Weight Watchers is changing its name as consumers ditch diets for wellness.
The company, which has helped people watch their weight through assigning points to food and organizing meetings, is renaming itself "WW" to reflect to overall health. WW's new tagline is "Wellness that Works."
WW plans to launch a new app and a partnership with Headspace, a company that teaches meditation through an app. It's also starting a program called Wellness Wins, which rewards members for working toward healthier habits.
The shift follows the trend of consumers wanting to eat clean or be healthier rather than focus on their waistlines. It builds on WW's previous attempts to reinvent itself, such as the WW FreeStyle program, which it announced late last year and is more flexible than previous programs.
"So this has been part of an evolution of a journey to go from being undisputed leader in healthy eating for weight loss to much broader than that," CEO Mindy Grossman said Monday in an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick. "To truly be a partner to people in overall wellness — for what you eat, how you move, how your mind works — to support you and how you become part of a community."
Starting in December, WW members can find other people with similar experiences and goals, whether that's following a vegan diet or starting to exercise, and join them in what will be called Connect Groups. Community is a central component to WW's model, with the company holding more than 30,000 meetings every week, according to Grossman.
WW is also offering integration with Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant, and building a new online community for members. Its own food products will no longer contain artificial sweeteners, preservatives or colors, in keeping with its new brand image.