In the PR industry, we hear a lot about trends. Editors are looking for “trend pieces.” We check what is “trending” on Twitter. How many pitches have you written to capitalize on a trending news topic?
A good story often combines a newsworthy item with a larger trend, showing readers the big picture and the “so what” of why the story matters. So, when a company has a unique, trendy, “big picture” story to tell, it’s worth taking notice. That’s one reason I’ve been impressed with the story of car2go.
Car2go sits at the confluence of two major trends. Many Americans – particularly the millennial generation so coveted by marketers – are buying fewer cars and driving less. The Atlantic (ever fond of trend pieces!) covered the story last year. Simultaneously, more and more people are catching on to the “sharing economy,” which has allowed entrepreneurs to build businesses around the idea of allowing people to derive value from existing assets. Think couch surfing, or if you’re more high-end, Airbnb.
These two trends add up to an environment ripe for companies to disrupt the automotive marketplace. There are a number of entrepreneurs and larger companies doing this in different ways – I’m talking about services like Uber, Sidecar, Lyft and of course, ZipCar. Car2go, though, has an especially interesting story to tell. It is a car-sharing service that gives users a high degree of flexibility by allowing drivers to park cars anywhere within a city’s “zone” (here in Seattle, this means just about anywhere in the urban neighborhoods most frequented by The Atlantic’s carless 20-somethings).
This flexibility further reduces the commitment of car-sharers. Don’t want to worry about bringing your car back from a restaurant? No worries, just park out front and let someone else take the car when they need it. As anyone would expect in 2013, the cars can be located and reserved via a smartphone app using a map interface.
More and more people, particularly young professionals, are moving into urban areas and this means that mass transit options are becoming more and more stressed; Seattle isn’t alone in having a transit system facing dual challenges of increased ridership and budget shortfalls. Young, professional commuters are looking for alternatives, and it’s because of trends like these that I expect to see car2go keep growing.
By giving users the flexibility to park anywhere, minimizing the time required finding a car and eliminating entirely the time needed to return it, car2go has carved out an interesting niche in the car -sharing market. Based on the number of car2go vehicles I’ve seen in Seattle, its business model is catching on. The company says it has about 120,000 users around the world right now, but interestingly, it has been around since 2008 – long before I’d heard the phrase “sharing economy.”
For my part, I’ve relied on car2go to get me to the office in a pinch and to social gatherings on the weekend. A confession, though – it’s not only the convenience that drew me to car2go. As someone who lives in an urban neighborhood and is challenged by parallel parking, car2go’s fleet of diminutive Smart cars lets me park without fear of embarrassment.
Outside of its interesting and timely story that makes the company newsworthy, car2go’s branded vehicles serve as a great marketing tool. If you live near downtown Seattle, you’ve probably seen them in your neighborhood.
Car2go is an excellent example of how a business’ growing popularity can be part of a larger news trend. I’m excited to see where the sharing economy takes us, and where car2go’s story goes next!
You can check out the work of car2go’s social media team, including local promotions, on Twitter @car2goSeattle. The company is also active in U.S. cities from Austin, Texas, to Denver, Colo., to Washington, D.C.