Weight Watchers becomes WW as it moves towards “wellness”

The weight loss company says it is branching out into helping people develop “healthy habits” so has rebranded, dropping its full name for a shortened version.

Courtesy of WW on Twitter

Weight Watchers has rebranded as WW as it shifts its focus towards “wellness” as a whole, rather than just weight.

The organisation which now has around 1.3million members who attend meetings worldwide has supported people on their weight loss journeys since it was founded in New York in 1963, the company says.

But it has announced it has stopped using its full name and unveiled a logo that simply says WW in a circle, as this broaden its remit.

The Weight Watchers website states: “The name WW reflects that we’re becoming the world’s partner in wellness.

“We will always be the global leader in weight loss, but now WW welcomes anyone who wants to build healthy habits—whether that means eating better, moving more, developing a positive mindset, focusing on weight…or all of the above!”

The company is using the tagline, “Wellness that Works”.

 

According to BBC reports, the company’s CEO Mindy Grossman would not say what the WW stands for, explaining that it was simply “a marque” and did not stand for Weight Watchers or Wellness Works.

“That marque represents our heritage and history and what we are going forward,” Grossman says, according to the BBC.

She claimed the change was part of a move “to stay relevant” as it continues its shift towards “wellness”.

The new logo – WW inside a circle – follows on from a visual identity redesign in 2012, by Pentagram partner Paula Scher, which was first rolled out in America.

Her design featured a “weightwatchers” wordmark with a gradient from dark to light, which symbolised the weight loss journey, Pentagram said at the time. The identity also featured two WWs stacked on top of each other.

Pentagram confirms that the studio has not been involved in the latest design refresh for the newly named WW.

The new logo removes the gradient and puts the two stacked sans-serif Ws, which look similar to Scher’s designs, inside a circle, opting for bright, solid contrasting colours. The wordmark is no longer a part of the identity.

The #WeAreWW hashtag has gained momentum on Twitter, but some critics have used the social media site to speak out against the new logo and branding on Twitter. Some complained that the WW has more syllables and takes longer to say than Weight Watchers.

 

As it shifts the focus to wellness, WW is also launching a range of healthy cookbooks under the name WW Healthy Kitchen, working with mindfulness app Headspace to “help people achieve wellness goals”, and has launched a “WellnessWins” programme to reward members for “healthy habits”.

It also launched an app in 2015 that aims to make healthy eating easier and helps people track what they consume.

The company has also said they are removing artificial colours, sweeteners, preservatives and flavourings from their branded food products.

Hide Comments (1)Show Comments (1)
Comments
  • Neil Littman January 22, 2019 at 2:57 pm

    Hope it is not too late to start a new discussion but it seems this brand refresh may have misfired and the strapline has now changed from Wellness that Works to Weight Watchers Reimagined… Something wasn’t working. As is also evident from the TV Advertising which briefly shows the words Weight Watchers morphing into the WW logo. It was a step too far to expect people to perceive it as a new identity which was represented simply by two letters.

  • Post a comment

Latest articles