Grubhub’s Marnie Kain on standing out in a crowded market

Summary

The Current Podcast: GrubHub’s Marni Cain on Standing Out in a Crowded Market

Release Date: February 19, 2025
Host/Authors: Damian Fowler and Ailee Slifring
Guest: Marni Cain, VP of Brand and Creative at GrubHub

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Introduction

In this episode of The Current Podcast, hosts Damian Fowler and Ailee Slifring engage in an insightful conversation with Marni Cain, the Vice President of Brand and Creative at GrubHub. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, GrubHub has evolved from a pioneering food delivery service in Chicago to a nationwide powerhouse with over 375,000 restaurant partners across more than 4,000 U.S. cities. Cain joined GrubHub in September 2023, coinciding with the company's significant milestone celebrations.

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Marni Cain’s Background and Transition to GrubHub

Marni Cain brings decades of agency experience across diverse sectors to GrubHub. Discussing her transition, Cain shares:

“It was a very easy decision to make to go to GrubHub... who doesn't love food and the delight and joy of delivery that it brings.”
(00:58)

She highlights how her extensive background in categories like consumer packaged goods, mass retail, and health and wellness equips her to tackle the challenges in the highly competitive food delivery landscape.

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Differentiating GrubHub in a Competitive Market

Cain emphasizes GrubHub’s consumer-centric approach to differentiation. She explains:

“We really look at it from a consumer standpoint and what's meaningful and relevant to our customers... we're expanding even beyond restaurants into categories like grocery convenience and others that will soon come.”
(02:46)

By addressing customer pain points and expanding service categories, GrubHub aims to enhance value and relevance, ensuring they meet evolving consumer needs in a saturated market.

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Key Partnerships: The Amazon Collaboration

A pivotal aspect of GrubHub's strategy is its strategic partnerships, notably with Amazon. Cain elaborates on this collaboration:

“The synergy between the two delivery giants is quite clear... Amazon Prime members get the ability to get one year of GrubHub Plus for free, which is our membership service that essentially provides $0 delivery fees.”
(03:49)

She further describes the enhanced partnership launched in May 2024, which offers ongoing delivery benefits to Amazon subscribers and integrates GrubHub’s services directly within the Amazon app. This partnership not only adds value for consumers but also drives greater sales for GrubHub’s restaurant partners.

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GrubHub's Growth and 20th Anniversary Celebrations

Reflecting on GrubHub’s two-decade journey, Cain discusses the company’s evolution and anniversary celebrations:

“We offered literally 20,000 offers to our customers... We celebrated this under the banner of 20 years of deals because that's really what matters to consumers.”
(06:38)

She recounts the significant changes since GrubHub’s inception in 2004, including the introduction of the delivery aspect a decade into their operations and the acquisition of Seamless in 2013. The anniversary was marked by extensive promotions and deals, reinforcing GrubHub’s commitment to delivering value.

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Innovations and Future Strategies: Campus Business and AI

Cain highlights GrubHub’s innovative ventures, particularly in the campus sector and the integration of artificial intelligence:

“GrubHub's campus business started about six years ago with the acquisition of an Israeli-based tech company called Toping... we have the food from the campus restaurants and dining facilities delivered by robots.”
(09:53)

She envisions future expansions into drone and robot deliveries to enhance speed and efficiency. Additionally, Cain underscores the importance of AI in creating more intuitive and seamless user experiences, leveraging vast consumer data to anticipate and meet customer needs effectively.

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Leveraging Culture and Social Engagements

Understanding the influence of cultural trends, Cain explains GrubHub’s approach to maintaining relevance:

“We do a tremendous amount of paid and organic social where we aim to capitalize on cultural moments... it's really important to be agile and to be able to get out there fast and just have a voice.”
(12:05)

By engaging in real-time cultural conversations and partnering with influencers, GrubHub enhances brand perception and drives consumer engagement, ensuring they remain top-of-mind in a crowded marketplace.

