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GrabFood x Đừng Bỏ Bữa: a lovely reminder for meal skippers

  • Writer: Trang Nguyen
    Trang Nguyen
  • Aug 20, 2019
  • 4 min read

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What is it?

Since its first launch in June, 2018, GrabFood, a food delivery service of the ride-hailing firm Grab, has continuously developed and become one of the top food delivery services in Vietnam (Grab, 2019). A few months ago, this brand released a three-minute viral video on Youtube and Facebook which has positively shaped GrabFood's image ever since. The story in the video is told by a young shipper of GrabFood, who delivers food to everyone and recognises an ugly truth that: people tend to skip meals and even the wealthiest gets hungry frequently. With a very subtle storytelling style on a sequence of diverse Vietnamese lifestyle portraits, the video transfers a sweet message to busy people, saying “whatever you do, never miss a meal”, which is also what his mother used to remind him. For half a year now, GrabFood has received bunches of good compliments for telling a sweet realistic story which evokes intimacy between audience and brand.


Why does it work?

Compared to other early birds in the Vietnamese online-to-offline (O2O) food delivery market, GrabFood is a very young newcomer yet having the highest exposure to the customers thanks to its advertising activities that none of the others have done. While improving delivery speed and quality, this brand has been outstandingly promoting its image by releasing heart-warming videos, print ads or campaigns in general that make it widely recognised and loved. “Đừng bỏ bữa" (“Don't skip meals") is one extraordinary campaign which has brought about more fans for GrabFood as many audiences commented that the advertising video was so touching that they had to watch it over again without clicking on the “skip ad” button.



Here come some key factors that have contributed to this impressive success:

Tell everyone’s story

It is undeniable that the message “Don’t skip meals” of GrabFood seems very simple yet relatable to everyone. According to Q&Me (2018), 66% of Vietnamese correspondents use food delivery services mostly due to the reluctance to go outside and time efficiency. As being portrayed throughout the video, a busy shop retailer, a young teenager, or a successful businessman is in need of a delivery man who supplies them with meals when they are not free enough to even aware of having the meal in time. Research shows that young male adults tend to skip breakfast, while female individuals are more likely to miss lunch and dinner (Pendergast et. al., 2016). Although skipping meals has long been educated to lead significant health effects, many people still pursue this habit unconsciously for various reasons. GrabFood is clever to capture this ongoing habit and insert a sweet message through the voice of a delivery man who is also advised not to skip meals by his mother. With only three minutes, everyone is able to find themselves committing to this bad habit, as well as to the “silent companion”- GrabFood.



Connect and highlight brand value

If GrabFood had to be described as a person, it would be an embodiment of a care-giver who appears with intimacy to take care of our meals (Bui, 2019). Grab (2019) promises to give customers the best experience in their journeys by serving with high quality and satisfaction. Therefore, the image of GrabFood delivery man is illustrated as an intimate and thoughtful friend while doing their own job. Grab does not only promise to their consumers but they also express sympathy and encourage pride in their staff drivers by making the job such joyful and meaningful. While many brands struggle to expose their commitment to target audience and enhance internal communication in the most natural way, by drawing a beautiful impression on the consumers, the brand achieves success in a so-called effortless way!

Excellent storytelling

Gotter (2017) points out that the more detailed and personalised a story is, the more engagement it will gain. Having good insights and ideas is not enough, an ear-catching narrative will greatly help executing it since it is a key element to capture audience’s attention. By scrolling down through hundreds of comments, an interesting point is revealed that many viewers are impressed with the Vietnamese language usage of the storyteller, especially the line at the beginning of the video:

"Hồi tôi mới lên Sài Gòn học, má tôi hay dặn: “Làm gì làm, đừng bỏ bữa.”

Only this single sentence reminds young people, particularly Sai Gon’s emigrants from other provinces who enter the city to study or to work. A touch of nostalgia and homesickness awakens empathy for the drivers as well as the customers. The writer has brilliantly selected words and a smooth narrative style that is close and relatable to people from different social classes. Therefore, language is seen as a very powerful tool to deliver the message that stimulates emotional tone of viral videos, which is believed to have effects on “the attitude of users towards the ad, the brand and also their intention to share it” (Alberto, 2014).


What can we learn from this?

Overall, this is considered as a complete success of GrabFood for enhancing great brand love and not creating any negative controversies. A big round of applause is sent to Grab’s content team for executing such an outstanding campaign that echoes up to now. Taking out of this achievement, it is crucial to cultivate a good insight, tell a real and relatable story that does not need to be exaggerated with skillful language use. Viral marketing is not a new approach but it can always be utilised to tell new stories. Brands should imitate GrabFood's movement in content creation for communication effectiveness in the future.


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