Lizzo is lending her star power—and her grocery list—to Instacart’s biggest brand campaign to date.
The new push, "The World Is Your Cart," aims to attract younger users, boost product discovery and increase basket sizes. It centers on the brand's browsable, shoppable product collections called "Carts," which are curated by pop culture personalities, retailers and creators to showcase their favorite products.
Lizzo's is the first "Cart" to take the stage in a 60-second spot that will debut on linear TV at the 2022 MTV VMA’s, following her performance on the show. The ad starts with the pop icon relaxing in the bath and shopping with the Instacart app. The world around her becomes increasingly fantastical as she adds items to her digital cart—from a shower of cherries, to a desertscape of Takis, to a field of flowers for her mom.
“We’re thinking about how we go from being a transactional to an inspirational platform, and embrace that more sensorial aspect that isn’t always there with virtual shopping,” said Laura Jones, Instacart’s chief marketing officer. “We also want to create a more relevant moment by tapping into popular culture.”
The campaign was created by Instacart’s in-house marketing team in partnership with agencies Droga5 and Mayflower. Sam Brown of Imperial Woodpecker directed it.
Lizzo’s cart will be the first available on the app and includes her preferred groceries such as vegan Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Takis, Oreos, Impossible Burgers and Skittles. Other carts from influencers including The Old Gays, as well as retail partners, will roll out in the coming months.
Instacart seems to be doubling down on what resonates with younger consumers. The app recently partnered with streetwear designer Anwar Carrots on a tote bag, water bottle, long sleeve tee-shirt and bucket hat for its ten-year anniversary. The products were sold exclusively on the live shopping app NTWRK.
The "Cart" idea is reminiscent of McDonald’s "Famous Orders" campaign around celebrity meals, highlighting the go-to menu items of Travis Scott, J Balvin, Saweetie and BTS. The collabs have helped McDonald’s connect to younger fans and successfully drove sales.
The campaign will also have a Snapchat element that will invite users to compete with their friends in an Instacart lens game challenging them to catch falling snacks from Lizzo’s cart into their own.
“We think about our audience from a psychographic standpoint,” Jones said. “We think about people who are short on time— that’s our core audience. But we’re trying to open the aperture on that, since the challenge of being time-strapped applies to other folks as well.”
In 2021, Instacart had over $26 billion in grocery sales, up from $23 billion in 2020, according to eMarketer. It's estimated that sales could reach $30 billion in 2022. Earlier this month, Instacart filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. But in March, the company slashed its own valuation by almost 40% to $24 billion.
It’s not clear whether celebrity grocery orders will attract new customers, but Jones is optimistic. “We’re still seeing effective returns on media investments and seeing strong traction,” she said. “We feel like this is a moment to lean forward.”
Instacart is also placing a full-page ad in the New York Times Sunday Edition ahead of Sunday’s VMAs. The campaign will also run on YouTube, social, podcasts and streaming audio, and streaming TV channels.