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Future Priorities and Strategic Outlook

Looking ahead, Cain outlines GrubHub’s strategic priorities:

“Creating more intuitive and using AI elements of the app is really important... more curated and exclusive experiences... speed is really important and even distance of delivery.”
(13:44)

Her vision includes leveraging AI to enhance the user interface, developing exclusive delivery experiences by combining various categories, and maintaining rapid and extensive delivery services to meet consumer demands.

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Innovative Campaigns and Consumer Insights

Cain shares examples of targeted campaigns and intriguing consumer data insights:

“We launched a special delivery campaign targeted at expectant moms... based on the insight that as you're expecting, there's a lot of things you can't eat and you crave these things.”
(15:17)

She also mentions GrubHub’s “Spotify Wrapped”-style feature, providing users with personalized and trend-based ordering statistics, fostering a deeper connection with consumers by tapping into their behavioral patterns.

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Conclusion

Marni Cain’s comprehensive approach to branding and innovation positions GrubHub as a resilient leader in the food delivery industry. Through strategic partnerships, technological advancements, and a keen understanding of consumer culture, GrubHub continues to stand out in a crowded market. As the company looks toward the future, its focus on AI, exclusive experiences, and enhanced delivery mechanisms promises to sustain its growth and customer satisfaction.

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Notable Quotes:

• Marni Cain:
  “It was a very easy decision to make to go to GrubHub...” (00:58)
  “We really look at it from a consumer standpoint...” (02:46)
  “The synergy between the two delivery giants is quite clear...” (03:49)
  “We offered literally 20,000 offers to our customers...” (06:38)
  “GrubHub's campus business started about six years ago...” (09:53)
  “We do a tremendous amount of paid and organic social...” (12:05)
  “Creating more intuitive and using AI elements of the app...” (13:44)
  “We launched a special delivery campaign targeted at expectant moms...” (15:17)

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This detailed summary captures the essence of the conversation between Marni Cain and the hosts, providing a comprehensive overview of GrubHub’s strategies and future directions for listeners and readers alike.

Transcript

[Marni Cain]

Damien.

[Damien Fowler]

I'm Damien Fowler.

[Ailee Slifring]

And I'm Ailee Slifring.

[Damien Fowler]

And welcome to this edition of the Current podcast.

[Ailee Slifring]

This week we're delighted to talk with Marni Cain, the VP of brand and creative at GrubHub.

[Damien Fowler]

GrubHub recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. It was founded in Chicago in 2004 and it was the pioneer food delivery service, a forerunner to the booming e commerce delivery sector.

[Ailee Slifring]

Two decades on, the business has scaled has 375,000 restaurant partners in over 4,000 US cities.

[Damien Fowler]

Marnie joined the company in September 2023 just as it was planning its big birthday celebrations.

[Ailee Slifring]

So Marnie, can you tell us about the challenge of marketing this brand having joined just GrubHub in 2023?

[Marni Cain]

Well, it was a very easy decision to make to go to grubhub. I had spent a number of decades on the agency side working with clients across many different categories. And one thing I learned is that it's really fun to work in a category that you enjoy and who doesn't love food and the delight and joy of delivery that it brings. So I was able to really unmask my experience across many sectors like cpg, mass retail, qsr, casual dining, health and wellness, travel, and so on and really bring that expertise and experience to the table to solve some really interesting challenges in a very crowded landscape.

[Ailee Slifring]

Now, it is interesting with your background because like you said, you've been across agencies for a long time. What would you say is the differentiating factor being brand side now?

[Marni Cain]

Well, being brand side, you definitely have greater visibility to the complexities of the business. I think you believe you understand that when you're on the agency side. But what you have visibility to is far less than what really goes on. And it is challenging to sell things in across the organization because there are many stakeholders, cross functional decision making and priorities that aren't necessarily brand marketing.

