Drizly on Monday launched a new campaign that promotes the Uber-owned alcohol e-commerce platform's ability to help consumers find the right drink at the right moment, per details shared with sister publication Marketing Dive.
Across three 15-second ads, the humorous campaign imagines a '70s-style game show called "What's It Gonna Be?" where contestants smash a boring drink with a giant mallet; pick a party theme (from "dress like a dad party" to "vow renewal for dogs"); and play pictionary. Made in collaboration with agency VMLY&R, the campaign shows off Diageo brands including Don Julio, Bulleit and more and is running across TV, audio, display and social media.
"The ‘What’s It Gonna Be?’ campaign was born out of our brand purpose of helping people savor life’s moments and our vision to be the destination where customers come to get the right drinks for the moment, delivered," Gina Hardy, chief customer officer at Drizly, said in emailed remarks. "Weird, wonderful, whatever kind of night or booze you choose, with Drizly you can have the right spirits brought to you, much like winning the grand prize on your favorite game show again and again."
In addition to the campaign, Drizly is rolling out a gift registry experience that lets consumers share their preferred picks with friends and family for easy ordering and delivery. The creation of the registry feature was informed by the company's 2023 Consumer Trend report, which found that 72% of respondents said their gifting of alcohol will stay the same or increase this year, with a similar proportion (68%) saying that holidays are the top occasion for gifting drinks. Plus, gifting has become a core use case, with gifts making up over 20% of orders in December, Hardy said.
"We’ve continued to iterate on the gifting experience on Drizly over the years, introducing new features to make it an easier, more enjoyable shopping experience and to help consumers find exactly that right drink for their gift recipient to make that moment extra special – from custom e-cards to gift bags," she explained. "The Drizly Gift Registry was a logical evolution of this work."
Drizly has tapped actor-comedian Joel McHale, who will feature in content around the registry and will share his own gift list, to boost the offering. And to further the campaign, the platform has also launched Drizly Drink Experts, a collective of aficionados — including a beer sommelier and a professional bartender, with more to come — who will provide consumers with curated recommendations across categories. Content will span recommendations, tips and drinks guides.
Like other e-commerce platforms, Drizly was boosted during the early stages of the pandemic, when locked-down consumers shifted more purchases to digital channels. In kind, the platform has worked to meet consumers who have returned to pre-pandemic activities but also held on to certain behaviors that became ingrained in the last few years. The gift registry and drink expert launches boosted by the new campaign — and a previously introduced "Party Theme Generator 3000" — speak to that shift.
"We evolved our value proposition when in-store shopping was no longer a barrier, post-pandemic. Our focus shifted from simply being a convenient solution to an occasion-based experience centered around the key moments that matter when searching for that perfect beverage," Hardy said. "We’re on a mission to build the best, most enjoyable, most helpful shopping experience for beverages so that our customers can focus on what matters most to them."
Drizly's pandemic-spurred growth led to its 2021 acquisition by Uber for $1.1 billion in stock and cash, and while it operates as a standalone brand and app, it is a key part of Uber's growing portfolio.
"We are focused on driving collective growth in the beverage alcohol category across both Drizly and Uber Eats, leveraging the category expertise and retailer footprint of Drizly and the reach and logistics network of Uber," Hardy said.
