Wonder is officially shifting its identity from a restaurant with an app to an app with restaurants.
The company, which operates a network of brick-and-mortar restaurants, a delivery app and a meal kit business, is repositioning as a “mealtime platform,” underscoring its strategy to be a source of convenient meals in multiple formats.
The change includes a new look and logo, a major media campaign and a significant new feature: For the first time, customers will be able to order from non-Wonder restaurants using the Wonder app.
“We’re really at a pivotal point in our growth as Wonder,” said Courtney Lawrie, the company’s head of growth and marketing. “We have formerly operated as several restaurants, and this refresh is really representative of moving to a platform mindset.”
Wonder started as a fleet of on-demand food trucks that cooked meals in customers’ driveways, and later pivoted to physical storefronts offering multiple restaurant concepts, many of which were co-signed by celebrity chefs.
Wonder then acquired meal kit company Blue Apron and the Grubhub delivery app and began to air plans to become a “super app for mealtime” that would disrupt the food delivery business.
The new identity embodies that goal. And it starts with a new look.
Wonder has replaced its looping, script logo with a more modern, sans-serif version. The update will appear on the Wonder app and at new restaurant locations. Existing ones will be retrofitted to match, Lawrie said.
The new logo. | Courtesy of Wonder
“As we’re moving to a more platform mentality and shifting really from restaurants with an app to an app with restaurants, we really felt as though the branding needed to reflect a more modern, more playful, more exciting experience,” Lawrie said.
Wonder will introduce the refresh with its first proper media campaign. It will include ads on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu, audio ads and out-of-home ads. The company also plans to “dabble” in linear TV early next year, Lawrie said.
The ads focus on Wonder’s wide restaurant selection and multibrand ordering capabilities, which allow families to get something everyone likes in a single transaction. “It’s really doubling down on this notion of no compromise,” Lawrie said.
Customers will soon have even more restaurants to pick from in the Wonder app as the company begins integrating restaurants from Grubhub into the experience.
The app’s main feed will specifically highlight local favorites, although all Grubhub restaurants will be searchable in the Wonder app, including chains. However, the ability to order from multiple restaurants at once is only possible with Wonder’s in-house brands, because they all come from the same location.
For restaurants, orders that come through the Wonder app will be handled just like a Grubhub order. Restaurants will be automatically added to the Wonder marketplace at no additional cost, based on their proximity to Wonder customers. They can choose to opt out.
New York-based Wonder was founded by Marc Lore, the billionaire e-commerce entrepreneur and co-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx pro basketball franchises.
His reputation and his vision for the company has helped Wonder bring in more than $2 billion in private funding at a reported valuation of $7 billion, which is more than many publicly traded restaurant chains.
It has used the capital to make acquisitions and expand rapidly throughout the Northeast. Wonder has around 50 locations today, and has been opening a new store every week with the goal of reaching 90 by the end of the year.
Each location offers food from up to 30 of Wonder’s proprietary restaurant brands for delivery, pickup and dine-in.
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