Provocative Perspectives: Now I know why I reach for Deliveroo every time I see the Just Eat advert

Ever since lockdown living began my TV screen has been filled with Snoop Dogg on the Just Eat ads.

Is it just me or have they become just as synonymous with the pandemic as any government safety slogan? I’m almost waiting for the update… “Stay at home. Order food. Protect the NHS. Save lives”.

But despite their near omnipresence, something always troubles me. When I see the Just Eat ad it triggers me to think, and most importantly, order from Deliveroo! When I saw the brand-new TV advert from Deliveroo last week, I finally understood why.

Deliveroo understands my relationship with food. The new ad celebrates the joy of food, proclaiming this to be the year of great food and I believe them. At a time when the experience economy is at an all-time low, not many other categories can claim this to be a great time for their product, but food credibly can. The ad pulls hard from the M&S food porn era of advertising, it’s glossy, fresh and tantalisingly tasty.

My taste buds are triggered into overdrive. But the best thing about the ad is the strapline, “Food. We get it”. It’s brilliance in its simplicity. Not only does it work on a practical and functional level, it works on an emotional level. Deliveroo understands that food is a treat. That it’s amazing and exciting and that right now, nothing beats the rush of excitement that comes with that knock at the door or the ping of a phone notification to say your delivery driver is with you.

What is now very clear to me is that I don’t ever want to ‘Just Eat’. I want the excitement and joy of food that Deliveroo brings. Just Eat ads provide the trigger to make me think about food, but they fail to convert me, for that I reach for Deliveroo.

When I explore this further, there are further subtleties that sway me away from Just Eat and it comes down to heuristics. When we are bombarded with information, heuristic processes provide short-cuts. I know blue or green means mint chewing gum and red means ready salted crisps, and when I buy orange juice I’m really just looking for the brand that shows me the words vitamin C in the biggest font. It’s clear names, colours and packaging all have a key role to play in the everyday decisions we make.

Deliveroo hit me with a burst of fresh mint green on their app and the equally fresh uniforms worn by the delivery drivers. In contrast the orange and white of Just Eat for some reason just transports me back to my childhood and the time when Sainsbury’s staff wore those hideous brown and orange uniforms. Gloomy brown and stark orange is the opposite of what I want from my food retailer.

And there is one more reason why Deliveroo wins my heart and mind. While every takeaway food order is greeted with joy and excitement at the front door, it is always followed by a moment of guilt. Shouldn’t I just be cooking? Was there really nothing in the fridge? Can we really afford another takeaway?

Don’t worry, Deliveroo has it covered. In an ingenious partnership with money saving app Moneybox, now every time you buy on Deliveroo via Moneybox+ you get up to 3.75% cashback direct into your Money Box savings account. A guilt free purchase in the year of food, what’s not to love about that.

Well done Deliveroo, you get me.

By Mark Knight, Strategy Lead at Wavemaker Select

NB: To clarify, Mark has no connection with Deliveroo, Just Eat or Moneybox. He’s just a consumer and a fan of great marketing