Uber elevates Lee Walsh to global head of media

Uber has promoted Lee Walsh (pictured) to global head of media. He was formerly head of media of Asia Pacific. Walsh is no stranger to the media and advertising industry as prior to his time at Uber, Walsh was with Essence for close to two and a half years, last holding the role of senior vice president, head of media, APAC. Walsh was responsible for leading Essence’s media activation team in APAC, covering programmatic, search, social, as well as reservation media across both online and offline channels. With over 20 years of media industry experience, Walsh was also regional managing director at content marketing agency NewBase. He also worked with Ogilvy in the role of executive director of digital for over five years.

Currently, Uber’s Asia Pacific operation is still headquartered out of Singapore. While there were initial talks in 2020 to relocate the headquarter to Hong Kong, the company told Channel News Asia in an interview that it chose not to do so due to uncertainty around ride-sharing regulations. Amidst stiff competition, Uber bowed out of the ride-hailing game in Southeast Asia when it decided to sell its business to competitor Grab in 2018.

In Hong Kong however, Uber decided to acquire Hong Kong e-hail startup HKTaxi. According to an Uber Hong Kong statement then, the partnership brings together HKTaxi's engineering strength and local knowledge with Uber’s global R&D capabilities and operational expertise. Uber first launched in Hong Kong in 2014.

It will accelerate growth in the taxi industry in Hong Kong, and underscores the city’s role as a regional startup and mobility hub. HKTaxi operates an app that connects taxi drivers with people wanting a ride. Locally built, it has been widely adopted by drivers and riders since its launch eight years ago. It includes booking, dispatch, and taxi fare e-payment capabilities. More recently, Uber launched “Go Your Way, Live Your Way”, a marketing campaign that aims to offer Hongkongers control over their busy lives by taking care of their travelling needs. Through the campaign, Uber aims to inspire riders to reimagine what living life to the fullest can mean as Uber Taxi offers customers the control they need for their daily commute. Uber Taxi is also offering a 50% off their first five rides for consumers who use a promo code. 

On its food delivery side, Uber however pulled out of Hong Kong in November last year. On 30 November, Uber Eats Hong Kong uploaded a brief statement on its website. It read, "After five years of partnering with restaurants and delivery people in Hong Kong, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue Uber Eats in Hong Kong on 31 December 2021. Our priority now is to support our employees, restaurant partners, delivery people and consumers in the transition. We couldn’t have built what we did without their trust and hard work, and we thank them for their support for the platform."

Uber also recently appointed Sheng Lin as Uber For Business’ country manager for Taiwan and Hong Kong. He will lead integrated teams across both markets, partnering with companies and organisations and making their mobility, meals and delivery solutions fully integrated into Uber’s technologies. Based in Taiwan, Lin was most recently head of business development and country manager for ASUS in Israel. During his time at ASUS, he managed product and business development across the Middle East. 

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