the partnership decision
exposed in their own industry, and gives strong Lyft credit and positive comments in the
comment. This is a strategic way of expanding brand impact, and getting endorsement
from influential partners and media outlets. Long-standing partnership started from a
shared vision and long-term goal; Two parties will be able to supplement each other in
various ways such as service type, business data, target audience, technology etc.
4) Leadership with mission-driven values
Led by a group of value-driven people with expertise in sustainability and non-profit
departments, Lyft differentiated itself from competitors as being more "personal" and
"community-based" in terms of reputation. Lyft officially assigned the head of the
sustainability position for the first time. Sam Aron 23, who used to be Google's senior
leadership for the Energy & Infrastructure department, has become Lyft's first head of
23 Mia Overall, “Meet Lyft's first head of social impact and its first sustainability director,” Greenbiz, published
October 22, 2018.
https://www.greenbiz.com/article/meet-lyfts-first-head-social-impact-and-its-first-sustainability-director
46
sustainability. He has a solid background in wind-energy research and plug-in vehicle
research. It is him who oversees and leads Lyft's carbon offset program and is keen on
presenting at conferences on behalf of Lyft and events related to climate, clean energy as
well as social innovation. These opportunities play a big role in emphasizing Lyft's strong
sense of social responsibility and determination in action.
Also on Lyft's board is Baleri Jarrett, the former White House official in Barack Obama's
administration. He and Lyft's CEO John Zimmer are two active supporters of the company's
commitment to the environment and continued activism to fight for social equity for the
community. John has written many articles about his own insights about the social impact
programs and sustainability issues. Melissa Water is the VP, head of marketing in Lyft,
started her career in a non-profit organization specialized in violence prevention and
underserved community service. The mission-driven nature and her expertise in non-
profit management give her the motivation to lead the business with purpose. From what
the media has reflected, these high-profile people are loud and assertive about Lyft's
commitment.
5) Consistency and Authenticity
From a good amount of articles, the author found that Lyft has a series of social-purpose
programs that show a constant and consistent effort to better community life through
utilizing their superpower in transportation -- promoting affordable, environmentally-
friendly transportation at people's convenience. The company re-integrated different
programs launched before into comprehensive initiatives and frequently added new ideas
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and contents, which enables the programs to keep getting media exposures along with
time, even two years from now.
When the fundamental purpose of different programs complements and aligns with each
other, one program easily triggers the mention of another related program, and the
brand's purpose is strengthened, and the efficiency of news coverage largely amplified.
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Chapter 5: Lyft’s purpose-driven storytelling strategy on social
media
This chapter provides an analysis on how Lyft’s social media messaging and engagement
reflect a differentiated “personal” and “friendly” brand image built on their social-impact
programs. Lyft’s comprehensive social-impact initiative, also the core of their business, is
what constitutes Lyft's dynamic social media contents. The social causes behind the
program have sparked creative storytelling and the narratives that align their brand with
a broader social context. The author deemed Lyft’s Instagram as well as Lyft’s program-
related hashtag posts as a good source to explore how they brand themselves on social
media and the narratives around it.
5.1 Purpose-driven Social Media Contents and Engagements
The analysis is assisted by Gramho24, an Instagram account viewing and analysis tool that
is functioned to evaluate the popularity of an Instagram account, and could gather posts
from any account or with any hashtag on a viewer-friendly dashboard. Search details and
results are as follows:
Lyft official account
Time Range: Feb 2019 - Feb 2020
Number of Posts from Lyft’s account: 79 posts
Lyft account overall popularity score: 69.14%
24 Gramho, “Lyft tagged posts.” https://gramho.com/tagged/lyft
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Average likes per post: 1k
Average comments per post 104
Content form: 86% photos + 16% videos
Themes of the original contents:
Immigration rights; LGBTQIA right; Vote access; Gender equality; Lyft’s service and
product.
All posts with #LyftUP and #Roundupanddonate on Instagram
Number of posts with #LyftUP on Instagram: 310 posts
Number of posts with #Roundupanddonate: 60 posts
*The author manually excluded the posts that are out of context (irrelevant hashtag
contents)
Under #LyftUP, most people have been sharing their Lyft ride experience. Over 50% of the
posts involve bike sharing programs in particular -- different tiers of influencers from
across the country have been sharing their “bike memory” after the brand announced their
strategic partnership with LeBron James. For #Roundupanddonate, a vast majority of
posts are spotted from their non-profit partners @humanrightscampaign;
@blackgirlscode; @ACLU @RAICES, etc, which highlights their collaborative efforts to help
the disadvantaged groups in our society.