[Ailee Slifring]

Now let's talk about grubhub's marketing strategy a little. So the delivery service sector has become quite competitive. As you know, as all consumers know, we have lots of choices. How do you think about differentiating GrubHub in the space and maintaining that market share?

[Marni Cain]

We really look at it from a consumer standpoint and what's meaningful and relevant to our customers. What conveniences do they need? What are their pain points? What categories do they need delivery from? So we're expanding even beyond restaurants into categories like grocery convenience and others that will soon come. So it's really about being in service of the customer and their needs as far as what is differentiating about us. It's really about tapping into and building upon what they see as valuable. So one of the biggest ways that we're offering value outside of just everyday value that are always available on the app are through partnerships like the one we have with Amazon.

[Ailee Slifring]

Maybe you could tell us a little bit more about the partnership and how GrubHub really works with brands and what platforms it chooses when it comes to those types of partnerships.

[Marni Cain]

Well, Amazon is a great example of really understanding what's important to consumers. Obviously, Amazon delivers pretty much everything, but what they don't deliver is food from restaurants. And so the synergy between the two delivery giants is quite clear. The opportunity was to really bring added value to Amazon prime customers and that is what we've done. So our Amazon partnership initially launched before my time in 22. And what you would get as an Amazon prime member is the ability to get one year of grubhub plus for free, which is our membership service that essentially provides $0 delivery fees, which is our premier benefit. Additionally, $5 cash back on pickup orders, priority delivery and other exclusive offers. This past May, we built on the initial success and really deepened that partnership to bring added value to consumers and greater sales for our restaurant partners by making the benefits ongoing to Amazon subscribers. So prime members get, as long as they're a Prime member, they have $0 delivery on Grubhub. Additionally, what's really unique is that you can shop all on Amazon for grubhub. There's actually a tile on the grocery tab that you can go through and actually link your Grubhub account, get your $0 delivery benefit and start shopping straight within the Amazon app.

[Ailee Slifring]

Wow, I really didn't know that.

[Damien Fowler]

In terms of partnerships like that, that must be a big help. In terms of scaling, it really is.

[Marni Cain]

We started as early days for Grubhub. We were really looking to help restaurants scale. 20 years ago, restaurants delivered their menus by putting them in mailboxes in the neighborhood and also keeping them available outside of their restaurants. And that was their scale. Now they have access to so many consumers through grubhub, which originally was a tech powered menu aggregator and ultimately a tech powered order system for restaurants. Today it's really a three sided business model where we service restaurants and continue to help them scale, but we also support a very large driver community that makes a living working for grubhub as well as bringing new conveniences every day to consumers.

[Damien Fowler]

Let's talk about that a little bit. You mentioned how it started and you joined the company, just as Grubhub was probably thinking about its 20th birthday in 2024, what was the sort of nature of the thinking around how it was going mark this important anniversary?

[Marni Cain]

Well, I think the important thing when you consider that it was our 20th anniversary is that it's really all about what we can do for our customers. They are perhaps interested in the fact that we've been around for a long time. We're the OG in the category, and that means we stand by our product and our reliable brand. But mostly they just want what they want when they want it. They want value. They want to know that we have the restaurants that they're interested in. So the first thing we did was offer literally 20,000 offers to our customers. Free items that they could get from restaurants like McDonald's, Popeyes, Pizza Hut, Wendy's, Panera, Taco Bell. We also offered 20% off several other restaurants and convenience stores. And we celebrated this under the banner of 20 years of deals because that's really what matters to consumers. And the value is something that we continue to pursue through partnerships like Amazon, where they're saving over $300 annually on not paying for delivery, for delivery fees on GrubHub. So when I think back to 2004, it's hard to believe some of the other things going on at that time. MySpace was the most popular social media. That's crazy.

[Damien Fowler]

That was. Yeah.

[Marni Cain]

Mark Zo Zuckerberg had just launched the Facebook at Harvard. Google was beta testing Gmail.

