Lyft Pink is anything but pink.
The San Francisco-based ride-share service introduced a new Lyft Pink membership/loyalty program this week. While the name owes everything to the familiar, rosy hue of Lyft’s corporate logo, the Lyft Pink logo segues from green to blue to orange to purple.
Now "pink" is a branding state-of-mind.
"When it came to the look and feel of Lyft Pink we wanted to create a branded product experience and since a good portion of our UI is pink, as well as our primary brand color, it didn’t make sense for us to use the color pink," said a Lyft spokesperson in a written statement to Campaign US.
"It was too expected, especially for a product name like Lyft Pink," the spokesperson continued. "We purposefully chose to use a wide range of colors in our palette as a subtle nod to the variety of benefits, features, and modes of transportation we plan to incorporate as we continue to scale our membership program. We really liked this idea of using every color except for pink as it leans in on our design principles of being bold, rebellious and having a sense of humor."
Lyft Pink’s monthly service charge of $19.99 a month is an increase from the $14.99 Lyft charged for its previous, more blandly branded Smart Savings Plan. The linchpin of both programs is a per-ride discount.
Lyft Pink’s ride discount is more generous at 15 percent. The monthly subscription program also includes perks such as three, free Lyft bike or scooter rides a month, where available, and priority airport pickup.
The services reflect Lyft’s stated vision of cities designed around people not cars.
"Since the beginning it’s been our mission to improve the way people get around their cities, with this, we recently redesigned the Lyft app to put all of your transportation options front and center," said Katie Dill, the vice president of design at Lyft. "Now with Lyft Pink, you can choose from all the options at a great price and receive benefits that make your journey even better."
Uber also has a monthly subscription service, Ride Pass, at $24.99 a month.
A 2018 study of subscriptions services by McKinsey & Co. found that 15 percent of all online shoppers had purchased at least one membership, with many customers being younger, affluent city dwellers.
Outside of streaming services, the most popular by far are replenishment subscriptions, like razors, with the largest share (55 percent) , followed by curation--special clothing or makeup selections (32 percent)--and finally, access subscriptions that provide discounts and greater convenience, much like Lyft Pink’s offering (13 percent).