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Polarizing Comments
The author read through all the comments under Lyft’s instagram post as well as those
with Lyft-relevant hashtags. The comments appear polarizing and are aggressive in terms
of their way of expression.
#1. Complaints about Lyft riding experience
#2. Equals Lyft to the liberal side of the political spectrum
#3. Drivers deserve higher pay and more protection
#4. Lyft over Uber because of the meaningful cause Lyft has been standing for
#6. Endorse Lyft’s partnership with A-list celebrity and the way they collaborate
#7. Sharing personal experience as part of the minority group.
There is a disproportionate amount of positive and negative comments between Lyft’s own
account and the account Lyft collaborates with. More negative comments than positive
comments appeared under Lyft’s own account, while most comments are positive under
those posts with the Lyft hashtag posted by others.
5.2 Purpose-driven Social Media Content Strategy
1) Compelling storytelling with empathy
From Lyft’s social media account as well as their website, we can conclude that Lyft’s social
media strategy is intrinsically all about storytelling (compared with its competitor Uber,
51
which focuses less on broader social issues.) Lyft portrays itself to riders as “your friend
with a car” -- an inclusive and friendly message indicating that an open space for free
discussion and engaging conversation could be expected during a Lyft ride. “Lyft Hub” is a
community that gathers riders and drivers' stories on any front of their life related to Lyft
ride experience: from how veteran made their transition to normal life with Lyft, how Lyft
helped connect female drivers and share their dreams; to how Lyft has given old residents
the chance to see around their hometown. Many nuanced feelings and changes are worth
recording and sharing, which could be powerful storytelling that influences people or at
least inspires empathy in our community. Lyft provides a channel for people to get their
voice heard, the social-impact program is a main trigger for a diversity of stories and
conversations to happen. These stories are an authentic manifestation of the “tangible”
impact Lyft has really made.
2) Tiered Influencer Marketing Approach
As the author found out, a big part of Lyft’s social marketing strategy features tiered
marketing approach. They not only worked with super stars like Lebron James or Alicia
Keys, but see niche influencers as targets as well. There are different layers of impact
delivered through different tiers of influencers -- from professional athletes to lifestyle
influencers; from first generation Americans to veterans. Among these influencers, their
number of followers range from 1k to 10M, which reflects that Lyft does not solely focus
on potential viewership or the popularity of the influencer, it prioritizes the compatibility
between Lyft’s image and the influencer’s “personal brand.”
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Lebron James @kingjames 62.8M followers
Professional Bicycle Athlete @nigelsylvester 400k followers
53
NY-based lifestyle influencer @pixofnix 35.1K followers
Youtube based in LA @missmarissarachel 196k followers
54
Food traveler based in SF @willwanderforfood 15.4k followers
Stylist @maikeeb_kills 837k followers
Unlike paid ad or one-time marketing events for profitable purposes, social impact is
something that is hard to be measured in the short term by quantities. It is a journey to
influence people with value-driven actions while including people in the movement. As
mentioned above, all these individual stories come together and pass along purpose on
different levels, received by people of diverse backgrounds and served for one big purpose.
Some influencers can be value-driven too. They have to sift through all the pitches every
55
day and try to find meaning in the contents. If the brand offers them a perspective to not
only raise engagements, but also align with their own purpose; then that’s far more
authentic and sustainable than a traditional type of paid partnership which feels
transactional.
3) Getting endorsement from the third party
As mentioned, there is an observation that comments are pro-negative under Lyft’s
original account, yet are very positive under the influencers’ accounts who promote Lyft.
Given the nature of social media nowadays, it is easier for people to get cynical and distract
the dialogue from what your post originally meant to deliver. For instance, under the post
that tells a story about how an immigrant driver collects cars and enjoys driving in the
town talking to people, people take the advantage to criticize that Lyft doesn’t do enough
background check when drivers get onboard. Other similar criticism falls into these three
issues: unfair riding experience, lack of rewards for drivers, undesirable customer
services.
In contrast, under influencer’s posts, more than 80% of the comments are positive and
relevant; either expressing support for the cause or claiming they prefer Lyft than Uber.
These polarized comments can be interpreted differently, but the high level of engagement
and likes show that the cause marketing efforts on social media has successfully got the
message out and raised a considerable level of brand awareness. Though Lyft should not
ignore customer complaints and existing problems, it is a strategic way to spread the
56
message via partner and influencer than do all the creation with assertive “call to action”
on the brand’s own account.
