Safety, price, and convenience are just a few of consumers’ concerns regarding the future of self-driving cars. One of the industry’s dominant self-driving robotaxi players, Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, seeks to disrupt the traditional image of our driverless future.
Cruise’s robotaxi service is expanding to Austin, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona, by the end of the year.
To set them apart from human-driver rideshare services provided by companies like Uber and Lyft, Cruise is debuting a brand-new marketing campaign. Its purpose is to showcase examples where riders prefer an autonomous driver over a human.
Amy Kepler, Cruise’s senior director of marketing, mentions the campaign’s focus on women.
“This campaign was really an opportunity to highlight those unique moments and unique experiences for women and others who have historically been sort of underserved by existing transportation options,” Kepler said.
Interestingly, company research found that while men were likelier to try the autonomous service, some women might feel safer in a self-driving car than in one driven by a stranger.
Their campaign, “Cruise As You Are,” released several videos showing women using the Cruise robotaxi service. In one video, a woman walking alone at night jumps into a robotaxi before peacefully falling asleep. Another shows a mother and daughter holding hands as the car’s moving steering wheel controls the vehicle.
Admitting that consumer trust is paramount in the upcoming robotaxi revolution, Cruise’s chief communications officer, Kristine Boyden, agreed. “We don’t move fast and break things… I really believe in the trust race. And that is actually more important in some ways in the tech race, which will happen over time.”
