Campbell insures Thanksgiving side dishes with Instacart team-up

Dive Brief:

Campbell Soup Company will offer Campbell's Dinner Insurance for side dish ingredient purchases this Thanksgiving in partnership with Instacart, per a press release. Using Campbell's local ghost kitchens, Instacart will deliver replacement dishes for sides gone awry in Manhattan, according to details emailed to Marketing Dive.
To qualify for the coverage, people must order their ingredients through grocery delivery service Instacart beginning today, with insurance available starting Nov. 19. Manhattan residents can submit their claims between noon and 5 p.m. ET on Thanksgiving Day for dish deliveries the same day. Instacart will also offer free delivery — both in and outside of Manhattan — in the two weeks leading up to the holiday for side dish ingredients.
The partnership between Campbell and Instacart looks to help inexperienced cooks who are tackling Thanksgiving dinner during a holiday that has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Consumers outside of the Big Apple will find assurance at a microsite which will provide recipes for "no-fail" side dishes.

Dive Insight:

Campbell's Dinner Insurance helps the brand engage with consumers who are facing an unusually stressful Thanksgiving holiday because of the pandemic. According to the company's research, more than a third of Manhattanites will be first-time Thanksgiving hosts this year, prompting the insurance pilot program. Of those hosting for the first time, 37% said they're feeling nervous about the cooking required, and 65% are worried about an "epic fail."

Campbell is offering same-day dish replacements in Manhattan to ensure the meal occurs as planned via the Instacart partnership, giving both companies additional consumer data and marketing opportunities.

"Dinner Insurance is a 'first to market' program in many ways," Seth Dallaire, Instacart's chief revenue officer, said in the press release. "This partnership has allowed us to pilot new consumer marketing and co-branded tactics that will truly drive sales and awareness."

Like the candy brands that had to adjust their marketing approach to the realities of the pandemic for Halloween, the food companies responsible for many Thanksgiving staples are finding ways to help consumers as they adapt to a less-traditional holiday. Whereas candy brands found ways to bring trick-or-treating to consumers' houses, food companies behind many Thanksgiving staples are looking to give first-time cooks and hosts a little extra reassurance.

In addition to Campbell, Whole Foods and Baked by Melissa are offering similar "insurance" programs for the holiday. Like the Whole Foods program, Campbell consumers will be required to send a photo of their Thanksgiving failure to the company, creating a source of user-generated content for the brands.