Wonder
Wonder X Rival: Rejecting "Food" Convention to Build a Cravings Platform
The Cravings Expert
The Challenge Convention Moment
Wonder had grown to a $700 million valuation, built on something genuinely different—a platform delivering chef-quality food from 20+ restaurants with unprecedented speed and quality. Yet they were at risk of being seen as just another restaurant or delivery app.
The entire food delivery category was stuck playing by the same tired rules: compete on speed, win on price, market with mouth-watering hero shots. Every brand looks the same, sounds the same, and promises variations of the same thing.
Rival's Challenger Approach
Through intense interrogation of existing insights and category norms we uncovered, a fundamental truth the category was ignoring: too often, people settle for what's available, not what they actually crave. And when they do make the effort to get what they want, it's more often than not "just okay"—a disappointing approximation that leaves them feeling like they compromised anyway.
Wonder had built a platform predicated on giving people exactly what they crave, without any compromises. Our challenger insight: What if we stopped treating cravings as frivolous and started recognizing them as wisdom?
This became our rallying cry: Listen to your cravings and stop settling.
Sparking an Emotional Truth
While competitors showed perfect food shots and delivery speeds, we built our strategy around an emotional truth: there's no better feeling than wanting something specific and getting exactly that.
We created the "Sad Trombonist"—a character who embodies the sound of settling for less. Then, with a simple app swipe, we show transformation: specific cravings satisfied by Wonder's platform of chef-driven restaurants.
Start to Market: The Five-Month Sprint
Industry standard: 12-18 months from strategy to launch for major rebrands. Rival reality: 5 months from initial brief to campaign in market, including full identity development.
We challenged the traditional agency model: senior, integrated teams from day one, Wonder's culinary and product teams embedded as co-conspirators, and movement at the speed of insight, not committee.
Campaign Integration
Connected TV: We showed the emotional journey from craving to satisfaction OOH takeover across NY/NJ/CT: While competitors cluttered billboards with menu items, we owned "Stop settling" Digital and social: Rather than promoting deals, we promoted a mindset
The Rival Impact
-Positioning: Transformed Wonder from "another delivery app" to "the cravings expert"
-Category disruption: While competitors fight on speed and price, Wonder owns craving satisfaction
-A double-digit increase in sales once the brand campaign was live
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