Naomi Osaka’s French Open Withdrawal Illustrates Why Sweetgreen Considers Her Its Ideal Marketing Match

In the not-so-distant past, Naomi Osaka’s abrupt withdrawal from the French Open on Monday would have been the kind of controversy to set off immediate friction and damage control to spare a new brand sponsor relationship. But times have changed. And so have the expectations and aims of sports marketing partnerships and food brands. In fact, the French Open incident appears to illustrate why Sweetgreen sought out its unique marketing deal with Osaka in the first place. Now, both sides face a very early test of the ideals that attracted them. Osaka’s exit from the court comes as Sweetgreen promotes a major brand refresh and ad campaign featuring its new corporate partner. In an Instagram post, Osaka cited the need to protect her own mental well-being as the reason for her decision to leave the French Open. Although she has mentioned her “crippling shyness” in the past, Osaka has now revealed her struggles with depression and social anxiety. Osaka’s openness about putting her mental health before her professional tennis obligations presents Sweetgreen with more opportunity than risk. The situation demonstrates the importance of shared values as the communication of “brand purpose” is being watched more closely by consumers. "Our partnership with Naomi is rooted in wellness in all its forms,” Nathaniel Ru, Sweetgreen’s co-founder and chief brand officer, told Adweek on Monday. “We support her in furthering the conversation around mental health and are proud to have her as part of the Sweetgreen team." Starting a paradigm shift Since its founding in 2007, Sweetgreen has strived to widen the lens of what counts as “fast food.” The company’s ambitions around its original intention have grown vastly. The brand believes it can redefine ordering a salad in the way that Starbucks changed notions of getting a cup of coffee. Sweetgreen’s big step in recasting its brand was to bring in Osaka. This is the first time the Los Angeles-based company has signed a national, multiyear deal with an athlete. The brand was ready to align itself with a bold tennis star who was always prepared to directly tackle all manner of challenges and issues. Initially, Sweetgreen’s goal of partnering with Osaka was to “change the way brands and athletes speak to future generations about the importance of what they eat,” Ru said. The French Open dispute with Osaka gives Sweetgreen a prism with which to raise more pressing matters of health and wellness, along with concerns about diversity and gender. The marketing of sports and food is not often seen as the best space to have those deep discussions. But the willingness to do so has rarely—and so purposefully—been so front and center for any marketer and celebrity athlete as in the case of Sweetgreen and Osaka. For the past decade, Sweetgreen’s stance has been characterized as a relatively small island specializing in salads in contrast to a sea of burger and fried chicken franchises. That niche status has been a key part of Sweetgreen’s brand identity. The company currently operates just 120 franchises in the U.S. With the brand refresh and accompanying ad campaign featuring someone who was already regarded simultaneously as an iconic tennis star as well as an iconoclastic business maven, Sweetgreen wants to position itself at the center of discussions redefining dining, health and wellness. Through Osaka, it can also be seen as on the right side of combating racism and sexism. Sweetgreen’s goal of partnering with Osaka was to “change the way brands and athletes speak to future generations about the importance of what they eat." There’s a danger in trying to connect serious social and personal causes to how and where salad orders are placed. But as Ru said, consumers want to know where brands stand. And it’s all part of a larger “paradigm shift” that’s reshaping the “future of food,” Ru said. Brands need to consider both the existential and mundane aspects of life as we transition to the post-pandemic period in the U.S. That includes wading into bitter political fights on discrimination, wellness and sustainability and deciding what to eat and whether to order delivery via an app or dine indoors. Capturing the moment Sweetgreen believes it can capture the zeitgeist as Covid-19 cases recede and consumers emerge from lockdown life with new expectations. “We've been very fortunate because, as we grew, we invested ahead of the curve on a lot of the digital platform work that we've done,” Ru said, referring specifically to Sweetgreen’s mobile app with order-to-go and delivery features that were launched in January 2020. Sweetgreen gives its in-store employees a new look. To herald those digital offerings, Sweetgreen launched a campaign focused on sustainability with celebrity chef David Chang. The campaign with Osaka is a continuation of that effort. “Our work with Naomi reflects our thinking about how we bridge the gap between food and culture,” Ru said. “Sports and culture both help tell a deeper story about real food. This is how we begin to change the paradigm of how sponsorships work, specifically when it comes to promoting healthier foods and healthier living. “We’re speaking to that generation that cares more about what they put in their body,” Ru continued. “More people thinking about how they can put wellness at the forefront of their lives and the lives of people around them. With Naomi, we’re uniquely positioned to help tell that story.” The Sweetgreen and Osaka connection Sweetgreen’s partnership with Osaka was intended to go way beyond the typical brand/spokesperson dynamic. For one thing, the news that she was now its national brand ambassador also happened to mention that Osaka is Sweetgreen’s “youngest investor,” though the company didn’t release specific financial details. Apart from a stake in the brand, Sweetgreen’s work with Osaka is concentrated on four areas of mutual interest. It also happens that those interests appear to dovetail with the current cultural moment. First, at 23 years old, Osaka appeals to Gen Z and Millennial consumers. Second, she’s also a natural role model for young women: Osaka has the second-highest tennis scores among women; she’s also the world’s highest-paid female athlete. Third, Osaka has been outspoken on issues of racial justice and hate. Her social activism in support of Black Lives Matter was on display when Osaka, who is of Japanese and Haitian ancestry, boycotted an August 2020 tennis match to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. She also showed up to each of her seven U.S. Open matches in a custom-made face mask bearing the name of an individual Black victim at the hands of police, including Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Tamir Rice. “Naomi is such a dynamic person,” Ru said. “There's always been so much to Naomi outside of just tennis. She really stands up for what she believes in, especially when it comes to social activism.” One of the first items on Sweetgreen and Osaka’s marketing agenda involved addressing rising hate and violence being directed at Asians. Sweetgreen and Osaka both issued statements of support for the Asian American Foundation in the spirit of advancing equity. And on May 26, all sales (up to $10,000) from every Naomi Osaka Bowl that she created with Sweetgreen went to AAPI-led organizations increasing food access in AAPI communities. The fourth area of focus is health and wellness. “With 52% of Americans consciously seeking out healthier food options, the future of on-the-go dining is changing,” Ru said, pointing to figures from Statista. Players like Sweetgreen—with the help of like-minded supporters like Naomi—are redefining what that industry will look like in the future.” Sweetgreen beefs up its logo To redefine the future, Sweetgreen had to redesign its look first. (Speaking of Sweetgreen’s future, the company may be exploring an IPO, according to a Bloomberg report last month, citing unidentified sources.) The green color scheme has been given a subtle shift; the particular hue is identified as kale, naturally enough. Meanwhile, the logo has seen a (literally) bigger change. The letters are still all lowercase, but are a bit thicker—but not too much—and set against the kale background. The company’s in-house creative team collaborated on the new branding with Collins, the San Francisco- and New York-based strategy and design consultancy. Sweetgreen's new logo (left) and the previous version. On top of the new physical store design and signage systems, the refresh touches Sweetgreen’s social channels, digital products, employee uniforms and packaging, meant to reemphasize the company’s commitment to fighting climate change by changing the expectations of food service operations. “The inspiration behind the new brand identity started with studying the hand-drawn quality of vintage cookbooks and how they highlight the people behind the work, while also embracing the imperfection of ingredients and the natural process of cooking,” Ru said. “Part of this rebrand involved thinking about the experience of team members at our restaurants. We obsess over the team member experience because happy team members equal happy customers. It all speaks to what we care about in terms of how Sweetgreen looks as well as feels. That explains our approach to everything we do.”