Behind the App: This Software Powers Europe's Largest Mobility Provider FREE NOW

1. "That is probably the most important tool for us."
2. Own App Performance and Competitive Analysis
3. "I'm not at all a fan of marketing suites."
4. These are the tools FREE NOW uses

When Mytaxi launched in Hamburg in 2009, the founders wanted nothing less than to revolutionize the taxi industry. Today it can be said: They did quite well. Since 2019, the app, which provides a direct connection between passengers and taxi drivers, is called FREE NOW, is part of a mobility joint venture between BMW and Daimler, and with 100,000 drivers in over 100 cities, is probably Europe's largest provider in this sector. So it's no surprise that there's a lot of technology behind such a large app player. CMO Thomas Zimmermann and Chief People and Communications Officer Eckart Diepenhorst told us which tools FREE NOW uses to track app marketing campaigns, which tech solution is behind push notifications, and what the most important software for the company is called.

In our new "Tech Stack" series, we show which tools companies from the digital industry use and have them explain why they chose these software solutions. You want more info on suitable tools? Then visit our software review platform OMR Reviews. Disclaimer: FREE NOW is an OMR Family Partner.

FREE NOW has over 1,300 employees in ten countries, they are part of the mobility services that BMW and Daimler combined in 2019 under the umbrella of "Your Now". And FREE NOW itself bundles a number of services into one app with taxis, rides, e-scooters, e-rollers, and car-sharing. This means, an international team is working on an international app with various interfaces that all need to work live. What does this mean for the use of tools and software? “The preparation for the conversation was quite interesting. Because I realized once again how many tools we actually use”, says Chief Marketing Officer Thomas Zimmermann in conversation with OMR.

"That is probably the most important tool for us."

Eckart Diepenhorst

The heart of FREE NOW is the app and the software, emphasizes Eckart Diepenhorst. "Without it, we and the platform that bundles our different mobility services would not exist at all." The principle behind it works like matchmaking with real-time data; FREE NOW always acts as a broker and balances supply and demand. "Since we are an incredibly data-driven company, Tableau is probably the most important tool for us", says Diepenhorst. With the Business Intelligence platform, data can be visualized interactively and ideally generate direct insights. "By specifically evaluating the data in dashboards, we can very precisely control our supply and demand", he explains.

This tool helps even analysts who are not necessarily technically adept, to convert data into interactive graphics and use it further. "Everyone at FREE NOW deals with Tableau every day", says Diepenhorst. This is how business decisions are made, overviews of daily rides are created, daily KPI summaries are sent and performance is tracked continuously. "Also crucial in our daily operation are our CRM and email marketing tools, Stensul and Braze", explains Thomas Zimmermann. "In addition to emails, we use in-app and push notifications as the main communication tool for our app users. The encrypted user data is the holy grail when it comes to direct approach and contact.”

Especially for an app that bundles various mobility services throughout Germany, according to Chief People and Communications Officer Diepenhorst, it is extremely important to target groups according to their needs and location and adapt the offer accordingly. "In email marketing, we are increasingly shifting into automating our processes in order to be able to react even more efficiently and flexibly."

Own App Performance and Competitive Analysis

The data that FREE NOW visualizes and analyzes in Tableau dashboards has to come from somewhere. One of the most relevant sources for the company is their own app and the user behavior there. "Our MMP, i.e. Mobile Measurement Partner, is Appsflyer. With it, we track all our App Marketing campaigns", says Chief Marketing Officer Thomas Zimmermann. "To this, we add analytics data directly from Apple's App Store and from Google's Play Store, which we, of course, also access".

For additional insights into the performance of competitors in addition to the data from their own apps, additional tools are used. "We regularly use App Annie for market observation", says Zimmermann. "Even though the data is based on an algorithm’s approximation, the tool provides the most stable values for our markets. Overall, I believe that App Annie is a bit ahead of comparable providers." Foxintelligence is also used for competitive analysis. "They are perhaps even a bit more granular and provide sharper data, but are limited to France and the UK".

"I'm not at all a fan of marketing suites."

Thomas Zimmermann

While Médéric de Buyer, CPO of Pepper.com, had recently told OMR, he sees some drawbacks in the large offer of specialized, so-called Best-of-Breed software, Thomas Zimmermann emphasizes the advantages of such specialists. "When I buy a tool, it has to solve a problem for us. And I'm not at all a fan of the increasingly large suites in the marketing area, which keep adding providers." There is simply none that is so superior that you still do not have to buy additional, external modules. "Then you have a suite and you still need an extra tool. Then it gets significantly more complex and more expensive than if you get a tool for the special case, says Zimmermann. If there is no suitable solution on the market, FREE NOW sometimes develops tools itself.

It seems to the marketing head of FREE NOW that one tool has particularly taken him in recently. "Officevibe has stood out for me particularly in the past two years", says Zimmermann. "In a certain way, it was a game-changer for me. Because it delivers very deep insights into the mood of the company in a very good, simple way, by giving employees the opportunity to give their feedback anonymously." The tool enables you to read the mood and trends in the team - in order to tackle potential problems in time and to counteract. "I did not have this information before", says Zimmermann.

These are the tools FREE NOW uses

Here is a list of software and tools that FREE NOW uses: