Ruder Finn to drive GrabTaxi’s public relations strategy in Singapore

Southeast Asia’s leading taxi booking mobile app, GrabTaxi, has extended its appointment of Ruder Finn as its public relations agency of record in Singapore for a year.

Ruder Finn led in the beta launch of the smartphone app in Singapore in October 2013. Through a targeted media relations and influencer strategy, it executed various events and initiatives to help GrabTaxi achieve key business objectives as measured by increases in revenue and user acceptance. In less than a year since its launch, GrabTaxi has become the second largest taxi network in Singapore.

Currently available in 13 cities across Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, the GrabTaxi app has been downloaded more than one million times in Southeast Asia and more than 250,000 people in the region use it at least once a month. It is currently the number one mobile taxi booking app by downloads and bookings in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines

“We are very pleased with the Ruder Finn team’s performance and commitment, and are excited to continue working with them to ensure that GrabTaxi’s position as an industry leader is not just maintained, but strengthened,” said Lim Kell Jay, General Manager, GrabTaxi.

Yu Poh Leng, Vice President & General Manager, Ruder Finn Singapore, echoed, “We are proud to have started off on a high note and achieved a positive share of voice for GrabTaxi in the media, and look forward to further our partnership with Kell Jay and his team. Backed by our expertise and an experienced team in the consumer sector, we are confident of generating greater awareness and loyalty for GrabTaxi in Singapore, and even in the rest of Southeast Asia through our strong affiliate network.”

Developed by two Harvard Business School graduates, GrabTaxi offers commuters a choice from all the taxis that are closest to their location, regardless of which company operates them. In an affirmative nod towards its huge market potential, GrabTaxi received an "unspecified eight-figure investment sum” from Vertex Venture, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings in April 2014.

About GrabTaxi

GrabTaxi, which was set up in Kuala Lumpur is a for-profit social start-up with a mission to revolutionise the taxi industry. Runner-up in the 2011 Harvard Business School Business Plan Contest, its core product is a taxi-dispatch service with GPS-enhancements, allowing passengers to hail the nearest taxi with extreme ease. Since year 2012, thousands of taxi drivers have been using the GrabTaxi smartphone-based technologies to receive bookings in Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and now Singapore. Passengers in these cities can book taxis on their smartphones and tablets (iOS: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-iOS, Android: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-Android and Windows: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-Window). As a humble start-up, GrabTaxi believes that business and social value can be achieved in parallel. It hopes to make a difference in Singapore’s public transportation, by making it easier, safer and more efficient to book taxis. For more information, please visit: http://www.grabtaxi.com.

About Ruder Finn

Ruder Finn, Inc. is one of the largest independent integrated communication firms in the world, with offices in the United States and Europe, as well as in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi in Asia. Through these offices and our affiliates worldwide, the agency serves the global and local communication needs of over 250 corporations, governments and non-profit organizations. For more than 65 years, the Ruder Finn name has been synonymous with excellence in communications. Ruder Finn's global strategic focus is on four operational pillars which constitute the core of our growth – Corporate & Public Trust, Health & Wellness, Global Connectivity and Life+Style.