Order books on Chegg, get a free ride from Uber

Uber is keeping you, young college Chegg customer, from drinking and driving — at least in your first week back.

Any student going to school in one of the car services’ supported cities who also receives a textbook shipment from online textbook rental company Chegg will get a $20 Uber credit to spend on its town cars, cabs, and other services.

“Uber is taking a range of steps to make sure it is where college students want to be: handing out our “black cards” at freshman orientation and in orientation packages and text book shipments; at college festivals; and even setting up promo codes for fraternities or sororities,” said an Uber spokesperson in an email to VentureBeat.

Getting college kids hooked early is a good strategy for Uber, and it actually does provide a nice alternative to walking, drunk driving, and the often busy free rides provided by universities. Chegg also makes sense as distribution channel for these free rides as it involves little work on the student’s part, unlike setting up booths during college activity fairs. Two of Uber’s community managers thought of the new distribution channel and pursued it on their own.

Both Chegg and Uber have had some big financial news come out in the last couple weeks. The textbook sharing company filed to go public last week in a major $150 million proposed IPO. That’s a big score for the ed tech industry. Uber also took on a $258 million in funding from Google Ventures and TPG.

The spokesperson said Uber will continue marketing pushes on college campuses this fall. I only wonder if its cars will soon become equipped with barf bags for those “just in case” situations.

via VentureBeat http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/28/uber-chegg/