Uber Eats Sri Lanka
Uber Eats Sri Lanka deployed a phygital growth strategy to drive user acquisition and brand recall in newly expanded geographies blending on-ground activations, eco-conscious marketing innovations, and data-driven campaign iterations across Colombo, Galle, Kalutara, and Beruwala.
The challenge: food delivery was not yet a habitual use case in these markets.
The solution: Required building demand from the ground up educating, engaging, and converting consumers through memorable, in-person touchpoints paired with digital incentives.
Campaign 01: Plantable Flyers — Direct Marketing Reinvented
Rather than generic paper flyer distribution, the team pioneered eco-friendly seed-embedded flyers — biodegradable cards containing chili and tomato seeds. Distributed with promo codes offering Rs. 400 off on first orders, the flyers served a dual purpose: acquisition tool and persistent brand reminder as the plant grew.
The Insight
Traditional flyers end up on the ground. Plantable flyers end up in homes — growing into vegetables that trigger brand recall every time the eater looks at them. The plant became a living, daily reminder of Uber Eats.
01. Partnered with eco-vendor to manufacture biodegradable seed paper with embedded chili and tomato seeds
02. Deployed dedicated promotional teams trained to explain the plantable concept and guide eaters through app onboarding
03. Distributed 20,000 flyers in Galle, 7,000 in Kalutara, 13,000 across Kesbewa and Moratuwa
04. Promo codes tracked per geography to measure channel performance independently
05. Influencer amplification used to drive social media reach around the plantable concept
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Promo Code Entries (Galle) | 1,187 |
| Promo Redemptions (Galle) | 379 |
| Code-to-Order Conversion | 32% |
| Total Flyers Distributed | 37,000+ |
| Organic Social Reach | Trending across Facebook comments organically |
| Cross-Product Adoption | Concept adopted by Uber Moto as plantable coupon cards for rider acquisition |
Cross Product Impact: Uber Moto
The success of the plantable flyer concept extended beyond uber eats. Uber moto the motorbike ride-hailing vertical adopted the same biodegradable seed paper format for their own rider acquisition campaign, distributing plantable coupon cards carrying the promo code umcol50 (50% off on first 3 trips). The concept proved transferable across verticals precisely because the mechanic was not tied to food it was tied to the idea of planting something memorable in the hands of a potential customer. One innovation, two product lines, compounding returns on a single creative investment.
Campaign 02: Town Storming — On-ground City Blitz
Town Storming was a high-intensity, multi-city on-ground acquisition model. The team deployed branded trucks, spin-the-wheel gamification, app download assistance, and real-time promo distribution to physically onboard new users in newly launched cities.
The model was iteratively refined across Beruwala, Kalutara, and Galle — each city incorporating learnings from the previous deployment to improve funnel conversion.
The Model
01. Branded truck with LED screens deployed at high-density residential areas and transit hubs
02. Promotional team personally engaged passersby, demonstrated the app, and guided the download-to-order journey
03. Spin-the-Wheel game rewarded new users who completed their first order with grocery packs and multi-order promo codes
04. Learnings iterated: Beruwala gave promo at signup; Kalutara required first order to claim reward — dramatically improving first-time eater conversion
| Campaign | Key Metric |
|---|---|
| Beruwala (5 days) | 286% first-time eater growth during activation / 100% Gross Bookings growth |
| Kalutara (5 days) | 796% first-time eater growth (peak) / 228% Gross Bookings growth |
| Galle Phase 01 | 301 first-time eaters in 3 days / 529 trips / $2.9k Gross Bookings |
| Galle Phase 02 | 605 first-time eaters in 4 days / 1,206 trips / $5.8k Gross Bookings |
| Total Downloads Generated | 3,058 app downloads across all Town Storming cities |
| Total Signups Generated | 1,877 signups across all cities |
Campaign 03: Big Match Season — Sponsorship & Brand Visibility
The 2023 Big Match Season — Sri Lanka’s prestigious inter-school cricket rivalry — presented a high-concentration brand opportunity. The team deployed reusable branded balloons, water bottle and branded cup distribution, LED screen placements, and in-app curated merchant collections aligned to match days.
