Episode 181 - DiDi - Yes, I DiDi Ad Reviewed by Domino's, Tate & Lyle, and Hackrobat

What does a series of late-night adventures featuring an unsettling little mascot have to do with ridesharing? Yes, I DiDi - the new ad from Australian brand DiDi created by Sunday Gravy and directed by Jim Hosking - is incredibly strange but amazingly memorable. From the catchy tune to the series of funny and eerie clips the heroes go through, this ad understandably caught the eye of millions of viewers who loved it on social media.

On this episode of Advertisers Watching Ads, we're joined by Tina Eskridge (GTM Strategist at Hackrobat), Joanna Henderson (Global Marketing Transformation Director (Interim) at Tate & Lyle), and Genevieve Braine (Local Digital and Paid Media Planning Lead at Domino’s Pizza UK & Ireland Ltd), as we review the creative effectiveness of DiDi's ad. Did it score highly or did it flop? Watch the full episode to find out.

This is automatically generated, so it’s not 100% accurate.

Tom Ollerton 0:00
Hello and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. This is a weekly show where brands watch other brands’ ads.

Tina Eskridge 0:06
That little man will live in my dreams forever, but I don't know that I understood that it was a rideshare.

Joanna Henderson 0:13
This is all about trying to be as distinctive as possible, memorable as possible to basically get people to download their app and start using it.

Genevieve B. 0:19
So in awe of what the hell was going on, but I didn't get it straight away.

Tom Ollerton 0:28
My name is Tom Ollerton, I'm the founder of Automated Creative, the creative effectiveness adtech platform, and before we see this week's ad, let's meet this week's guests.

Tina Eskridge 0:39
My name is Tina Eskridge. I am a long time marketer, and current head of a firm called Hackrobat here in the US.

Joanna Henderson 0:47
Hi, Jo Henderson. I'm the Global Marketing Transformation Director for Tate & Lyle.

Genevieve B. 0:47
Hi, there, I'm Gen. Great to be here. I'm a Digital Performance Lead at Domino's.

Tom Ollerton 0:57
Right. What a panel! What a different set of ideas we're going to have on this, but what we're gonna look at today is we’re looking at DiDi's new campaign in Australia and New Zealand called “Yes, I DiDi.” Created by indie agency Sunday Gravy, and directed by a UK filmmaker called Jim Hosking. It introduces a very weird mascot. The main character in this ad basically got more than 50 million views on TikTok and Instagram for the launch. So, I am now going to share this ad with you.

Tom Ollerton 4:42
Marks out of five. Five is very amazing, one is not very amazing. One, two, three, four, five... Tina, Gen, what’s missing? Come on.

Tina Eskridge 5:00
I think it's just the clarity around what they're advertising. There was anything that I would change. It would just be that, but everything else, I would give it high marks.

Joanna Henderson 5:08
I just thought it was brilliant. I absolutely loved it. This brand is looking to kind of launch, and to really try and beat competitors like, say, Uber, Bolt, etc. and they're looking particularly in Australia and New Zealand to gain a lot of traction and market share. And so this is all about trying to be distinctive as possible, memorable as possible, to basically get people to download their app and start using it.

Tina Eskridge 5:31
I could not understand what this was like, I... I watched the entire ad, I was like, like, it's so memorable. Yeah, it was a hell of a ride, like, honestly. But I was like, what's... What's the product? What's the service? What are, what are we talking about here? So I, like, that little man will live in my dreams forever, but I don't, I don't know that I understood that it was a rideshare.

Genevieve B. 5:53
I think the sonic branding is amazing. Like you said, that I'm going to go to bed with either nursery rhymes in my head, or that haunting me to sleep. But I... It wasn't till the very end and they had that little car at the end that I sort of started to understand that it might be for some sort of transport brand in the Australia, because it's not something we have in the UK either. But yeah, I'm so in awe of what the hell was going on, but I didn't get it straight away.

Tom Ollerton 6:17
This is probably my favourite ad we've had on the show for years. I think this is everything that advertising should be. It's distinctive, it's funny, it's really entertaining. It's catchy.

Joanna Henderson 6:31
Like with the gorilla, like you know... It will be compared, won't it, to the Cadbury gorilla or something like that.

Tina Eskridge 6:37
Creativity, originality, super high marks, even the storytelling like you get, you’re in this vibe all the way through with this group wanting to have the best night of their lives, and they're... They’re, I mean, you know, it's epic, right? Like everything that they experience is epic. You’ll remember all of it. And then of course, the emotional impact, you know, really high marks. I laugh every time I see it now. Like, you know, you just can't help but laugh.

Joanna Henderson 7:03
Yeah. And do you know what I also love as well is that storytelling. It's like done in chapters. So you can see how they could start to kind of like, you know, chunk those little chapters up and start to put it into different channels, different formats, and it works. It's brilliant because it's long, it's a long form, but you can also see how it can be short form and even static. I just think it is... that creativity has been really, really thought through.

Genevieve B. 7:28
When I was watching it, I was maybe moaning about a boyfriend at the time or something, or something wasn't going right in your life, and I... let's go out for a massive night out. And it's all those terrible things that you did on that night out, and it's still 4 A.M. in the morning. You're still up, still talking about them. So I think they have done that storytelling really, really well and taken the user on maybe of our age group, maybe this in the younger age group that if something upset you in your life and you go out and have a great night, sort of drown your sorrows or celebrate and they're there to take you, you know, DiDi, in this case, are there to transport you to all those different locations that you might end up in on that night. And so I do think the storytelling is really, really tight.

Joanna Henderson 8:06
They've also linked it to, I think they've also linked it to really kind of smart insight, right? Which insight being a lot of the younger generation, they're not, it's just not going out as much. You know, that they tend to be kind of you know, a lot more kind of staying at home, etc. Spending lot of time online, etc. and this, I love this idea of just like, yeah, you’re not having a great day, get out and just go wild and have fun and see what happens. That sort of real carefree, live in a moment, which I just think is, it's just brilliant.

Tina Eskridge 8:32
Anybody could have this kind of night. It wasn't like they were doing anything that was unattainable, which I love. You know, they're communicating this, this kind of like just let go and, you know, have the most memorable night. It's all things that, you know, anybody could do no matter what age. Like you're going out for food, you're stopping at the, you know, the grocery in the middle of the night. You're going to a food truck, you're going to a bar. And you know, and in that, in those moments, you're seeing people of all stages, all ages, a young pregnant woman, an older woman with her dog, older gentleman with his briefcase, you know, you’re seeing, you’re seeing everybody. So I think it's pretty cool that they do it that way.

Tom Ollerton 9:12
Yeah, I think, yeah, I think the inclusivity is probably one of the best ads I’ve seen. You don’t think about it until you have to, until you force yourself to, to think about it, you know? Would you sign off this campaign in its entirety, yes or no? On a count of three, one, two, three...

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