See How Doordash Used The 2024 Super Bowl To Expand Their Market Position
DoorDash is known for its food delivery services. But they deliver convenience goods and groceries too. See how they used the 2024 Super Bowl to spread the word. Then get 3 tips for choosing a tie-in event for your own brand’s positioning efforts.
When it comes to repositioning a brand, timing is everything.
Consider the 5th commandment of brand positioning: Thou shall consider context.
Culture, consumerism, and politics all have the ability to impact how your brand positioning efforts are perceived.
Ignore market influences when you roll out your new narrative, and you risk alienating customers with an ill-timed message.
Pay close attention on the other hand—and you’ll find even more ways to plug into their world and connect.
One powerful brand positioning tactic?
Tie your brand to a cultural event that matters to your audience.
Referred to as tie-in marketing, this is a tactic companies use to link their product or service to a current event or trend that is relevant to its target audience.
The goal is to leverage the popularity or significance of the event to draw attention to the brand and its offerings.
When all goes well, companies can expect to see an uptick in brand affinity and increased sales.
DoorDash delivered a masterclass on the practice during the 2024 Super Bowl.
But they were looking for more than an increase in brand loyalty and app downloads.
They were looking to expand their market footprint beyond the restaurant delivery space, and into the grocery delivery market.
Read more about it below, and then get 3 tips for choosing a tie-in event for your own brand’s positioning efforts.
Repositioning through event alignment
DoorDash is a known for its food delivery services.
They own 67% of the restaurant delivery market. Uber Eats trails behind with 23% marketshare, GrubHub with 8%, and Postmates, 2%.
But DoorDash delivers convenience goods and groceries too.
And not enough people know it.
So in early 2024, they decided to get the word out.
With plans to expand further into the grocery and retail space, they knew that the Super Bowl would be an ideal event to deliver a simple but powerful message to America:
Doordash can Doordash just about anything.
The campaign they developed to communicate this message was both clever and robust.
It included the airing of three commercials; one before, during, and after the Super Bowl.
The first two commercials focused on promoting a first-of-its kind Super Bowl sweepstakes, where—to prove that DoorDash really can DoorDash just about anything—one winner would get one of every product advertised during the big game Doordashed straight to their door.
The third commercial focused on illustrating the benefits of grocery delivery from DoorDash.
Here’s the commercial they rolled out weeks before the game:
Commercial 1 transcript:
DoorDash can DoorDash pretty much anything. So this year during football's biggest event, DoorDash will DoorDash stuff from ALL the ads, ALL to one winner. All the snacks. Every automobile. A tax service. And who knows what else... we, uh, haven't fully thought this thing through yet. We don’t know! Just look for the promo code on the big day for a chance to WIN IT ALL.DoorDash-All-The-Ads.com
Here’s the ad that ran during the game:
Commercial 2 transcript:
Enter this promo code HERE <URL> for a chance to win stuff from all of the ads: DOORDASH DASH ALL DASH THE DASH ADS DASH DASH PROMO CODE DAAAAASSH DoorDash Can DoorDash Pretty Much Anything Dash a new KIA EV9 Dash Peanut Butter M&Ms Dash Dinamita Dash Mountain Dew Baja Blast Dash BMW i5 Dash Popeyes Chicken Dash YouTube TV Dash Oreo Dash Dove Dash Live Dash Love Dash I am not going to read all of this. It's a very long promo code. Just enter it at this website…<Doordash-all-the-ads.com> Oh, and there's more. <On-screen text of super long URL add-on>
And here’s the commercial they rolled out days after the game.
Commercial 3 transcript:
Do you know if you have milk right now? Do you know its condition? Are you afraid to look? Who knows? Who Cares? Because now you live a life where fresh milk is always on hand. Your Door to Crisis-Free Breakfasts. DoorDash.
The payoff of leveraging key consumer moments
By the end of the 2024 Super Bowl, DoorDash had received more than 8 million sweepstakes entries.
And because entrants literally had to type out “DoorDash Can DoorDash Just About Anything” for a chance to win, we can assume that DoorDash’s positioning message was heard—and comprehended—loud and clear.
But the company didn’t let their positioning momentum end there.
On the heels of the Super Bowl, they used another key cultural moment—Valentine’s Day—to launch a cheeky campaign encouraging people to break typical gender roles and buy flowers for men, who rarely receive them.
DoorDash CMO Kofi Amoo-Gottfried said that both campaigns were part of DoorDash’s larger strategy to “leverage key consumer moments” to help people think of the delivery service as one that can actually improve their lives.
And how did it all pay off?
By May 1, 2024, a DoorDash earnings report said that grocery orders had increased 21% year-over-year.
And that it’s revenue rose 23%, up to $2.51 billion for the the January-March period.
How to choose a tie-in event for your positioning efforts
If you’re thinking of anchoring your brand positioning efforts to an event for greater visibility, consider the following four prerequisites for choosing the right event for you.
All of them are drawn from the success of Doordash’s Super Bowl tie-in work.
1. Audience match
The Super Bowl is a national event with a mass market audience. This is the exact same audience DoorDash wants to get in front of. By securing an ad spot in the Super Bowl, Doordash automatically secures the attention of the audience they want to appeal to.
Takeaway: Before you choose your event or moment, make sure it's one that will appeal to the exact audience you’re trying to reach.
2. Brand narrative match
The Super Bowl is a food-centered event. Consumers watch the game with game day party food on their mind. This creates a passage for Doordash, a food delivery service, to slip into the minds of a captive audience and begin to expand the definition of “delivery by Doordash—” a service that delivers restaurant takeout and groceries and convenience goods.
Takeaway: Only choose events that represent, reflect, or reinforce your brand identity and value proposition. This type of overlap is what allows you to leverage your partner brand’s position in order to strengthen your own.
3. Message repetition
Message repetition is crucial for brand awareness efforts, and DoorDash leveraged each stage of the big event (before, during, and after) to reiterate its core message. The brevity and clarity of their message also set the campaign up for success: it succinctly communicates what Doordash wants to be known for, making it easy for consumers to remember and internalize.
Takeaway: The best brand awareness messages are succinct and easy to comprehend. Whatever tie-in event you choose, leverage as many event moments as possible to deliver your core message—including before and after the event. You don’t need a sweepstakes to do this. Work with the event creators and sponsors to find creative opportunities to bring your message to life. To get a glimpse of the collab required to pull off the Doordash campaign, check out this LinkedIn post.
Conclusion: strategic event tie-ins can amplify your brand positioning efforts
The DoorDash Super Bowl campaign showcases how a well-timed and contextually relevant marketing strategy can effectively position a brand. By leveraging the massive reach and cultural significance of the Super Bowl, DoorDash communicated their expanded service offerings to a broad audience.
Their innovative sweepstakes not only engaged viewers but also reinforced the message that DoorDash delivers much more than just restaurant meals. This strategy was further supported by their follow-up Valentine’s Day campaign, emphasizing their versatility and relevance in everyday life.
For brands looking to enhance their positioning, choosing the right tie-in event is crucial.
Ensure the event aligns with your target audience, reflects your brand narrative, allows for message repetition, and offers creative opportunities to amplify your core message.
By doing so, you can harness the power of cultural moments to create lasting connections with your audience and drive meaningful growth.
Getting started
Want to learn more about brand positioning? Check out The 5 Commandments of Brand Positioning, which will give you a basic framework to reference in your work.
For further guidance or support, message me on LinkedIn or email me at ashley@peoplethebrand.com.
Let’s discuss how we can make your brand's next big move a success!