| Channel | Details |
|---|---|
| In-App Big Match Bites Curation | 206 merchants curated — zero media cost |
| Giant Branded Balloon | 20ft × 20ft reusable, deployed across 3+ matches |
| Water Bottle / Cup Distribution | 2,500 units per match with on-pack promo code |
| Sponsorship Activations | 6 Big Matches • logo placements • ground announcements • school LED walls |
Campaign 04: Eater Swag — Home Branding Initiative (dropped due to budget constraint)
The team designed and manufactured 1,100 custom branded fridge magnets — a rotatable pop-out design replicating the Uber Eats light box, an already-recognisable visibility channel present in 77% of Uber Eats Sri Lanka service areas. The ambition was simple: take the brand off the street and into the home, occupying the most visited spot in any kitchen.
The magnet included a QR code deeplink to the promotions page, enabling future dynamic CRM plays — gating time-bound promos exclusively for magnet holders, turning physical swag into a digital acquisition key.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Units Produced | 1,100 magnets + velvet pouches |
| Pilot Cost | $6,743 USD total (magnets + packaging) |
| Gross Bookings Return Potential | $7,110 from 1,000 orders at average basket of $6.75 |
| Design | Custom 3D rotatable light box replica — never before seen in market |
Uber Moto — Plantable Coupon Acquisition
Following the documented success of plantable flyers within Uber Eats, the same phygital acquisition model was extended to Uber Moto — the motorbike taxi vertical operating across Sri Lanka. The team produced biodegradable seed paper coupon cards embedded with the same eco-manufacturing partner, this time carrying a ride discount offer in place of a food promo code.
This cross-vertical deployment validated a core strategic hypothesis: that a well-designed physical acquisition mechanic, once proven, is not product-specific — it is a reusable growth asset that compounds value across the broader platform.
The Offer
01. Promo code UMCOL50 — 50% off on the first 3 Uber Moto trips
02. Distributed via the same on-ground promotional channels established by the Uber Eats plantable flyer rollout
03. Cards carried clear rider education content: why to choose Uber Moto over alternatives, how to book, what to expect
Why It Worked Across Verticals
01. The plantable format made the coupon feel like a gift rather than a flyer — recipients kept it, interacted with it, and remembered the brand
02. By the time Uber Moto adopted the format, the team had already refined distribution approach, vendor relationships, and seed selection — dramatically reducing lead time and cost
03. Shared vendor infrastructure meant the eco-manufacturing partner scaled sustainably, reducing per-unit cost across both verticals
04. The cross-product deployment also strengthened the vendor’s own story — their plantable paper had now been used by two Uber verticals, enhancing their credibility in the sustainable marketing space
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Promo Code | UMCOL50 — 50% off first 3 Uber Moto trips |
| Format | Biodegradable seed paper coupon card — same eco-vendor as Uber Eats |
| Strategic Value | Proved plantable mechanic transfers across Uber verticals |
| Operational Efficiency | Reused established vendor, distribution model, and team expertise |
Key Learnings & Strategic Insights
01. Engagement-first distribution outperforms passive handouts — promotional teams trained to talk first, distribute second, drove exponentially higher first-time eater conversion
02. Physical incentives must be tied to in-app action — rewarding app download (Beruwala) drove signups; rewarding first order (Kalutara) drove 796% first-time eater growth
03. Eco-credentials unlock multi-stakeholder value — plantable flyers generated organic social sharing, sustainability recognition for the vendor, and were adopted as a full acquisition campaign by Uber Moto, proving one creative innovation can serve multiple verticals
04. Retention is the next frontier — all three Town Storming cities showed strong during-campaign spikes but significant post-campaign drop-off, pointing to the need for robust follow-through communications
05. Iterated playbooks compound — each city launch produced a cleaner, more efficient model for the next