Dive Brief:
- DoorDash next month will air its first Super Bowl commercial as part of a larger campaign to showcase its other services beside food delivery. The 60-second spot, which will run during the first quarter of the game, stars actor and rapper Daveed Diggs and "Sesame Street" muppets including Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Grover, per an announcement emailed to Marketing Dive.
- "The Neighborhood" reimagines the "People in Your Neighborhood" song from the children's educational show to highlight all the things that people can order from stores in their communities through DoorDash. The spot was created with The Martin Agency and directed by Academy Award winner Michel Gondry.
- DoorDash will donate $1 to Sesame Workshop, producer of "Sesame Street," for every order it receives on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 7, up to $1 million. The company recently expanded to provide delivery from other businesses such as convenience stores, pharmacies and pet suppliers.
Dive Insight:
DoorDash's first Super Bowl ad comes as the delivery company sees surging growth from consumers who have been stuck at home during pandemic lockdowns. As the company plots the next stage of its expansion beyond food delivery, the Super Bowl provides a way to reach a mass audience of potential customers who have avoided stores during the health crisis. "The Neighborhood" spot not only promotes DoorDash's services, but also aims to show how people can feel good about using its platform to buy products from small businesses that have faced financial hardship in the past year.
"This marks the first time we've shifted our brand image from a food delivery logistics company to a multi-category marketplace in a meaningful way, while celebrating the local heroes that make up the fabric of our neighborhoods," Christopher Payne, chief operations officer at DoorDash, said in a statement.
DoorDash is among the companies that experienced high growth last year and are airing Super Bowl ads for the first time. Like DoorDash, freelancer marketplace Fiverr, which boosted its spending on advertising and marketing by 42% to about $67 million during the first nine months of last year, will show how it helps small businesses with its ad as part of an extension of its "It Starts Here" campaign. Scotts Miracle-Gro, which has seen higher sales as people spend more on lawn and garden care, will jumpstart a spring campaign with its ad. Chipotle Mexican Grill, the burrito chain whose digital business tripled last year, plans to run an ad highlighting its sustainability efforts.
DoorDash has been active with marketing campaigns in the past year, especially on digital media channels. The company in November launched a digital and social media campaign to urge delivery drivers to share stories of why they work for the company. Many of DoorDash's promotions have showcased its civic-minded efforts: Its #DashToThePolls promotion urged people to register to vote, while its "Without Restaurants" campaign sought to remind people of the central role of restaurants in helping to celebrate fun occasions. During the onset of the pandemic last March, DoorDash collaborated with the National Restaurant Association on its #OpenForDelivery campaign to urge people to support the restaurant industry and its millions of workers.
