“There are all of these cautionary tales about startups or restaurants that grew massively, transforming into slow-moving corporate entities where quality takes a nosedive, products become more bland, customers are no longer at the center, and employees feel less involved and inspired” explains Sweetgreen founder Nathanial Ru. This is clearly depicted through their new retro style emails, marketing collateral and typography along with their choice in partnerships.Īs brands mature and standard operating procedures to streamline efficiencies take place, their unique voice and culture often get lost along the way. The versatility of the Sweetgreen marketing strategy allowed it to move forward with a complete rebrand at the height of Sweetgreen’s scaling and added more flavor to it. Companies must design products and experiences for the future, and scale a flexible marketing strategy that is prepared for change. One of Sweetgreen’s earliest blunders was underestimating how fast the world is changing. They took their time experimenting with new ways to communicate their mission and ensuring sustainable growth in potential target markets before laying down the blueprint. In the context of Sweetgreen, the company focused on a few core brand values at a time and remained in the DC Metropolitan Area before expanding. It is tempting to want to expand as quickly as possible, but the most successful companies know what to focus on by first listening to their audience. The concept of intimacy at scale can be broken down into two core components. Sweetgreen Marketing Strategy: Unlocking Intimacy At Scale

Let’s dig deeper into each of the ingredients that created the perfect “Grow Your Brand” bowl for Sweetgreen.

Facing the time-old battle between staying connected to customers and unlocking growth, the only technical “unicorn” in the industry focused on intimacy at scale, owning their brand identity, and fostering community engagement. During the Covid-19 pandemic, when many restaurants shut their doors and long-standing eateries failed to keep up, Sweetgreen too experienced a dramatic drop in sales. Sweetgreen’s rise to success has not been without bumps - and stakeholder frustrations. Yet it’s this exact combination of growth and brand ingredients that makes Sweetgreen a brand capable of redefining a whole category. Balancing a community-driven, consistent and impactful storyline with a growth strategy informed by experimentation and the latest solutions is no easy feat. Sweetgreen falls into the category of companies that have successfully built a solid foundation of brand values and a strong mission - yet at the same time, the brand consistently iterates and taps into the latest solutions and strategies to scale and achieve sustainable growth. How did the popular salad chain experience rapid growth in an industry that is not typically fast-growing? The answer lies in between a scalable yet intimate marketing strategy and transparent food sourcing. While the company saw early success, Sweetgreen still continues to create a new category in the restaurant industry. The Sweetgreen marketing strategy had essentially redefined the fast-food industry. Fast forward 7 years and the company had boasted $50 million in revenue while securing $100 million in venture funding.

The Sweetgreen evolution started in a dorm room back in 2007 when three college students at Georgetown University realized the need for clean, healthy food that was also easy to grab on-the-go.

Sweet greens