The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2025
GrabMart's 'Same' films: groceries are just groceries
GIGIL's sitcom films answer doubts about online marts. NYF Bronze, ADFEST Silver.
GrabMart (Grab Philippines) · GIGIL
What it had to solve
Since GrabMart launched, Grab has struggled to convince Filipino shoppers to switch from traditional grocery trips — the main objections were pricing and product quality. Rather than fight the comparison, the brand decided to dramatise it.
How it works
The biggest hurdle for app-based grocers is not delivery speed but trust: shoppers suspect the invisible mart will charge more or swap quality. GrabMart faced exactly that in the Philippines, where the brand is compared, trip after trip, with the familiar neighbourhood grocery run.
GIGIL's answer was to stop answering the comparison and start starring in it. The 'Same' film series is built on a classic Filipino sitcom pairing — a mother and a son who enjoys winding her up. In each episode the son stalls the errand, asking again and again whether each item should come from the grocery store or from GrabMart. The reply is the campaign: it's the same. Same brand, same price, same food, and no queue.
The series ran on social through 2025 and became the work GrabMart kept entering: as 'Chicky' it took Bronze in the Funny category at the New York Festivals 2026 and Silver in Social Film Series at ADFEST 2026. The business number attached to it was the point — Grab reported the campaign drove 227% faster week-on-week growth for the service.
Why it lands
- It converts a genuine consumer fear into a joke the audience is already telling themselves, making 'same' a resolution instead of a defensiveness.
- The sitcom framing gave the series built-in rewatch and share value — each episode is a self-contained argument, so the media ran on social loops rather than paid reach.
- It used a culturally native format (the Filipino mother-son dynamic) so the claim of 'no difference' landed as everyday truth, not advertising.
- The measurable outcome came from the mindset shift: once the comparison stopped being scary, trial and repeat orders accelerated — 227% faster week-on-week growth per Grab.
What it did
The series became GrabMart's flagship award work, entered at festivals as 'Chicky'. It took Bronze in the Funny category at the 2026 New York Festivals and Silver in the Social Film Series category at ADFEST 2026. Grab reported the campaign led GrabMart to 227% faster week-on-week growth.
What you can take
When consumers doubt you on safety grounds ('the old way is more trustworthy'), don't argue — write the objection into a comedy loop, so the shrug is both the joke and the proof.
Since then
The 'Same' series ran through 2025 and carried GrabMart through two festival seasons — Bronze (Funny) at The New York Festivals 2026 and Silver in Social Film Series at ADFEST 2026, with the films filed under the entry name 'Chicky'. Grab credited the campaign with 227% faster week-on-week growth for GrabMart. In 2026 GIGIL followed with another GrabMart campaign built on a Filipino stress expression, keeping the strategy of turning local behaviour into proof of how ordinary the service feels.
Sources
- New GIGIL Philippines campaign shows that GrabMart is the same as grocery stores
- GIGIL brings home silver and bronzes from The New York Festivals (GrabMart's 'Chicky', NYF Bronze Funny; 227% faster week-on-week growth)
- ADFEST 2026: Japan dominates Lotus Awards with 39 wins — full winners list (Chicky, GrabMart, Silver, Social Film Series)
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