Dive Brief:

• Drizly, an Uber brand focused on alcohol delivery, launched Drizly Ads, a new service providing an expanded range of advertising options to its partners, the company said in a press release.
• The expansion includes a new hub where Drizly’s partners can explore its advertising products across search and display, its media network and custom options. Existing advertising partners include Campari, Diageo, Moët Hennessy, Molson Coors and Pernod Ricard.
• Drizly’s marketplace encompasses nearly 5,000 retailers across 35 states in North America. The announcement comes less than a year after Uber purchased the company for $1.1 billion in 2021.

Dive Insight:

As brands show strong interest in reaching targeted digital audiences by leveraging transactional data, Drizly is doubling down on leveraging its own consumer base for advertising purposes. With Drizly Ads, brands have an opportunity to influence consumer behavior in the app, including close to the point of sale. Drizly Ads could help the marketplace expand services to its existing roster of advertisers.

"Through our long-standing partnership with Drizly we have innovated together to find ways to drive brand affinity, unlock new customers and generate visibility for our iconic portfolio," said Emma de Szoeke, senior vice president of consumer insights, analytics and business growth at Moët Hennessy. "Drizly is one of the few partners where we have been able to bring a holistic campaign strategy to life with rich storytelling through advertising on their marketplace."

Drizly experienced tremendous growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. During 2020, sales increased by 350% and the number of retailers on the app doubled from 2,000 to 4,000. Even as the return-to-normal push moves forward, Drizly continues to maintain momentum. Gifting has been a particularly successful category for the company, increasing 66% between 2020 and 2021 and accounting for 11% of the company’s sales. High-profile placement in Drizly’s gift-giving category is one of the offerings from Drizly Ads.

The advertising push comes almost a year after Uber purchased Drizly. During the pandemic Uber’s food delivery service Uber Eats saw searches for alcoholic items increase by 200%, making the acquisition a logical one. Uber itself has been in the advertising business since 2019 and sells ads both through its main app and Uber Eats. Additionally, the ride service has introduced top-of-car ads.

Drizly Ads comes as digital platforms across e-commerce, travel and delivery continue to ramp up their support of brands’ advertising needs with media networks at a time when first-party transactional data is seen as providing a way to reach high-interest consumers more efficiently and without running up against privacy concerns related to big digital platforms like Google and Facebook.