Dive Brief:

• Online grocery platform Instacart today unveiled its first brand campaign, spotlighting how people can share love through food and celebrate special moments at home, according to a press release shared with Marketing Dive.
• "How Homemade is Made" includes a new 60-second spot that will run through Jan. 2 on TV networks ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as other elements for online video, paid social, influencer partnerships, programmatic ads and digital out-of-home (DOOH). The campaign also comes to life with all dishes shown in the ad available through QR codes that connect viewers to a shoppable recipe on Instacart's app.
• Developed with Goodby Silverstein & Partners, GroupM, Media.Monks and TwentyFirstCenturyBrand, Instacart's new campaign reinforces the company's grocery delivery service and arrives amid a visual refresh and new brand identity.

Dive Insight:

Instacart's first integrated campaign spotlights the power of meals to bring people together, a message that aligns with the company's core grocery delivery service. The new 60-second ad centers around a man's affection for his mother's cooking, capturing the love and joy that come from a favorite family recipe, according to CEO Fidji Simo.

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed many people to elevate their cooking skills as restaurants closed and consumers ate more meals at home. Some turned to grocery delivery in order to avoid crowded stores, driving growth for companies like Instacart. Online grocery sales hit $8.1 billion in October 2021, up slightly from the previous month, per data from Brick Meets Click and Mercatus. Grocery e-commerce has settled into a more predictable pattern following pandemic-induced surges in 2020.

"Over the course of the pandemic, many people rediscovered the joy of cooking at home — whether serving up a favorite recipe or trying their hand at a fun new food trend," Simo said in the announcement.

Instacart this year has made significant changes to its leadership, hiring Facebook's former ad chief as its new president. Having started in September, Carolyn Everson brings 30 years of experience across media, tech and ad companies to the president role and most recently served as Facebook's vice president of global marketing solutions. The appointment followed two other senior hires in its advertising business, suggesting the company is majorly beefing up its ad unit.

Instacart in August said its advertising arm, which works with more than 2,500 CPG brands, is poised to be one of the company's fastest-growing units in the year ahead as it looks to become one of the world's largest online grocery ad platforms.

Instacart in the past has focused its efforts around connecting with individual brands, as seen through a June advertising initiative to boost Black-owned brands. The $1 million push offered Black-owned CPGs prominent ad placement on its app and gave eligible companies ad credits to allow for higher visibility. It also created resources for these brands to learn how to maximize the impact of their ad campaigns.

For Thanksgiving last year, Instacart teamed with Campbell Soup Company to deliver replacement ingredients for side dishes gone awry. The Campbell's Dinner Insurance looked to help inexperienced cooks tackling Thanksgiving dinner during a holiday that was upended by the pandemic.