Business case Cabify

Communication and Reputation

Transforming communication to lead mobility

Cabify is a case study: a Spanish company that competes with large mobility multinationals such as Uber.

Juan de Antonio set up the company in a small flat in Madrid’s Tetuán neighbourhood. Its growth strategy in Spain and Latin America has made it one of the first Spanish unicorns — companies valued at over USD 1 billion.

In 2018, it faced reputational and management risks due to what became known as the “taxi war.” With the backing of ViewPoint Communication, it overcame these risks by overhauling its communication strategy.

THE CHALLENGE:

In August 2018, we began working closely with Cabify, advising the company on how to transform its corporate communication.

Our work with Cabify has been a mix of strategic advice and implementation. We took on the challenge of defining a new communication strategy and coordinating the company’s corporate communication, working with the company’s senior management and internal PR teams.

The main handicap at the outset was that Cabify, like many other startups, had worked with a communication strategy that was heavily user-focused and based on marketing the service. Until then, it had not needed to revise and disseminate its strategic positioning to different stakeholders from a more political approach: to the financial community, the media and society in general.

THE STRATEGY:

Our collaboration with Cabify focused on two pressing tasks – renewing the corporate discourse and managing constant crisis situations – along with a fundamental task: elevating and professionalising the corporate communication function as a key business area.

This strategy involved full dedication from ViewPoint’s Managing Partner, with the backing of part of the agency team, and close collaboration with the company’s own teams.

OUR CONTRIBUTION:

The tasks carried out over this time include:

Strategic advice
Coordination of corporate communication
Storytelling
Ongoing crisis management
Relations with national and international media: organisation of press conferences, on- and off-the-record meetings, TV and radio interviews, international media, etc.
Presentation of financial results
Preparation of communication materials, from presentations and press releases to opinion forums
Training of spokespersons

THE RESULTS:

Since the start of our collaboration with the company, there has been a before-and-after. As from then, Cabify, its founder and CEO, Juan de Antonio, and the rest of the team have had a much more strategic media presence, better control of the public agenda, and a new corporate narrative, which we have also actively participated in constructing.

Differentiation was key, and as a result of this work, Cabify changed its corporate profile, differentiating and reinforcing itself as a Spanish company with a clear roadmap, different from the giants in the sector, with two key attributes: transparency and social responsibility.

Our collaboration with Cabify is the best example of how to build a relationship of trust and become a partner of our clients, integrating our work within the dynamics of the company itself and, in this way, adding value.

INTERVIEWS AND OPINION FORUMS