[Ailee Slifring]

Crazy.

[Marni Cain]

Shake Shack opened its first and best, if you ask me, location in New York City. And outkast had the number one song, which was hey, yeah, if that match.

[Damien Fowler]

I remember that.

[Marni Cain]

But it really is amazing how much changes in 20 years. And even, you know, as a third party delivery industry, that industry has changed so much from aggregating menus. And actually the delivery part of the business didn't even start until 10 years into those 20 years.

[Damien Fowler]

Wow. And it also started in Chicago as a local concern. Obviously, you've built up a national presence since then. Can you talk a little bit about that?

[Marni Cain]

Yeah. GrubHub did launch in Chicago in 2004, and it was the brainchild of the two founders and was about aggregating menus and fully in service of restaurants. Its beginnings are even technically before that because the brand acquired the seamless brand, which started in 1999, but that acquisition happened in 2013. Each part of our evolution, we've constantly been looking for new ways to bring value, to bring selection, to bring better service, and speed to our customers.

[Ailee Slifring]

And now what innovations do you see grubhub making even in the near term to stay on top of like emerging trends and industry changes? Obviously AI is everywhere and I know that's one thing apps like grubhub are looking into and experimenting with, but maybe even across creative. So I'm curious about that.

[Marni Cain]

Yeah, I think that one area of excitement for us and great innovation is our campus business. So what many people don't know is that grubhub's campus business started about six years ago with the acquisition of an Israeli based tech company called Toping. And today we work with more than 360 universities and nearly 5 million students. And what's really interesting about this partnership is that it's not superficial. It's not just download the app and be like a regular customer on our app. They actually, depending on the university, have their dining dollars go directly through GrubHub. So when you arrive at school, one of the first things you have happen at orientation is you are told to Sign up for GrubHub and link your dining dollars. And one of the schools where my daughter actually goes is our flagship school, Ohio State University. And that is probably the most robust version of our campus partnership where we actually have the food from the campus restaurants and dining facilities delivered by robots. And I will tell you that it's pretty cool. The robots are available at a number of colleges and as we think about the future of the category, I think it's scratch scratching the surface on what might be readily available as ways that we can, you know, sort of buck the speed of how we currently deliver in urban areas by bicycle and motorbike and you know, in the suburbs by car. So I think drone delivery or robot delivery could be on the horizon. I also think creatively thinking about our different categories of delivery, we have an opportunity to create more curated and exclusive experiences. There are a lot of competitors that deliver from a lot of the categories that we deliver in, but it's really about how we combine our categories and verticals of delivery to create unique experiences that you can't find anywhere else.

[Damien Fowler]

How important is what's going on in culture to the way you position yourself in market?

[Marni Cain]

I think that culture is really driving everything and we do a tremendous amount of paid and organic social where we aim to capitalize on cultural moments. So as we see people talking about either the brand or about food, or about Charlie XCX or, you know, whatever it is that we can tap into and follow a meme or join in the conversation. It's really important to be agile and to be able to get out there fast and just have a voice. It doesn't mean we necessarily have to create an entire campaign that taps into that cultural moment. But what we've learned is it's really important to be in the conversation in order to drive relevance. It is a very crowded marketplace and there are many people spending a lot of money, many competitors. But we find that influencers are really helping us to really speak to our customers in a moment when they're craving food, wanting to order food. And we've seen terrific engagement from the programs that we're doing, as well as increased brand perceptions. And that's the other thing about partnerships. Whether it be with Amazon or influencers across the gamut, we really look to partner with others that help improve our brand perception and lift all boats.

[Damien Fowler]

As you look ahead to later this year and beyond, what are the priorities for you as a brand? Is it a question of scaling, building more couriers, building more restaurants, building more consumers? What's the kind of game plan if it could look big picture, big picture?

