Uber's VP of global marketing on winging it, deleting Uber—and the upside of making mistakes

Subscribe to us on iTunes, check us out on Spotify and hear us on Stitcher and Google Play too. This is our RSS feed. Tell a friend! Thomas Ranese is VP of global marketing at Uber. The rideshare brand has leaned into food delivery during the pandemic, and its "Delete Uber" campaign this summer urged racists to stop using the app. Ranese is also an avid traveler, though traveling with him doesn't always turn out as planned. On this episode of the "Ad Block" podcast, he talks about how a lack of planning can sometimes blow up in your face, at least until you figure out how to make the best of it. From landing in Paris without hotel reservations to showing up at a restaurant a week early, Ranese has had his share of close calls. "Instead of freezing up, it's like, holy shit, we can go anywhere for dinner tonight. We can just order in, and we can order from anything we want," he says. "We could stay in a hotel that I've never thought about staying in, or frankly, we can spend a lot more money on a hotel that I would otherwise spend on it because we have an excuse now and that sounds kind of fun." Ranese also weighs in on the wisdom he'd like to bring back from the mountaintop and how to avoid running into walls at work. The Best of Ad Age Ad Block Thinx CEO Maria Molland on pregnancy during the pandemic Instagram's Kay Hsu on living with breast cancer Wieden & Kennedy's Neal Arthur on teaching 8th grade sex ed Jeff Goodby on his tequila brand and his favorite vandals AdColor's Tiffany R. Warren talks skin care and what to do with privilege OkCupid’s CMO on the fertility struggles of women in the workplace

Uber's VP of global marketing on winging it, deleting Uber—and the upside of making mistakes

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