New CMO of Menulog talks about the newly launch global campaign ‘Did Somebody Say Menulog' and its local appeal
Menulog's new CMO is focusing on growing its presence, and delivery network, in what is a unique market here in Australia.
While Simon Cheng has only been marketing chief of Menulog for a brief amount of time, he has lofty plans to help the food delivery service reach beyond the 92 per cent of Australian home addresses it already covers. With this in mind, Menulog launched a new campaign ‘Did Somebody Say Menulog’ in May, which captures the joy the brand delivers to any occasion.
The campaign involves the unveiling of localised global brand creative, thanks to Menulog’s parent company, Just Eat Group, which acquired the local business in 2015.
Australia is the second market to launch this new creative, developed by McCann Worldgroup.
It's designed to give Just Eat Group a simple platform that resonates across multiple markets for use across channels over the long term. Specifically, assets have been developed for TV, radio, out-of-home (OOH) and social channels.
Key to this, however, Cheng told CMO, is to be able to localise these global assets so they work in the Australian market. With this in mind, assets feature the recognisable Menulog green.
“Menulog is part of the wider global business, Just Eat, so we are making more of a move to leverage the global assets, including using one technology platform, because this is the benefit of a global business, with global scale,” he said. “This extends to the comms and marketing platforms as well. This is the first major global campaign for the business, and the new global creative platform has been localised.
“Most businesses have some kind of global presence, and they should enjoy the benefits in terms of scale and efficiency. But ultimately every market is different, so we must speak to customers in each market with relevance. In this way, I think localisation is a necessity. Aussies can spot US assets a mile away.”
The Australian food delivery market is also unique in the way it has more independent restaurant partners than big chains, Cheng continued.
“I’ve only been in the role a couple of weeks, but I joined this business because it is a high-growth business with a lot of opportunity. The food delivery market has projections for growth unheard of in any other category,” he said. “So I am going to have a strong focus on commercial outcomes, and help continue to grow a profitable delivery network, and not just a marketplace, which is where our roots are.
“Key to this is a continued focus on our partnerships with restaurants, both independent and chain. We are very quickly rolling out our own delivery service, in order to cover more than the 92 per cent of the country we already cover in terms of household addresses. This is a very big opportunity for us.
“Australia is unique, we have a combination of independent, as well as chain restaurants, and so the market dynamics and growing are different, compared to say, Canada, which is more big chains rather than smaller restaurants.
“Australians demand seamless and fast experiences across the board, and understand the concept that food delivery is not just for special occasions quite well.”
Hence the campaign, which is specifically aimed at making food delivery an everyday special occasion. The TVC is now live in Australia, with extensive digital, OOH and radio campaigns to support it. Menulog celebrated the launch of the campaign with an experiential activation at Flinders Street Station, followed by a Sydney launch at the end of May.
The new creative platform will launch across other Just Eat Markets from April to October this year, including UK, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, France and Switzerland. Each market has their own version in their native language and licence to ensure their assets resonate locally.
It's too early for official feedback, but general feedback so far has been very positive and exciting, Cheng said. "It’s a light-hearted, happy campaign, using striking bold colours in outdoor. We feel it will do well in market in driving awareness for the business,” he said.
“Before the new global assets were launched, Just Eat did research globally and locally, in which we received good feedback, suggestions and considerations, so it could tailor accordingly.
“We will measure orders, revenue, sales and brand metrics. We hope to get a good idea in the next few months.”
Just Eat global brand director, Susan O’Brien, said the new creative platform is all about making Menulog and Just Eat synonymous with takeaway delivery.
“It celebrates how we deliver not only food, but the delight people feel when their favourite takeaway arrives, no matter where in the world they are," she said. "We’ve all experienced that moment of joy when the doorbell rings and your food arrives - our new ‘Did somebody say Menulog’ mnemonic celebrates that perfectly.”
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