foodpanda analyses orders ahead of National Day to uncover national dish

In lieu of the nation’s 54th birthday next month, food delivery service foodpanda has unveiled a challenge to answer an age-old question: "What is Singapore's national dish?"

Digging into its data, in the two weeks leading up to National Day, each order placed on foodpanda between 25 July to 8 August will be counted as a vote to crown Singapore’s true national dish. foodpanda will be tracking the results in real-time and showcasing what the 27 neighbourhoods in Singapore think the national dish should be. At the end of the two-week period which falls on National Day, the food delivery company will reveal the winning dish.

In a statement to Marketing, a foodpanda spokesperson said the key objective of its National Day campaign this year is to drive brand awareness and strengthen the brand perception locally. The spokesperson added that Saatchi & Saatchi came up with the idea and the creative process.

In a bid to strengthen the perception of foodpanda as a local brand, Saatchi & Saatchi jumped on the opportunity of the data foodpanda has on what Singaporeans were ordering. "Given that it was meant to be a National Day campaign, we wanted an idea that every Singaporean could relate to passionately: food. The data foodpanda had helped us tell that story very easily, allowing us to tap into national pride at the same time!" the spokesperson said.

While this is primarily an OOH-driven campaign, it was also amplified through radio buys to drive buzz. Publicis Media supported foodpanda for the campaign. The company is also creating social component in-house, to turn this into a 360 campaign.

According to foodpanda, its seven years of insights also revealed that the Western region of Singapore was the hungriest region in 2018. Narrowing it down to the Bukit Panjang neighbourhood, the data showed that yong tau fu was widely preferred by residents of that area.

foodpanda noted that Singaporeans favoured Chinese food as their go-to cuisine, with local Singaporean cuisine making its steady ascend to the top. Between 2017 and 2018, late-night orders increased by almost 250%, and Turkish cuisine rounding up in the top five list of food categories. Since launching in 2012, foodpanda also recorded an increase in its weekly order frequency each year, claiming that the halal food category tripled in orders by 2018.

Meanwhile, Grab has partnered with local merchants on its app to offer a taste of 1965. With a hashtag #Delivering1965, the National Day menu looks to provide "nostalgic-flavours of yesteryear". According to Grab, ordering an item from the app's "Grab Hawker Picks" will be delivered together with a 1965 snack pack.

Fellow contender Deliveroo in the meantime, has joined forces with Burger King to unveil a "Super Shiok Set". The combo meal will feature local flavours such as the Rendang Burger and the Laksa Burger. To add a little dose of National Day spirit, every order of the Super Shiok set will come in a collectible box along with a tea towel, both featuring a mashup of Singapore, Deliveroo and Burger King.