Alike other businesses, food and beverage (F&B) establishments are facing a rough time running their businesses during the pandemic. With mandatory lockdowns that lasted as long as 3 months in some regions, the F&B industry suffered from dramatically-reduced footfall; forcing many businesses to slash expenses to keep themselves afloat.
With dipped revenues, 2020 saw major declines in ad spend by the F&B industry. For instance, as McDonald's (USA) witnessed a decline in 2020 revenue from US$5.41 billion to US$3.76 billion, their ad spend followed suit with a 70% dive from around US$624 million in 2019.
These stats clearly suggest that the post-COVID era will not be easy for marketers. Hence, if you are marketing an F&B brand, you need to make sure the money you spend on ad campaigns closely meet your business' goals.
Get some inspiration from these F&B Instagram Ad Campaigns:
1) Swiggy
Run Time:
1January - 31 March 31 2018
Target Region:
15 cities across India
Performance:
The super interactive ad content generated by Swiggy performed exceptionally well on Instagram Stories. The brand witnessed an uplift of around 17% in the number of app installs.
Goal:
The famous food delivery brand of India had the core motive of reaching out to more users and boost the number of app installs.
Approach:
There was no rocket science involved in the approach of Swiggy’s ad campaign. The food delivery brand just aimed at producing alluring food videos and images.
By integrating both images as well as videos in the vertical ad format, Swiggy teased the users by delivering them in full-screen in Instagram Stories. The key motive was to leave a permanent impact on the user’s mind.
Along with this, Swiggy also highlighted some great features of the app to keep the customers involved with the advertisement. These ads were targeted to people in 15 cities for around three months.
Buyer Journey Stages Targeted:
Swiggy didn’t just focus on displaying ambrosial food in their ads, but they also aimed to make the ad more engaging by introducing key aspects of the app.
The teasing videos and images of the food displayed in the ads were clear baits to grab user attention.
Next to this, the video ads included features of the app like live food tracking, availability of favorite restaurants, and no minimum order value. These were solely for making the user consider the app for installation.
The final piece of the ad comes in the last scene that displays the option of getting a discount of 33% by using a code. Besides this, the ad also had a CTA of “Download the app” for users to install it.
Did they Succeed?
The correctly undertaken ad campaign of Swiggy provided them:
17% boost in the app installs
30% lower cost per app install
Products Used:
Instagram Stories
2) McDonald’s
Run Time:
25 June - 23 July 2019
Target Region:
Egypt
Performance:
As people in Egypt were used to ordering food from McDonald’s via phone, the introduction of the app led to various awesome results for the global fast-food chain.
The ad campaign brought a 9.6 point increase in ad recall.
Goal:
Leveraging the fact that Egypt was hosting the African Cup of Nations football tournament in 2019, McDonald’s planned to boost the number of installs for their newly launched app.
Approach:
The approach taken up by McDonald’s was a bit out of the box. With the help of their creative agency, FP7, the brand created a campaign named “McDonald’s Africa Cup of Nations – When the game is on, cheer as one.”
In this, they created a Cheering menu that contained items that could be ordered through the app. They created video ads about the app that ran on Instagram for the purpose of tuning the user’s mind into installing it. Besides this, the brand also created an app for in-store diners that included a questionnaire.
The questionnaire was linked to daily prizes and discount offers that could be obtained during the tournament. The news regarding these prizes was also shown on Instagram to harness more app installs.
All these steps of their approach led to brilliant results in the end.
Buyer Journey Stages Targeted:
To get Egyptians to install the app, McDonald’s began came up with a great campaign name and four ad creatives.
They played the ads showing people cheering for their favorite teams along with the cheering menu that they were offering.
To tune the user into installing the apps, they played ads about the prizes, offers, and discounts that people could get by ordering the food or by eating in the restaurant. A questionnaire was also included for the fans to generate interest.
Lastly, the sponsored ads hosted by McDonald’s on Instagram contained a CTA button of “Shop Now.” This was integrated for users to tap and install the app.
Did they Succeed?
Yes, the one-month long Instagram campaign of McDonald’s ended with marvelous results:
4.1 point boost in message association
5.5 point uplift in top of the mind awareness
9.6 point increase in ad recall
Products Used:
Instagram feed, Sponsored video ads, Ad creatives
3) Burger King
Run Time:
April 2018
Target Region and Audience:
Spain, Ages 14 - 49
Performance:
The carousel ads designed by the brand for their “Onion Blackout” campaign performed remarkably well as compared to regular video ads. The campaign experienced a 3X high attention rate.
Goal:
The major aim for Burger King was to inform the users about their “Onion Blackout” campaign on International Kissing day.
Besides, the brand also wanted to compare the performance of standard video ads in stories to video ads in the carousel format.
Approach:
The initial step of their approach was to display the ads in the carousel format. And they did that in a superb way to grab user attention.
The carousel ads produced by the brand featured a couple avoiding each other when the onions were present in the burgers. The other part of the ad featured that couple passionately kissing each other when the onions were removed.
The audience was allowed to move the ad forward and backward to see what happened when the onions were removed and when they were added back.
The carousel ad described the concept of Onion Blackout on International Kissing Day in a clear yet funny way.
Buyer Journey Stages Targeted:
As there was no motive for boosting the app install, the brand only measured the interaction of the people with the ad.
They wanted people to freely kiss their partner without the fear of onion smell from their mouths. To portray this clearly, the brand showed a couple kissing in the ad.
The video was contrasted with the scenario when the onions were present, and the couple was avoiding kissing each other.
Did they Succeed?
The idea of carousel ads yielded great results for Burger King as compared to regular video ads:
3% lower cost per impression
2% more completed video views
3X high attention rate
60% more user actions
All these results were because of carousel video ads in Stories.
Products Used:
Instagram Stories, Carousel video ads
Ready to develop your own ad campaign?
The above examples should help provide some creative ideas for when you're developing your own ad campaign. But, before you do, you need to understand that their way may not be the right way for you.
The processes and tools used by the above brands should vary with the business model, market analysis, target audience and marketing goals. So, go on, do your research, get your team together and wow the world with your campaign!
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