MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Leading Filipino superapp Grab Philippines, through its food delivery platform GrabFood, bags two major awards at the second annual edition of the Marketing Excellence Awards.
GrabFood claimed the top spots in the Excellence in TV/Video Advertising and Excellence in Influencer/KOLs Marketing categories for the launch of its Indie Eats program, which was headlined by leading food content creator Erwan Heusaff and TikTok superstar Sassa Gurl.
Grab Philippines launched the GrabFood Indie Eats program back in March 2022, zeroing in on the amplification around homegrown small food businesses present on the platform. To support the small-scale businesses who work around meager ad spend, the leading superapp doubled down on its evangelization efforts of unexpected finds from the non-major food brands.
“‘Unexpected’ was our jumping off point in coming up with our campaign with Erwan and Sassa. We believe that the duo’s unexpected and juxtaposed personas in a mukbang of Indie Eats products encapsulated the sense of surprise that we were aiming for,” shared Grab Philippines Head of Integrated Marketing Services Gretchen Que. Erwan and Sassa Gurl’s candid and funny banter during their mukbang session earned significant positive sentiment and engagement online, mainly due to the contrasting characters of the two hosts.
Gretchen underscored that Sassa Gurl’s relatability complemented by Heussaff’s aspirational and subject-matter perspective resonated well with the online audience. Consequent to the success of the pilot, the unexpected duo did a follow-up episode with fitness and lifestyle influencer Nico Bolzico.
The two-part mukbang series raked in 32 million online impressions, reaching 21 million viewers. Its reach and high engagement rate of 10% landed the series in the 27th spot of YouTube’s trending list. Mainstream media also took notice of the series’ virality, earning the brand a PHP 116-million media value for the Indie Eats program.
The online engagement of the series also translated to a 65% category uplift, benefiting the Indie Eats partner merchants who recorded a 70% increase in orders in the period following the series’ launch.
Gretchen added, “Grab Philippines is aggressive in ensuring that our platform promotes viability for all local entrepreneurs. We hope that this recognition from Marketing Excellence Awards reassures our current merchant partners and all aspiring ones that Grab is with them every step of the way to ascertain that they win with us – always.”
The Grab Philippines team behind the award-winning mukbang video series featuring Erwan and Sassa is composed of Jewelyn Oliveros and JD Fajardo from socials; Ogy Yap and DJ Chatto from creatives; Arvi Lopez from PR; and Gretchen Que, Janvier Bastian, Ian Velasco, and J-Anne Aruta from marketing.
The Marketing Excellence Awards are designed to celebrate and recognize the Philippines’ outstanding marketing campaigns. It is the premier platform for marketers to showcase creative excellence, successful strategies and effective delivery. The award-giving body is spearheaded by Marketing Interactive, an Asian-based news organization covering notable stories on Asian advertising, marketing, and media efforts.
The champions for 2022 were chosen by an independent judging panel comprised of high-calibre, senior industry experts from reputable brands.
Check out the full list of winners here.
