Freshii has picked Toronto-based OneMethod as its first digital and social agency of record to help market the healthy food restaurant chain amid a period of rapid global growth.
“OneMethod is an agency we believe can best cut through the clutter to fight for stomach share in the digital space,” Freshii founder and CEO Matthew Corrin said in a release.
Freshii said OneMethod has “its finger on the food-culture pulse” and it has challenged the agency to “produce memorable content that people will talk about on its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts while elevating the fresh food concept’s digital footprint globally.”
OneMethod was chosen out of about a dozen agencies selected to bid on the business in the spring, Freshii global brand manager Jenn Goldsmith told Marketing.
She said OneMethod was a good cultural fit with the Freshii brand, but Freshii also liked past work the agency had done for companies such as Nestlé and Svedka. Goldsmith also pointed to its work on social media with restaurant brands Sweet Jesus and La Carnita, which have developed cult-like followings among Toronto foodies.
“They seemed extremely innovative and really pushing the boundaries with some of their past work. That really resonated with us,” Goldsmith said.
Since it launched in 2005, Toronto-based Freshii has grown to nearly 300 restaurants in 80 cities in 20 countries. It has relied on an in-house marketing team, until now.
“We really wanted to take our messaging and digital to the next level,” said Goldsmith. “ We wanted to find a group that would help us amplify our global mission … which is to make healthy food convenient and affordable.”
OneMethod’s mandate includes taking over Freshii’s global social media channels this fall. The agency will also help to showcase Freshii’s evolving new menu items and its new stores, which are opening at a current rate of about five a week worldwide.
Amanda Burgess, OneMethod’s group account director, said the agency was attracted to the global assignment from a “Canadian success story,” as well as Freshii’s unique position in the increasingly competitive casual restaurant space.
Burgess said the agency would also develop a digital paid media strategy for the brand in the near future.
“They’ve done an excellent job building a loyal following,” Burgess said of Freshii, “but we think we can take it to the next level.”
