It is easy to get stuck in rut, lost in the sauce, or whatever euphemism you prefer for getting caught up in the present moment. With Coronavirus dramatically changing our everyday lifestyles, for many it feels as if we will be ordering delivery and jumping on zoom happy hours well into the future. While nobody can tell you when or if things will return to normal, Bedrock is willing to put its reputation on the line that this is not the new normal. With the future so uncertain, how can we prepare for it? At Bedrock, we believe you can never go wrong with sticking to the fundamentals of good business – genuine passion for what you do and love for the people you serve.
We got the inspiration for this post after listening to episode 249 of the Perpetual Traffic podcast from Digital Marketer. The episode discussed different brands and their messaging angles that have been effective during the Coronavirus pandemic. One of her examples that really spoke to us was Doordash. This piece will take a look at Doordash’s messaging, and how their response to Coronavirus underlies the core fundamentals of good marketing.
Doordash Pre-Pandemic
In order to see how powerful Doordash’s new marketing strategy has become, it is important to analyze their strategy pre-pandemic. Months ago, a majority of their messaging across social media and other advertising networks revolved around promotions. “Receive $50 in credits when you refer a friend”, or “Free deliveries all week”, etc. While these promotions are effective for people brand new to a service, they go stale and usually fall short of forming lifelong customer relationships. Users become numb to this sort of messaging because it doesn’t touch the emotions that really turn people into brand fans. Check out this Doordash tweet from January below. While they are playful and tastefully done, they are also quite impersonal and have little substance other than the promotion being offered:
The tweets seen above are just a few of many from that time period and earlier. This sort of messaging is effective when used sparingly, but should never dominate a brand’s image.
Doordash Post-Pandemic
Come Spring 2020, DoorDash has shifted their content to focus on community involvement and personal outreach, and created their own hashtags, “#openfordelivery” and ‘#thankadasher’. Simple words, but how do they make you feel? When I see #openfordelivery, it provides a sense of hope that there are still some businesses out there open and operating. It also makes me think that while restaurants’ doors may be closed, kitchens across America are still hard at work and Doordash is making it possible for them to get their product out and stay in business. Rather than the generic “We’re all in this together”, they phrased it in a different, much fresher way.
#Thankadasher is another interesting hashtag because it forms a bond between the customer and the person delivering their food. Since Doordash’s Dashers are all independent contractors, you rarely get the same delivery agent and forming a relationship is difficult. #Thankadasher reminds us that these are not just Dashers, but real people that are putting their health at risk so you can conveniently and safely enjoy your meal from home. Simply put, It puts a face to the action and makes an otherwise impersonal interaction that much more real.
What is the point here? People fall in love with brands because they make them feel something. DoorDash realizes this, and we believe that their branding coming out of Coronavirus will continue to be much more personal and emotional rather than deal and discount-related.