In the world of food delivery, standing out from the crowd is crucial. For David Kim, Executive Creative Director at Postmates, Biz Anderson from Mother LA, and Harry Butt, Creative Director at Nexus Design Studio, the challenge was clear: How do you differentiate Postmates, even within the Uber Eats behemoth?

“Even though we were acquired by Uber, we’re still a bit of a challenger brand in the category,” explains Kim. They got big, and the category got big. We wanted to get small.”

Their solution? Focus on the local markets and restaurants, harnessing the power of exclusive partners and merchants. But how do you translate the visceral experience of food into a brand campaign?

“We took some inspiration from that scene in Ratatouille,” Anderson reveals. “He eats this piece of food that sends this rush of memory. We love that notion that a single bite can be that visceral and emotional.”

Thus, the concept of “This is your brain on food” was born—a tagline that evokes the old anti-drug PSA language with a culinary twist.

“It’s really just like a pretty ridiculous experience of making it and wonderfully ridiculous ads, too,” Butt adds.

But translating these ideas into visuals was no small feat. The team tapped into animation to create a trippy, imaginative world where different foods evoke different emotions. From CG to 2D to claymation, each animation style was carefully chosen to match the experience of the food.

“We were very purposeful around selecting animation styles that felt right for the experience of that particular food,” explains Kim. “The challenge was to make sure that there was still a coherence through them all.”

And the result? A series of ads that capture the essence of food and seamlessly integrate merchants into the brand campaign, driving interest and engagement.

“It really functioned well as co-marketing for us and the merchants,” says Anderson. As a result, a lot of restaurants have now been coming to us asking to be included in our brand campaign.”

In the competitive world of food delivery, Postmates’ innovative approach to branding is setting them apart—and leaving customers hungry for more.