A grandfather spending time with his grandchild for the first time has no particular reason to think about food delivery. He does, however, have a good reason not to get up. One of the new ads from Just Eat Takeaway.com rests on that distinction: the order is on its way, while the relationship between two people remains more important than explaining how it was placed.
Such restraint is quite a change for a brand whose advertising has been recognisable for years through musical performances and major stars such as Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry. The global platform Stay Just Where You Are, unveiled on 15 October, retains Just Eat’s distinctive assets but gives them a different task. Delivery is now there to help people carry on doing something they already enjoy, whether that means watching a match, spending time with family or trying to buy festival tickets.
For agency VCCP, which developed the platform, part of the idea’s appeal lies in its relationship with conventional advertising promises. While brands often offer a better, more exciting version of life, here there is no need to change the plan. The gathering is already going well; the problem arises if it has to be interrupted for food or a shopping trip.
The eight advertising spots were directed by Michael Spiccia through production company MJZ. Alongside the story of the grandfather and grandchild, they show friends absorbed in buying festival tickets and people wanting to make the most of the last hour of sunlight. In each of these situations, the brand needs a sufficiently clear reason to be present. The creative team therefore discarded numerous scripts in which the connection between an emotional moment and delivery felt too weak, while deciding that the grandfather ad did not need to show the ordering process itself.
Ralph Rijks, the company’s global chief marketing officer, also explains the change: “We’ve built a well-known brand through ‘Did Somebody Say’, but the role we want Just Eat Takeaway.com to play has evolved.” The new platform, he says, preserves the brand’s distinctive assets while steering its communication towards more emotional stories rooted in the moments people value.
Research conducted by Censuswide among 6,000 adults in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands provides the basis for this direction. Of those surveyed, 81 per cent want to spend more time doing things they enjoy, while 72 per cent believe that having food, groceries and other essentials delivered allows them to do precisely that. The range of products on offer thus gains a shared communication rationale: less need to leave what is happening right now.
Alongside the eight main spots, Girl&Bear, VCCP’s content creation studio, produced another 11 social media ads by Pip & Lib. Photographer Amanda Fordyce created six minimalist out-of-home visuals depicting gaming, watching football, socialising and family board game nights. The launch is accompanied by a refreshed visual identity and a new version of the recognisable Did Somebody Say audio mnemonic. The campaign spans television, out-of-home, social media, print, radio and PR, with WPP Media handling media, VCCP Roar managing public relations and Fabric delivering social media.
The ambition extends well beyond a single advertising cycle. Rijks says the platform was conceived from the outset for the next 20 years, while the agency sees its simplicity as an opportunity to develop both emotional stories and specific promotional offers under the same idea. A family moment and a “two-for-one” promotion should belong to the same brand, without requiring a change in its personality every time the communication objective changes.
That leaves room for future celebrity collaborations, festivals and seasonal activities. Their value, however, will depend on whether they can fit naturally into what people already love doing. For Just Eat, the next creative challenge will be finding enough different reasons for audiences to want to stay right where they are.
