Behind Superette, DoorDash’s in-house creative studio
DoorDash Executive Creative Director Mariota Essery discusses Superette's mission and some of its biggest projects.
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DoorDash doesn't just want to stand out in the delivery industry. It also aims to have the best creative studio in the world.
That goal, outlined by Kofi Amoo-Gottfried, DoorDash’s chief marketing officer, is what convinced Mariota Essery to leave the agency side of the business in 2020 and join DoorDash as its executive creative director.
DoorDash’s in-house creative studio works on projects aimed at consumers, restaurateurs and its own delivery drivers, or Dashers. And now it has its own name, Superette, coined after the corner stores found in neighborhoods worldwide.
“You have the ability to walk into the doors of a superette and you’ll get anything that you need,” Essery said on the latest episode of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast. “They are there to support their neighborhoods and it’s so similar to the mission of DoorDash, which is about supporting local economies and neighborhoods.”
Essery spoke about Superette before Wednesday's news that DoorDash is laying off about 1,250 people, according to a company memo from CEO Tony Xu viewed by Bloomberg.
DoorDash, which competes with Uber Eats, Instacart and other companies that deliver from restaurants, grocery stores and elsewhere (it most recently announced delivery from Sephora), has launched a variety of projects this year handled by Superette. A specialty claw game installed in a New York shop window promoted its DashMart grocery delivery. People lined up to play and win bags filled with products from businesses including Magnolia Bakery, Milk Bar and Baz Bagel.
Essery also discussed Secret Menu, a magazine for restaurants that “could easily be a coffee table book,” she said. (Superette Design Director Adriel Teles worked with Studio Yukiko in Berlin on the design.) The first issue, released earlier this year, included stories about Asian restaurants and culture in Los Angeles. A second edition with an undisclosed topic is set to be released in 2023.
DoorDash also partnered with the Tribeca Film Festival to produce the short film “Alien (The Other)” written by Özgür Seyben, a Dasher whose script was inspired by his immigration journey to the U.S. The film premiered at the festival in June.
DoorDash isn’t going all-in on in-house work. Its plan is always to work with external partners, said Essery. DoorDash has a relationship with the Martin Agency.
