"We are noticing a paradigm shift in the way food is being ordered today": Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, foodpanda

foodpanda has launched a TV campaign that urges customers to move from 'calling for food' to placing an order on the app - a convenient and fuss-free alternative.

foodpanda, an online food ordering platform, has come up with its second TV campaign titled '#DontCallJustInstall', with a single-minded focus on establishing the brand as an app-worthy platform for ordering food. The six-week-long campaign, created and conceptualised by Percept/H, targets the young, dynamic and aspirational males in the age bracket of 20-40 years.

The witty ads show how nightmarish the food ordering process can get via phone. Bad connections, wrong addresses, late deliveries and limited options are some problems that customers can combat while booking through the app. The ads further leverage its mascot - the panda, playfully adding the required spunk.

To ensure longer recall value in the minds of the consumers, the brand has left no stone unturned. For the same, it has made use of out-of-home (OOH), print, digital and even radio to a great extent. Mall activations at retail branding outlets, corporate activations program and a radio series (currently on air) are being catalysed to drive home the point. A digital campaign for the same will be rolled out soon.

Saurabh Kochhar CEO (India) and CBO (Global), foodpanda, says, "Our constant endeavour is to curb the food ordering ruckus in India." He adds further, "Through the TVCs, we have captured the value additions that our services bring to the customer via our app. The availability of an app like ours not only nicks down the cumbersome task of searching for phone numbers and ordering, but also provides the ease of choosing from a slew of options as per one's taste and needs. We are noticing a paradigm shift in the way food is being ordered today."

S Suresh, senior vice president, Percept, shares, "foodpanda wanted to reinforce itself as the go-to place for customers primarily for the diverse options it offers and for the convenience of ordering. To achieve the same, we have tried to create fun commercials through some everyday situations that all foodies will relate to. At a time when we rely on technology for everything, there's no reason why we should resort to obsolete ways for ordering food."

Available on iOS, Windows and Android, the foodpanda mobile app promises convenience, speed and fuss-free food ordering and delivery. The new TVC urges customers to download the app and satiate their hunger pangs in a jiffy. The mobile platform alone sees orders amounting to 70 per cent of the entire orders received. Also, the app has seen 1.5 million downloads so far.

The brief given to Percept/H by the foodpanda team prior to the pitch was to encourage the target audience to download the foodpanda app and make it the most popular and accepted way to order food. Percept/H conceptualized and created a unique idea that ensured a complete repositioning and enhancement from the existent promotional line ‘Your favourite food just a call away’ to the cool ‘Don’t Call, Just Install’ tagline, thereby highlighting the convenience USP of the app.

Not inhibited by its competitors like Zomato, JustEat.in and others, the team at foodpanda has its eyes set on the correct and timely delivery of orders, rather than just the execution of fancy campaign and meaningless words. And that's why, it has augmented its marketing spends by 100 per cent, compared to the last campaign that only focussed on establishing the brand in the consumers' minds.

Also, foodpanda wants to utilise the power of technology in the domain of food ordering that is seen everywhere else too. Since it is a fairly evolving and new category as of now, the team at foodpanda believes that it holds immense potential.

Food for thought

Manish Bhatt, founder-director at Scarecrow Communications, likes the execution of the ad, but says, "it could have been better." According to him, the ad gets repetitive and stretched at a few places compared to the previous campaign. From the strategic perspective though, he gives a thumbs-up to the campaign as it hits a chord with the masses. "This step of telling consumers to switch from a phone number to a phone-based app should catch up well in future," he says.

On the other hand, Divyapratap Mehta, founder and chief twiner, Intertwined, is of the view that the current campaign holds more relevance for the consumer as it highlights the plight of food ordering in a realistic and relatable manner. The execution of the ad portrays foodpanda as a 'category leader', according to Mehta.