foodpanda unveils new brand philosophy as Pau-Pau the panda turns one

Delivery platform foodpanda’s brand ambassador, Pau-Pau, is turning one and to celebrate its birthday, foodpanda launched its brand philosophy urging consumers to “live like a panda” – and no that doesn’t mean to be lazy.

What foodpanda means by the new philosophy is that consumers should free up their time and energy to pursue what really matters to them. According to the company, the new brand philosophy will encourage individuals to fret less about the chores of daily life, and focus more on what matters most to them.

In conceptualising the philosophy, the foodpanda team said they spent hours studying pandas and found that pandas eat as they want to, sleep as they want to and live life without unnecessary worries. Taking inspiration from this outlook, foodpanda said the company believes that humans too can benefit from adopting a similar mindset, and focus their energies on things that truly satisfy them.

“We wanted to create a brand philosophy that will resonate with people of all ages across the region,” said Eunha Bhang, Chief Creative Officer, Delivery Hero Asia.

“With ‘live like a panda’, we hope to inspire our customers to look beyond their routine or chores that get in the way of doing things that they truly like, such as spending time with people they love. We want to help them free up time for things they enjoy doing so that they can find true satisfaction,” Bhang added.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to foodpanda for queries around its marketing plans.

Meanwhile, Pau-Pau was introduced to make the brand more relatable to people’s everyday lives. Since his debut a year ago, Pau-Pau has made his presence felt across the region creating a positive perception in customers’ minds - making

foodpanda their first preference for on-demand deliveries. Throughout 2022, foodpanda also created different Pau-Pau merchandise to promote the presence of the new mascot.

Pau-pau is also constantly featured in prominent out of home advertisements, and has his own line of plushies and exclusive collectables, and has also been part of collaborations with partners such as Tinder, Coffee meets Bagel, Burger King, and McDonalds.

His hyperlocal presence enabled him to be a well-loved character throughout the region, amplified through in-market campaigns and initiatives,” said foodpanda. For instance, in Thailand last year, a giant Pau-Pau mascot visited an underprivileged children’s foundation to celebrate Valentine's Day with them and also deliver delicious meals and other everyday necessities. In Taiwan, foodpanda launched a Pau-Pau promotion campaign featuring three Pau-Pau statues about 2.5m high while in Singapore, Pau-Pau has his own ice cream flavour and pink cookies!

“The creation of our own brand ambassador, Pau-Pau, allows us to better connect and engage with millions of people who use the foodpanda app daily in a fresh, new way. With Pau-Pau, we now have the unique opportunity and creative runway to launch campaigns that bring to life foodpanda’s brand personality. While Pau-Pau had an adventurous 2022, for 2023, we are very excited for him to explore even more meaningful ways to add value to our customers’ lives,” said Monika Mikusova, senior director of marketing APAC at foodpanda.