How Vita Coco Brought Y2K Nostalgia to Doorsteps with DoorDash Ads

The Background

Vita Coco is known for embracing balance over extremes. They speak to consumers they call the "Realistic Balancers" — people who start the day with a morning run and end it with a night out — championing a flexible approach to wellness and encouraging consumers to hydrate and enjoy life, guilt-free.

As a fun way to celebrate the extension of their Vita Coco Treats line, Vita Coco created the Nostalgia Mall — a two-day event in New York where Vita Coco designed a storefront to be the ultimate Y2K hangout, complete with baby tees and sparkly flip phones. By transporting consumers back to a simpler time when they could hang out with friends at the mall and enjoy sharing after-school treats like the Orange & Creme creamsicle-inspired drink, Vita Coco reinforced their brand messaging of carefree indulgence. 

Strategy: Bringing the Nostalgia Home

Welcome to The Nostalgia Mall, a DoorDash virtual storefront

Knowing many wouldn't be able to join the event in person, Vita Coco launched a virtual Nostalgia Mall storefront on DoorDash that replicated the creative elements of their NYC pop-up. This interactive experience expanded awareness of their Treats products among Millennial and Gen Z audiences, while giving the opportunity for consumers to purchase Vita Coco and their partners' products online — all through DashMart.

"We felt this was a great program that brought the 'treat yourself' culture to homes across the US, since our pop-up couldn't travel around. The surprise and delight of receiving a sweet treat is an experience we wanted to bring to everyone, regardless of where they live."

The Power of Sampling

Because DashMart fulfilled all Nostalgia Mall orders, Vita Coco used DoorDash's sampling add-on to offer free treats to every shopper — even those who didn't order Vita Coco. This seamless, surprise-and-delight experience brought the joy of the pop-up directly to people's doorsteps.

"The sampling program was successful, and we're also continuing to see sales growth in key regions."

- Mae Wen, Senior Manager, Omnichannel, Vita Coco 

Full Funnel Activation on DoorDash 

To further drive consideration and sales, Vita Coco ran a comprehensive strategy using both Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns to reach their target audience.

• With Sponsored Products, Vita Coco was able to prominently surface their new Treats flavor across search results, store pages, and collections, allowing them higher levels of consideration while customers were browsing. 

• With Sponsored Brands, Vita Coco was able to showcase a full carousel of Treats, driving traffic to the virtual storefront and reinforcing brand presence.

Keyword targeting also played a role in their success. Through applying recommended keywords and direct brand keywords like "Vita Coco Treats," the team was able to segment the audience of their ads and drive higher return on ad spend (ROAS) and overall sales.

"By using all available products — sampling, search, and storefronts — we created a full-funnel strategy that drove real results." 

- Mae Wen, Senior Manager, Omnichannel, Vita Coco 

Delivering results with unique tools and a close partnership 

Vita Coco results at-a-glance:

For Vita Coco, The Nostalgia Mall virtual storefront allowed them to create a one-of-a-kind branded experience with a direct line to consumers looking for a hit of hydration. The virtual storefront gave Vita Coco full creative control, from product curation to visual branding — a unique advantage of the DoorDash Ads platform.

And by providing samples in the orders, fans of Vita Coco were able to discover their next favorite product when they opened their order bags. In fact, using the DoorDash sampling add-on, Vita Coco boosted brand consideration by sampling 40,000 treats bottles to DashMart consumers who visited their Nostalgia Mall.

This strategy increased customer incrementality and brand growth, and maximized their visibility in the app. Their Sponsored Products campaigns increased new-to-brand sales by 52% with a 6.6x ROAS, while their Sponsored Brand campaigns were even more successful, growing new-to-brand sales by 65%. And together, the campaigns fueled a year-over-year Q2 sales lift of +56%.

"The DoorDash team is super leaned-in and always willing to test new concepts like The Nostalgia Mall, sampling, and retailer-specific targeting. We are a brand that prides itself on innovation and marrying consumer experience with brand objectives, and DoorDash has been a great partner for that."

- Mae Wen, Senior Manager, Omnichannel, Vita Coco