Real People with a Dose of Celebrity Is a Recipe for Success at Shipt

When the team at SS+K met the team at Shipt last spring, they immediately clicked. Monica Apodaca and Cooper Evoy, creative directors at the M&C Saatchi Group agency, felt a shared commitment to bringing brand purpose to life in creative ways – a feeling that only grew once they began working together more and learned about the shopping delivery service’s point of focus: the joy and connection that happens between shoppers and customers.

“We were especially excited that Shipt was interested in developing a campaign featuring real people,” say Monica and Cooper, “something that we have experience with and that we believed would stand out in a very crowded category.”

The brief for the campaign was pretty straightforward: a social media campaign highlighting how ‘Preferred Shoppers’ with Shipt care deeply about customers – because they actually get to know them, as well as their shopping habits and product preferences. 

The target audience spanned demographics, but shared mindsets and responsibilities. “We’re seeking to reach people who are the planners in their circles,” say Monica and Cooper, “making sure all their people are taken care of. They're the people – for their families, friends or both – who are a step ahead, making plans for what's next. For those busy with the breadth of social, home, and work responsibilities, Shipt can be a welcome partner.”

The first thing that Monica, Cooper and the team at SS+K did was order a bunch of snacks on Shipt. Then, they ate the snacks. Finally, the team pondered an amusing question: what if a Preferred Shopper knows their customer better than their own mother? “It felt like a question we had to answer. Or, at least try,” laugh Monica and Cooper.

The campaign took the form of an amusing quiz show hosted by Hannah Berner that pit relatives and friends of Shipt customers against their Preferred Shoppers. “First and foremost, she’s hilarious,” say Monica and Cooper, regarding the decision to work with Hannah. “But what we really loved about Hannah is how quick on her feet she is, which was a key part of the whole setup – reacting in real time, and injecting humour and energy when you might not get it from real people who could be uncomfortable on camera.

“She also has a strong social presence, which was key. Her new Netflix special didn’t hurt, either.”

An imperative element for the campaign’s success came via casting real Shipt customers who could perform comfortably for the video footage of the quiz show. Luckily for SS+K, the clients at Shipt fully bought into the idea and did a lot of the legwork, tracking down the real people to make it happen. They reached out to shoppers to see who might be interested, and once they had some, SS+K had them reach out to their customers to see if they would be interested. “It was a bit of a journey even getting to the actual casting part where we met with the customers to see how they are in front of a camera,” say Monica and Cooper. “Real people are always tricky – great on paper doesn't mean great on screen. However, we lucked out with really awesome people and an awesome director, Kris Belman, to help guide the whole process.”

At first, the team was blessed with “tonnes of applicants”. But, they had a three-part bullseye for what made a perfect star for the campaign. Firstly, customer/shopper duos whose familiarity was a great example of the Shipt difference. Secondly, the customers then needed a plus one. Finally, they all had to be available on a specific date. Checking the last two boxes proved a lot trickier than anticipated.

“At one point, we didn’t even have a complete cast,” say Monica and Cooper. “And that point was a week before the shoot. But it goes to show how amazing our Shipt clients are. They weren’t panicking (even if we maybe secretly were), we all stuck to it and found what ended up being our best groups in the nick of time.” 

The use of real people also proved tricky in terms of getting the footage needed, but Monica and Cooper say they managed to overcome any hurdles with a mixture of “deft direction, Hannah’s improv skills, and editing.”

Since launching in autumn of 2024, the campaign has seen a video view rate of 94%, and videos shared on Hannah’s social channels accounted for 83% of new Shipt accounts created during the campaign period.

For the future, Monica and Cooper are hoping for more of the same, but bigger still. “We’re excited to keep our partnership with Shipt going, and continue to help elevate what we believe to be a brand built with care.”