At 4pm in the BrandHook Melbourne office this afternoon, there was a sombre feeling.  App fingers were being rested, iPhones were being recharged and there was a reliance on the google image  search “heaps cute puppies” to fill the gap that #UberPuppies promised to deliver.

To say there was high excitement at 7.20am this morning when Uber announced today was #UberPuppies day would be an understatement. And continuing from their great work with the Red Cross [see our previous blog], the tie in with Pets at Work mission was well received. A beautiful concept that prior to midday, had the entire office in a state of genuine excitement talking about the brand – some of us being more realistic about the prospect than others.

But come four hours later, what does a brand insight agency now think about the Uber brand?

1. While every dog has his day, the chances of #UberPuppies being delivered to the BrandHook office were always going to be slim, so how does the brand compensate for that.  It was great the first couple of times when we could see the #UberPuppies notification that the on-duty dogs were being ‘cuddled’ or ‘snuggled’, but there was no intuitive way of seeing where and how these puppies were supposedly being transported round the city, which means …
2. you need to throw a dog a bone and engage your audience. Reaching out on Twitter to voice our disappointment (as is the case), it was fantastic when we received an immediate reply explaining the high demand (although we already knew this) – a great case of delivering that real time feedback.  However …
3. … it’s hard to wag the dog in the digital transformation era.  Search #UberPuppies on Twitter and you’ll see the shared ‘everyday person’ frustrations of puppy non-delivery. Meanwhile the seemingly bigger brand / media agencies ‘appeared’ to be the sole beneficiaries of the promotion with plenty of glossy photos and glossy coats adorning our twitter feeds in equal measure. The cynic in us grew and that skeptical part of our collective brains wondered whether man’s best friend had chosen their own friends very carefully.

We don’t want to bark on about it as we’re all for a great concept that gets people talking and is linked to a good cause – but the key takeout for us is the need for transparency and honesty in all aspects of your promotional executions – as while sleeping dogs lie, humans, and the BrandHook Melbourne office, have much greater expectations.