[Marni Cain]

There's so much opportunity in this category to continue to grow, to delight consumers and also to meet their needs. So creating more intuitive and using AI elements of the app is really important. We have a ton of data about our consumers because they're in our ecosystem, but really leveraging that data, using AI and creating more intuitive experience and more seamless experience in the app is definitely a priority. Also, as I mentioned, more curated and exclusive experiences. How can we capitalize on this very unique mix of retailers essentially available on our app, to create experiences that you can't find anywhere else? Partnerships is definitely a priority. How can we continue to leverage that and sort of aggregate value for customers? And finally, speed is really important and even distance of delivery because people are looking for the restaurants they love, they're looking to get them when they want them.

[Ailee Slifring]

On that note, with all those preferences and consumer habits, that obviously leads to a lot of data that you have within the app. And you briefly mentioned using AI to make that consumer experience a little easier. On the end consumer, can you talk about how that works with AI a little bit and perhaps maybe do you, on the creative end, tap that data for future campaigns?

[Marni Cain]

Really, we are exploring and experimenting with AI and we don't have the answer or the end of that story to share yet, but we all experience it on a daily basis, being online, and everybody's using ChatGPT to write their speeches or whatever. But in the case of Food delivery. It really will allow us to become more intuitive. And that's really the key, because people are looking for shortcuts. They're looking for brands that get them and know them and that understand their pain points and their inflection points. The other thing that we're doing, and this isn't necessarily using our own data, is finding opportunities for moments or milestones where we really can make a difference in people's lives. One example of this that you may have seen is we had launched In August of 2024, a special delivery campaign which was targeted at expectant moms. And we provided them based on their engagement and signing up their first meal after giving birth. And that was really based on the insight that as you're expecting, there's a lot of things you can't eat and you crave these things, whether they're sushi or, believe it or not, deli meat. And a lot of that could cause a bacteria, an infection for the baby. So at the point where the baby is born, the first thought is, what am I going to eat? And we were able to meet that need with a special delivery from grubhub. So it's really about using data to get into what's important to consumers as opposed to just for data's sake. We have a ton of data about what consumers order. And actually every December we produce some stats about where the trends are going and even some personal stats as a grubhub plus member that you might receive about your own ordering habits, which can be very interesting because many of our employees find out that their kids are doing most of their ordering and they get surprised quite a bit. But one of the things that really surprises me is that the most ordered convenience store drink is not Diet Coke, which a lot of people guess, not Celsius, which a lot of people guess. Interestingly, I know it's Dr. Pepper.

[Ailee Slifring]

Oh, yeah.

[Marni Cain]

Another one that I always am surprised by is the fastest growing pizza topping, Pineapple. Bingo.

[Ailee Slifring]

Really?

[Marni Cain]

Yes. Pineapple is the fastest growing pizza topping, Not New York. Those are my two favorites.

[Damien Fowler]

I like that. Yeah. You should have a GrubHub quiz.

[Marni Cain]

I know we should. We'll get one to you.

[Ailee Slifring]

Is it like a Spotify wrapped kind of thing?

[Marni Cain]

Yes, it's exactly like a Spotify wrapped where you can learn about what you order and then also what America's ordering. So it serves as a way to tap into the cultural zeitgeist.

[Damien Fowler]

Yeah.

[Ailee Slifring]

Very fun.

[Damien Fowler]

All right, perfect. Thank you so much.

[Marni Cain]

Thank you again for having me.

[Damien Fowler]

Yeah, thank you. And that's it for this edition of the Current Podcast. We'll be back next week, so stay tuned.

[Ailee Slifring]

The current Podcast theme is by Love and Caliber. The current team includes Kat Fessy and Sydney Cairns.

[Marni Cain]

And remember, there are a lot of competitors that deliver from a lot of the categories that we deliver in, but it's really about how we combine our categories and verticals of delivery to create unique experiences that you can't find anywhere else.

[Damien Fowler]

I'm Damian. And I'm Ilif, and we'll see you next time. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, tune into our other podcast, the Current Report.