Media businesses, taken care of

Parachute Media is a 15-person creative agency. Founder and CEO Ryan Carter uses Uber for Business to engage employees and let them know he cares.

The media industry has to go where the story is. Whether that be a cultural hotspot, the site of a viral new trend or a prime location to film a product launch, it’s a job that’s anything but desk-bound.

There are media events and conferences—for example—across the country and throughout the year for work showcases, brand exposure and a nice bit of networking.

When media professionals find themselves in an office, it’s typically for the purpose of hosting clients, planning shoots or editing footage, sometimes into the night.

This on-the-go lifestyle translates into a lot of travel for frontline employees, and a lot of travel to manage for PAs and equivalent roles. That travel inevitably surges from September, when people return from holidays. And this year, it’s being further amplified: see reports of more employees being asked to attend the office more often, including giant corporations.

Admin can hamper the fast pace that keeps media in motion. So how can business be better?

Working hours in media are rarely a clear-cut nine-to-five. Shoots can start early and end late.

When media professionals find themselves needing to stay a little later to make sure everything is prepared for filming the next day, or to rapidly pull together a story, they need fuel. Uber for Business helps give them easy access to refreshments, without adding expense receipts to the workload. And when they’re ready to call it a day, they know the hassle of getting home is taken care of by requesting a ride on their business profile, courtesy of their employer.

The controls of the Uber for Business dashboard save office managers the worry of overspending or getting everyone’s orders in, with controls in place and a central interface. 

With Uber for Business, PAs and travel managers can increase their proactivity and get on top of busy schedules by pre-booking trips through Uber Reserve. This feature can help minimise delays and improve punctuality for travelling teams and visiting clients alike, helping to ensure smooth arrival with a ride waiting to take them on the last stretch of their journey, such as from the station to the destination.

This convenience also makes a strong first impression on guests—especially high-profile performers, interviewees and VIPs—and new clients, while reassuring existing relationships that you’re running a well-oiled machine, built to prioritise their needs.

As well as helping to arrive in style, Uber for Business prioritises safety and support. Not only does our vast mobility platform utilise industry-leading safety technology, but if anything needs sorting, there’s 24/7 priority support to help.

That’s a lot of stress saved for both commuters and travel managers. Managing spending becomes less stressful, too, with greater visibility and controls on how colleagues use travel programmes.

All this travel can create serious climate guilt for media professionals, and make businesses’ eco commitment feel like magical thinking. Uber for Business helps, with electric vehicle options through Uber Green, and Co2 travel emissions reporting to track real progress on your sustainability goals.

Uber for Business also helps when guests come to you. Whether it’s offering a bite to eat at client meetings, or giving the early birds and night owls a snack to-hand, office managers can easily stock up on sundries. 

Expensing is automatic and connected to an administrative dashboard that’s integrated with your existing systems and payment platforms. On top of simplifying the admin, it becomes much easier to keep track of spending and billing, without having to hunt down all those pesky receipts of ad-hoc orders, some of which could even be lost.

Then there’s the next level up from snacks and sundries: business meals. Uber for Business frees employees from requiring the physical company card—a particular nuisance when there are different groups who need it at the same time. Rather than having to ask a PA, the business programme set up for them means the only thing they need to ask is what their guests fancy from a mouth-watering range of restaurants. The really important questions.

Managers can also treat their teams to celebrate performance, a new client win or a project going live—seamlessly, and within the spending policies laid out for them. Businesses can even take it further by offering prospects a virtual lunch on you, by sending them an Uber Eats voucher before a Zoom pitch or event.

And anyone off-site won’t miss out on the delicious benefits of Uber for Business, either. Whenever teams are out at events and conferences, they can get their favourite food delivered, instead of scrambling around an unfamiliar city before having to expense it at the end of a busy day. It also helps maximise the precious free time nestled in a non-stop day of meetings, by scheduling food to come to them, when they need it.

It can be easier to meet the demands of working in media with Uber for Business. Find out even more of the benefits, or test-drive the dashboard.