Introducing Instacart Ads Studio: Where Brand Stories Meet Shopping Baskets

Instacart unveils a full-service, in-house creative marketing offering for CPG brands of all sizes

Today, at Cannes Lions 2026, we're officially unveiling Instacart Ads Studio – a full-service creative marketing offering designed to help CPG brands of all sizes turn grocery shopping into brand-building moments.

With Instacart Ads Studio, brands have the opportunity to join Instacart’s own brand campaigns or create custom campaigns, all powered by Instacart's first-party purchase data. The creative muscle behind it all is Instacart's in-house creative agency, Local Produce, which was named 2026 In-House Agency of the Year by Ad Age. When you partner with Instacart Ads Studio, you’re working with one of the most recognized creative teams in the industry.

These campaigns are driven by deep strategic partnerships, designed to reach the right customers at the right time. Instacart Ads Studio helps brands break through in culture from mass moments, like the Big Game, to subcultures, like 90s nostalgia, by creating even deeper connections with customers – both on and offline – and making it easy to add those products to their carts. 

While we are formally unveiling this offering today, the team has been hard at work deeply engaging with CPG partners to perfect the program over the last two years. In fact, we've worked with nearly 200 CPG brand partners across more than 420 campaigns – from major multi-brand integrations with Kraft Heinz, P&G, and PepsiCo, to creative activations with challenger brands like BrightFarms®, Kettle & Fire, and Mighty Spark. 

Campaigns powered by purchase intent 

Instacart is uniquely positioned at the moment when consumers are actively making shopping decisions. Instacart Ads Studio is built to enhance that moment with exceptional brand storytelling, creative, and exclusive channels.

As marketers, we all know the consumer shopping journey is not linear. It's noisy, fragmented, and full of competing signals. Instacart Ads Studio helps brands break through the noise to meet consumers where they are and inspire them.

"Instacart Ads Studio really shows how we believe brand marketing and commerce should work together. When we integrate CPG partners into our campaigns, or build something entirely new around their brand, we can close the loop between brand love and purchase,” said Instacart CMO Laura Jones. “We've spent years building one of the most creative, culturally engaged marketing programs in grocery, and now we're formally opening that capability to our brand partners in a way that's scalable, flexible, and differentiated.”

One goal, two creative paths 

Instacart Ads Studio gives CPG brands two powerful ways to partner: 

1. Join Instacart’s story with brand integrations

Your products become part of Instacart campaigns that reach millions, whether that's a feature in one of our video spots, a geo-targeted activation triggered by a heat wave, or a bold seasonal push.

These go far beyond banner placements. We've worked brands into hand-sculpted claymation holiday videos, featured beloved CPG mascots in our Super Bowl commercial debut, and brought brands like Capri Sun, Lunchables, Bagel Bites, and Kellogg's Frosted Flakes® along for our “Summer Like It's 1999” campaign – culminating in a live Third Eye Blind concert in NYC where 1,300 fans sang, reminisced, and sampled more than 7,000 CPG products at our Throwback Snack Shack.

2. Build your own story with custom campaigns

When you're ready to create something bespoke, Instacart Ads Studio is your co-pilot. We build ideas around your brand, priorities, and calendar, and can handle everything from campaign ideation to creative development, influencer partnerships, and closed-loop measurement. We can partner closely with your existing agency or in-house creatives to develop something new together, or expand on existing campaigns.

Our Ads Studio campaigns go beyond standard media by leveraging Instacart's owned channels, award-winning in-house creative team, white-glove support from marketing strategists, and deep grocery expertise. For example, we helped Oscar Mayer launch "Sing to Pay," a Clio-award-winning sweepstakes where fans could sing the iconic jingle as currency to pay for their bologna on Instacart. And this May, we gave Oscar Mayer fans the chance to vote on who they thought would win the Wienie 500, the viral race of six wienermobiles around the track in Indianapolis. 

This National Quitters Day, the second Friday in January where most people abandon their new year’s resolutions, we created a bespoke custom campaign for BrightFarms where we helped the brand give out free salad kits to help consumers stick with their resolutions. 

Award-winning creative for every budget

We’re proud that Instacart Ads Studio isn't just for the biggest brands with the biggest budgets. It's for emerging brands who deserve to play on a bigger stage, mid-market brands who are breaking through, and category leaders who want to do something that's never been done.

"A lot of partners can build you a creative asset or spin up a standard campaign, that's table stakes. Instacart Ads Studio was built to do something fundamentally different: think and operate like a member of your own marketing team. That means getting deep on your category, your consumer, the right channels, and the cultural moments worth showing up for — then executing the whole thing end to end,” said Stephanie Paturzo-Swingle, Senior Director of Commercial Marketing at Instacart. “This isn't just creative services. It's a full-stack marketing partnership, powered by the data, creative, and cultural instincts that only Instacart can bring. That's what it means to truly grow the pie together."

During Expo West, we activated an out-of-home takeover across the Orange County Airport and digital billboards surrounding the convention center — putting our 75 Fastest-Growing Emerging Brands in front of the precise industry audience they needed to reach. We sent influencer mailers filled with emerging brand samples for Instacart’s fall ‘Sunday Scaries’ campaign, matching the brands saving Sundays with the creators whose audiences live for that kind of content.

Built on real data to drive real results 

Instacart Ads Studio is built to deliver great creative with great results.

Our campaigns are powered by Instacart's first-party purchase data — reaching the right consumers at the right moment, whether that's during an allergy season, before a big game, or when a marathon is running through their city. 

• Brand integrations into Instacart seasonal campaigns reach, on average, 93% new-to-brand audiences and extend reach to 77% of consumers you haven’t reached with auction-based ad tactics.
• Custom campaigns, on average, drive 93% new-to-brand engagement.
• After taking a full funnel approach, from starring in Instacart’s holiday video campaign to sponsored product placements at the point of purchase, Kerrygold saw double digit sales growth YoY on Instacart and became the #1-searched butter brand on the platform.
• Instacart’s 2025 "Summer Like It's 1999" campaign won a Silver Clio for Best Branded Content & Collaborations this year; it also attracted double digit new-to-brand customer growth for Kraft Heinz.
• Our Super Bowl commercial debut in 2025, "We're Here," ranked #1 among all first-time Super Bowl advertisers in the USA Today Ad Meter, and was shortlisted at Cannes Lions for best ‘Brand Activation’ in the Brand Partnership category.

Ready to Make Something Together?

Whether you want to join one of our iconic campaigns or build something entirely your own, Instacart Ads Studio is ready to get to work.

Log in or sign up today to start growing your brand’s online presence with engaging campaigns and ad formats your consumers will love.