The enduring power of Menulog’s Did Somebody Say

Sixteen-year-old Australian-founded company Menulog is celebrating its fifth year and iteration of the Did Somebody Say campaign. 

Cheng has used local and international talent, including Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg and Australian singer D’Arcy Spiller, as the faces of the commercial. 

Since the inception of Did Somebody Say, the evolution of the campaign has continued to hit home for Australians with its through-the-line activation strategy and catchy jingle. 

“When we started off with this we thought we needed to come up with something that was going to be really distinctive, with some kind of big celebrity factor,” said Cheng. 

The first campaign had no celebrities, it was just a launch of the new tagline Did Somebody Say, which then developed into a Snoop Dogg feature the following year, said Cheng. 

“It was actually a parody on the original ad; Snoop Dogg was watching the ad, saying, 'Look, you know, I'm sick of this shit, I can do it better’.”  

“That's how the Snoop Dogg idea came about."

For an audience, the musical accompaniment of the iconic commercial is just as important as seeing the classic message on their screens.  

Cheng said that all marketers get trained to build visual brand assets, but the more people can add multi-dimensions to the distinctive brand assets, the more likelihood there is for people to remember them in purchasing decisions. 

“Audio branding is a really important thing. In the 80s' jingles were really big. That's why we were so surprised about how well it's gone, because we were told jingles were out of fashion,” said Cheng. 

Although Cheng agrees that having a multi-channel approach to advertising is key, he acknowledges that TV is crucial and ultimately the foundation for mass viewing.  

“Our strategy is, when we launch a major new campaign or new celebrity, we look for massive viewing moments and only TV can deliver that,” he said. 

“TV makes other channels work better. We invest a lot into performance marketing, which is mainly Google search and a lot of those kind of conversion channels but they work three times better when you've got TV running as well.  

“The more you've got people interested in knowing about your product, the more likely you are going to convert them.” 

The Did Somebody Say tagline has been woven into popular culture, a surprise even for Cheng himself.  

“We always have these lofty goals as marketers, when you sit in rooms, you brainstorm - everyone wants to be part of that culture,” he said. 

That reach is a result of authenticity and the knowledge that advertising is simply entertainment, according to Cheng.  

Cheng says brands need not take themselves too seriously, and at Menulog that culture is instilled in the team. 

“That's why we're able to pivot do things like we did with the Katy Perry launch at the State of Origin. Who would have thought that after getting such a negative publicity after launching Katy Perry, we then quickly turned and put another ad on air, just as a bit of fun to poke at ourselves,” he said. 

Cheng credits the platform and how it’s become recognisable as a means for Menulog to do things a little more alternatively. 

“There were maybe a handful of celebrities that we could use that cut across many generations. Snoop was actually one of them; he appeals to old people and young people,” he said. 

“Now we can try a few different things and add more dimensions to the campaign.”