This month, foodpanda’s brand ambassador, Pau-Pau, turns one! To commemorate this milestone, foodpanda launched its brand philosophy which encourages people to ‘live like a panda’, meaning freeing up their time and energy to pursue what really matters to them.
Pau-Pau was introduced during a time when food delivery was undifferentiated with deals and discounts to personify the foodpanda brand and make it more relatable to people’s everyday lives. Since his debut, Pau-Pau has received immense love from millions of people across the region and has successfully created a positive perception in customers’ minds – making foodpanda their first preference for on-demand deliveries.
Throughout 2022, foodpanda has also received numerous requests for Pau-Pau merchandise, which highlights his growing fanbase.
Winning hearts all over the region
Pau-Pau, since becoming the face of the brand, has seamlessly made his way into customers’ everyday lives through social media collaterals such as Telegram and LINE sticker sets as well as Instagram filters, which are used by millions daily. He is constantly featured in prominent out of home advertisements, and has his own line of plushies and exclusive collectables – to the delight of customers.
In the past year, he has also been part of multiple exciting 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. 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.
Representing purpose
Beyond just being an adorable mascot, Pau-Pau also champions sustainability and empowerment. In doing his part for the environment, he fronted foodpanda’s recent green initiatives such as “Let’s do our Pau-rt” – a sustainability program in the Philippines, and was the face of locally-produced sustainable beer in Singapore, called “Loaf Like A Panda“.
Pau-Pau believes in and advocates empowerment and living life on one’s own terms. On Pau-Pau’s first birthday, foodpanda launched its brand philosophy called ‘live like a panda’, which encourages 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 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 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. 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.” said Eunha Bhang, Chief Creative Officer, Delivery Hero Asia.
Watch the brand philosophy video here.
Follow Pau-Pau’s adventures and what he has been up to here.