Cracking the taxi code

por Maud Largeaud , AdForum

Have you ever thought that taxi drivers talk a lot of nonsense? Setting aside their political views, it may simply be that they have a language of their own. That’s the case in Ecuador, where taxi drivers talk amongst themselves in a highly codified jargon, impenetrable to outsiders (“1056, Hammer, QTC...”). Lately, taxi drivers have been getting hot and bothered about ride share services like Cabify, which they feel steal their customers. But what they didn’t realize was that they could offer their services via Cabify too. How to let them know? Speak to them in their own language! Cabify and its agency Publicis launched a series of “taxi coded radio ads” that addressed the drivers in their own jargon, getting their attention in a smart way. QTC (that’s “message”) delivered.