HarrimanSteel has started a journey with Uber Social Impact to help shift internal business behaviours and help shape the way the business communicates with their earners. The aim ultimately is to change consumer perceptions through positive action.

We kicked off the project by creating a global platform and campaign to give thanks to the unsung Heroes of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on everyone, revealing an invisible frontline. It’s not just the doctors and nurses who have worked tirelessly, it’s also the drivers and delivery people who have kept the world moving.

Drivers and couriers' faces are often hidden or unseen, and they are essentially an invisible workforce that generally goes unnoticed. But during Covid, when the world came to a grinding halt, they've really shown the world who they are: essential workers – moving what matters.

We wanted to celebrate the ordinary people who have been extraordinary, the ‘Everyday Giants’. We unearthed ‘earners’ who went above and beyond in 2020, and shared their selfless human stories in the most compelling ways possible. Saying a genuine ‘Thank You’, making them big and visible within their communities, recognising their efforts and showcasing them for the heroes that they are.

We have brought their stories to life in the real, analogue world – in the same cities, streets and neighbourhoods where they have been moving what matters throughout 2020.

Working as an extension of the Uber global social impact team, we created an omni-channel campaign, which launched Christmas 2020 in the U.S. with a TVC spot and five huge, hand-painted murals across four U.S. cities, thanking four hero ‘earners’. Unpacking these earners’ stories through social and digital channels, email, OOH, press advertising (including Time magazine, ‘Person of the Year’ Dec 2020 issue).

We created a distinctive visual style and treatment that feels uniquely ‘Uber’, while forging a more human tone of voice and direction which we continue to explore for Uber Social Impact.

-Director, Global Social Impact at Uber

The Everyday Giants platform, initiative and campaign mechanism will continue to grow globally throughout 2021, with launches and content in Europe and beyond. The aim is to continue giving genuine thanks, highlighting the remarkable actions and stories of these essential workers across the globe.

The ultimate goal is for Uber to behave more like an analogue publishing company – to articulate the compelling earner stories in authentic ways, with more murals, editorial content partnerships, zines, and editorial platforms.

Everyday Giants is the first stepping stone for Uber, breaking ground for a series of other actions and content in 2021. Our longer term goal is to find and develop an external home for all the amazing social-led impact work that has come before and will continue to be developed, now and in the future. Actions speak louder than words. The benchmark is set and, in partnership with Uber, we are moving forwards.