Freshii: More than just Lettuce

The quick but healthy lunch destination Lettuce Eatery recently rebranded as Freshii.

They needed to be consistent with their offering, and by expanding to provide snacks, wraps and soups, a name change is in order. Proprietary research at Name Development shows that “more than 300 companies in the US change their name over the course of a year because they have outgrown it.”

NameWire.com, Name Development’s blog, reported on the reason to rebrand. “The name change is mainly due to Matthew Corrin, who originally wanted to be the “Starbucks of Salads,” but slowly widened his positioning to offer healthy meals and snacks. In short, he outgrew his name.”

But some are wondering if the new name was a good choice. The Torontoist interviewed Freshii’s CEO, Matthew Corrin who admitted that, “it might not be the greatest name in the world, and it doesn’t really mean anything,”  but he went on to affirm that, “it connotates freshness and fun. A name doesn’t really mean anything until you attach the brand to it.”

I guess Corrin believes his branding is firmly established. But can you really just transplant a brand promise from one name to another and expect the brand promise to shine through? After all, as NameWire pointed out, “Starbucks offers far more than just coffee and Burger King offers more than just burgers.” Lettuce Eatery at least had a very loyal following while Freshii risks not attracting new rabbits lunch goers.

Marketing Mag’s coverage showed the up side of the rebrand. They wrote that Corrin said that in Chicago, he “discovered that under the new name, stores sold more high-profit menu items like oatmeal, soup and frozen yogurt.”

There are many questions to ponder here:

1. Should Lettuce have abandoned the Lettuce name?
2. Was freshii a smart alternative?
3. Does the established brand promise of Lettuce carry over to freshii?
4. Is the freshii choice worth raising suspicion about riding the coat tails of the Fresh brand?
5. What would you have renamed Lettuce Eatery?

Note: read the entire Torontoish article for more about a supposed filing of an objection to the name with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office for being too similar to Fresh, another healthy eatery in Toronto and supposed menu plagiarism.