We established that Grubhub could become a force for good. It could engage people in a USA wide conversation about the real eating moments that happen when we order food we love. We rallied around a vision to ‘move eating forward.’

It was a vision that could drive the entire business, across product, marketing and sales. It could lead the way to new relationships with restaurants and diners. And it could help Grubhub be a voice for change across America.

To express Grubhub’s exciting new vision, we developed a vibrant new system for the brand – ‘the new language of food.’

This inspiring, informative and inclusive visual and verbal language would bring playful personality to eating moments throughout the day. And in doing so, inspire people to get more from Grubhub and more from mealtimes.

We designed ‘the new language of food’ using a friendly hand-drawn illustration style, fun and witty language, colorful and bold, with authentic photography across food, restaurants, moments and places.

The system is designed for a content-rich, mobile-first world, where food dominates social feeds.

Updates to the web, Apple TV, and app went live to reflect the rebrand. The national brand campaign ‘order food you love’ introduced the new Grubhub, with subways, screens and billboards across America. Playful digital advertising reached people in micro-moments and got them ordering. An Emoji – or Mmmoji rather – keyboard guaranteed Grubhub was always part of the conversation. The anthemic TV spot brought all this together - stories of eating moments, enabled by Grubhub - like treating the kids to Thai using Apple TV, or hosting a Taco party with a few taps of the app. A celebration of real people enjoying real food.

New mindshare: awareness +50% in major market

New diners: 1000's of new diners signed up

New orders: YoY growth accelerates: +16%, over 2 million more orders

New love: immediate change in perceptions – healthy, helpful, dynamic

New conversations: 60 million impressions of Mmmoji keyboard

The most recognized ordering brand nationally

Making changes for good by no longer equipping restaurants with plastic bags

By building on insights from its wealth of data, Grubhub could generate recommendations and content around changing eating habits to become the place where individual chefs and restaurants shine. While competitors focused on ‘faster,’ Grubhub could become a force for good: for diners, restaurants and society.

It would help diners understand food, try new things and delight in the simple joys of eating. It would help restaurants have real relationships with diners, and benefit from smarter technology. And it would help everyone become part of a spirited, informed and efficient food ecosystem.

Grubhub would also engage a much wider audience, by recognizing a broad set of eating modes: for example, the friends who get together for a birthday or the parents who get more time with their kids.

This would be a brand that celebrates the positive diversity of foods, places and people – all brought together in one place.

Grubhub – the largest online food ordering brand in the USA – has transformed the way people discover, order and enjoy food. They’re the market leader, helping 7 million diners order food from 40,000 restaurants across 1,000 cities.

But there were challenges that Grubhub needed to overcome in order to keep growing. Firstly, 95% of takeout orders were still placed by phone – not online. Secondly, Grubhub’s brand had historically positioned takeout as a lazy option-of-last-resort, which restricted its appeal to new and existing members.

We were asked to help Grubhub rebrand to kickstart a new stage of growth, by elevating takeout from 'lazy option’ to a positive choice worth celebrating.