An Unconventional Marketing Campaign | Why It Went Viral
饿了么 (Ele.me), which translates to “Are you hungry?” in English, is an online-to-offline catering and food delivery platform based in China. Last month, during the Chinese New Year, the company launched a marketing campaign that went viral on social media. While sales ROI data is not available, the campaign significantly boosted brand awareness and enhanced its social media presence. On Weibo, the campaign’s hashtag garnered 330 million reads. The substantial number of organic posts and shares by the audience amplified the word-of-mouth effect and fueled further discussion.
the warmth in a city of steel and concrete”
I am a food delivery app user, and I love this marketing idea too. Here’s why:
It’s surprising.
Rather than encouraging increased use of their food delivery app, the hashtag #祝你过年不用饿了么 (wishing you a New Year without the need to use Ele.me) takes center stage. Through multiple pictures, it gives various reasons why they wish like this. Who would expect a brand to say so? It is eye-catching, and triggers the audience to read what it is about.
By expressing our brand understand why the audience do not need to us during these several days, the brand explicitly express they prioritized consumer needs and feelings than sales. For sure people will need food and grocery delivery services when festival ends. When they do, such brand that’s understanding and supportive will stand out from the others. So it seems like “no need to use us” on the first sight right now, but is actually “like us and use us” in the future.
It’s insightful.
The brand precisely captures consumer insights.
Firstly, Ele.me’s branding emphasizes the serene and pleasurable experiences we cherish during the Chinese New Year (CNY). Its content, spotlighting moments like:
- Rediscovering the joy of helping mom buy soy sauce in childhood
- Giving the fish caught by dad a chance to thaw
resonates with the young generation’s desire for stress relief and enjoyment of life’s simple pleasures. CNY represents a crucial time to unwind from work, reinforcing the insight that people yearn for relaxation with their families and savor the simplest forms of joy. Ele.me adopts a heartfelt approach, encouraging people to put aside their phones, slow down, and fully relish this fleeting, fulfilling time with family.
Secondly, Ele.me recognizes that food delivery apps are often associated with the hectic pace of working life. Many individuals, myself included, who live and work away from their hometown, opt for food delivery for its convenience over cooking. Occasionally, we all long for a break from work, yearn for home-cooked meals, and miss being with our families as we were in childhood. The brand taps into these sentiments, voicing them for its audience, thereby fostering a connection and understanding.
It’s emotional.
Based on the insights, Ele.me associates strong emotion to convert insights into marketing message.
Let me use my favorite one as an example ;)
This content immediately activated my childhood and New Year memories with a sense of humor. Like others, I’ve delved my hands into the rice basket while shopping at the supermarket when I was a child. And like other grown-ups, I seldom do it now. This childish behavior becomes a “those who know, know” thing. Rather than saying clichés like “I miss being a child celebrating the festival with my family,” this approach is more authentic and gentle. The concise yet vivid descriptions pull the audience back to those cherished times of innocence and happiness. Such positive resonance establishes a great emotional base for the brand messages.
The entire content demonstrates a strong understanding as if the audience wrote it themselves, dissolving the barrier between brand advertisement and the audience.
The twist supplemented scenario for potential use.
Like the above example, every picture contains a hashtag saying don’t use us and a supporting scenario. Meanwhile, we cannot overlook the last part, the twist, like “But if we don’t have enough strength to carry our purchases, Ele.me is enthusiastically on duty during the Spring Festival!” While memories paint supermarket shopping in vibrant colors, we all know carrying everything from the supermarket home can be quite heavy 🤣. If that’s the case, Ele.me willingly offers itself to be at your service. As the brand has established an understanding and caring tone through the previous hashtag and scenario, when it offers help as an alternative when needed, the audience would feel further cared for and considered, instead of being subjected to an irrelevant advertisement.
Other pieces follow the same logic as this example. First, heart-touching (but not cliché) life details resonate with the audience and trigger positive emotions and memories. Then, Ele.me shows up as a supportive figure, just in case you need it. Positive emotions and expectations are thus connected to the brand.
Conclusion
This #wish you do not need to use Ele.me campaign has taken a very different path. From insight, emotion, and content perspectives, it all stood out from many other New Year campaigns. It nailed it by crafting relatable scenarios and tapping into our emotions, sparking a wave of online searches and organic social media chatter about it. While some marketers may question the impact on user and sales conversion rates, we lack the specific data to comment. Nevertheless, this is certainly a good case indicating the power of insights and emotional marketing. Data does prove that when it comes to enhancing the brand image, forging an emotional connection with the audience, and boosting brand awareness and social media visibility, this campaign undeniably achieved its goals.
