Instacart partners with Lizzo for most extensive campaign to date

• Instacart and music star Lizzo have partnered for the grocery-delivery platform’s largest campaign to date, according to details shared with Marketing Dive.

• “The World is Your Cart,” meant to flex Instacart’s plethora of shopping possibilities, debuts with a full-page spread in The New York Times Sunday edition on Aug. 28 and a 60-second commercial starring Lizzo that will run during the MTV Video Music Awards the same day. 

• Timed to the launch of new in-app features, the push includes TV, print, over-the-top, digital and social elements, as well as a Snapchat mini-game. The platform is drawing a stronger link to pop culture in an effort to drive sales ahead of its planned IPO.

Instacart’s campaign sheds light on the platform’s latest technology innovations as it looks to continue attracting shoppers and rides on the heels of a record-setting quarter. The company reportedly grew revenue 39% year-on-year to $621 million during the period, but faces rising competition from rivals like DoorDash and UberEats.

The 60-second ad with Lizzo shows the pop star soaking in a bathtub and scrolling through Instacart for groceries, only to discover that the items she adds — cherries, Takis and ice cream, among others — are coming to life around her. The spot uses a remixed version of Lizzo’s new song, “The Sign,” and debuts on linear TV during the MTV VMAs following her performance.

The campaign was produced by Instacart’s in-house marketing team and agencies Droga5 and Mayflower Entertainment. Its mission statement, “One cart, many possibilities. The World is Your Cart,” nods to Instacart’s growing emphasis on inspiration as a means to combat the transactional nature of grocery shopping.

Instacart has also partnered with Snapchat on a mini-game that requires users to fill their virtual carts with falling snacks from Lizzo’s Cart. The activation, which comes as several brands including TikTok have begun exploring social-based gaming, takes the format of a Snapchat lens.

The rollout is timed to the release of new tools like a Cart feature that will be displayed on Instacart’s freshly renovated homepage. The function gives consumers the chance to shop curated lists by popular celebrities, retailers and creators, with Lizzo’s the first to go live.

Instacart Tastemakers, a new affiliate network for food creators, also launched this week and allows creators to profit from purchases their audiences make on Instacart. The move follows the company’s Shoppable Recipe integration, which gives food creators the opportunity to make their recipes on sites like TikTok and Tasty shoppable. The digital additions further promote Instacart’s efforts to become a dominant player in the shoppable content space having previously added shoppable displays, brand pages and videos to its platform.