DASH THAT

Challenges & Goals: 

In the highly competitive and crowded category of delivery, 

DoorDash was the underdog. 

To win the fight for share, DoorDash needed cost-conscious Canadians to adopt a whole new mindset: Delivery is worth the price. 

So how do you succeed in getting Canadians to embrace a new behaviour and app, when they don’t see its value in their day-to-day lives? 

And do it in a way that directly benefits your brand and not just the category you’re challenging? 

We needed to differentiate DoorDash with an intrepid POV and convince the delivery holdouts that DoorDash delivers so much more than just a convenient dinner.

Insights/Strategy: 

To us, convenience was table stakes. For the holdouts, any delivery was kind of just…delivery. They think every app delivers more or less the same food, for about the same price, from roughly the same restaurants. 

So we set out to reframe DoorDash delivery as much more than just convenience. 

Delivery is actually about giving yourself a little permission: Permission to make the question of ‘what’s for dinner?’ one less thing to worry about. 

Permission to feel good while digging into a favourite craving from a much-loved local restaurant. 

Permission to slay that stress-monster, when that to-do list gets a little lighter.

Permission to make everything from game day to date night that much more satisfying.

With a strategy firmly focused on what our target truly hungered for, we went well beyond the functional benefits and captured the intangible value of delivery. At a time when the need for intangibles like comfort and reassurance was high.

Execution: 

Instead of asking Canadians to order delivery, we invited them to Dash That - with visually arresting creative that you can’t unsee. 

We gave delivery a whole buffet of value that went way beyond convenience. 

Suddenly, delivery actually delivered on all sorts of things, like: 

Dash That tasty variety. Delivering the freedom to eat whatever you crave, whenever you crave it. 

Dash That impromptu rendezvous. Delivering relief when there’s a get-together you didn’t get time to plan for. 

Dash That game-day deliciousness. Delivering deals on your favourite entertainment, like the Toronto Blue Jays. 

Dash That late-night less stressy. Delivering a comforting snack - or two - at any hour. 

Dash That home not-so-messy. Delivering dinner so you can de-stress with one less thing on your to-do list. 

Our highly-crafted design approach and fresh tone of voice resulted in a bold and distinct platform that couldn’t be confused with any other delivery app. 

And that delivered added value just as successfully in an email push notification or direct mailer as it did in a splashy national brand campaign or Dundas Square billboard. 

At every touchpoint, we reminded Canadians that they can Dash so much more than just convenience.

But whatever they need, right when they need it.

Results + Impact:

Breakthrough creative meant our client could do more with less and striking, fresh and consistent work convinced the category holdouts. 

To date, the ‘Dash That’ platform has cut DoorDash’s cost of new customer acquisition nearly in HALF - increasing their return on investment by a whopping 45%.

We set out to create an ownable and differentiated brand and ended up creating a campaign that delivered solid recognition and enjoyment, scoring particularly high on Unique, Involving and Interesting.

+11% versus norm for Enjoyment

+15% versus norm on ‘Think That DoorDash Delivers The Main Things I Need From Food Delivery Service’: Marking a shift for the brand into utility/ubiquity vs. luxury/perk

Plus, DoorDash is out-delivering the competition on some of the most crave-worthy metrics: Customer Relevance, Branding Impact and Trend-Setting.

Challenge the category and show Canadians there’s so much more to DoorDash than convenience? You might say, we delivered.