57
Chapter 6: Assessments and Conclusions
Lyft is a company that roots its business in social purpose. Positioned itself as a socially-
responsible corporate citizen, it is responsive and outspoken about many social equity
issues or controversies happening in the society, from racial equity, LGBT rights to
immigration and employment issues. All of its business goals, including its product
experience and long-term marketing models, are intrinsically relevant to critical social
problems that have a profound influence on people's lives. Their core business, promoting
share-riding transportation, not only represents a positive social and environmental
change versus the age of car ownership but provides itself as a valuable resource to
facilitate the progress of other equally important business and social causes.
There are many meaningful social causes a company could stand supportive of. But the
executives should be aware of how the social cause is related to their own business;
whether they are capable of leading the change and sustaining the good work, and if there
is any potential risk around it. A strategic partnership, a good story, a million-dollar
donation, or a good community event, a clear stance on controversial issues can all be
efforts in building impacts. Working with nonprofits and financially supporting them
might seem to be a decent approach, but what's paramount is how companies pick the
cause, frame the purpose and how a compelling story can be told around this cause.
The nature of transportation determines that it infiltrates into every aspect of people's life,
so it allows Lyft to pitch to partners in different fields as a beneficial resource in exchange
for a longstanding partnership and the reputation as an ethical corporate citizen. It has a
58
relatively lower risk of choosing an utterly wrong cause in the beginning though still needs
to be strategic and careful about how they form consistent messaging. When calling for
customers to engage in the good cause, people don't like to be forced or preached to.
"Pitching" them with a simple option to follow, a motivation to believe, and a manifestation
from the third person are ideal approaches to build engagement. Owning a wide customer
base and a broad network of nationwide nonprofit partners enable Lyft to have access to
data and feedback to evaluate their impact, make timely adjustments.
`
From the case study, we could also learn that -- for any company trying to build a social
purpose, it's important that they start from considering what makes the company unique
(even if it's something small and very specific,) and trying to maximize the advantage to
help and impact a specific aspect of the society. Rather than focusing on how big or fancy
the cause seems to be, this is a strategic way of framing the good purpose, which is more
likely to trigger storytelling and discussion from customers and the public rather than
getting some one-time superficial praise. This framing strategy will also convince people
that as the company grows, its contribution to the social cause will naturally be expanded
and upgraded. The follow-up media coverage and long-term exposure will finally catch
people's attention before it becomes the socially-responsible brand they trust.
Though it is hard to evaluate the brand's actual impact by the number of media coverage
or viewership, the exposure potentially shapes the audience's impression little by little.
The general public may probably not be that curious about the company's bottom lines or
financial details, it is the story that comes across their mind that determines if Lyft is an
59
ethical company or not. Consumers can be critical sometimes, but a successful news hit
that catches their attention even just once may leave a profound impression in their
subconscious.
Moreover, keeping track of the measurable social or economic impact is vital since people
would like to see things on the ground, and it is also proof of growth. It made sense that a
company with a solid social purpose must come with a solid competence in business
performance to fulfill that purpose, which is a positive signal to investors as well. Purpose
fuels growth, and growth fuels impact. For public relations and marketing professionals,
the takeaway here is that -- while high-growth marketing approach is the rule in many
places, taking a long-term and holistic approach in building long-term impact will expose
the company to more growth potential and elevate the company to a higher level.
60
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Appendix1
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1R1qky9UtYgYUCgItNxkwWMu6EJTzvZJ7uV0Pq_IpE0o/edit#gi
d=0
63
Asset Metadata
Creator
Zhou, Weizhen (author)
Core Title
Taking stances on social issues: case study on Lyft’s social-purpose programs and strategies
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Electronically uploaded by the author
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School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Strategic Public Relations
Publication Date
08/03/2020
Defense Date
08/02/2020
Publisher
University of Southern California
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Tag
brand reputation,discourse analysis,Lyft,media representation,oai:digitallibrary.usc.edu:usctheses,OAI-PMH Harvest,social purpose,taking a stance
Language
English
Advisor
Wang, Jay (
committee chair
), Stewart, Kirk (
committee member
), Yang, Aimei (
committee member
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Creator Email
zhouweiz@usc.edu,zhouweizhen1114@gmail.com
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Abstract (if available)
Abstract
In today’s business world, many value-driven brands have been actively taking stance on social issues since customers are proved to be more and more drawn to the purpose of a brand, rather than just product. Lyft, which has an integration of social purpose programs that draw considerable media attention, is deemed as a good example to study by the author. “LyftUP” initiative is a major one worth noting. Taking discourse analysis as the key research method, the author found that the attributes that lead to Lyft’s popularity in major media outlets include: the authenticity and consistency of their program purpose
Tags
brand reputation
discourse analysis
Lyft
media representation
social purpose
taking a stance
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses