About WW International

WW International, Inc. operates as a human-centric technology company. The company is powered by its proven, science-based, clinically effective weight loss and weight management program and an award-winning digital subscription platform. The company is focused on inspiring people to adopt healthy habits for real life. The company educates its members and provides them with guidance, digital tools and an inspiring community to enable them to develop healthy habits and focus on their overall health and wellness. WW-branded services and products include digital offerings provided through the company’s apps and websites, workshops, consumer products, and various events. The company’s primary sources of revenue are subscriptions for its digital products and for its workshops. The company’s ‘Digital’ business refers to providing subscriptions to the company’s digital product offerings. The company’s ‘Workshops + Digital’ business refers to providing unlimited access to the company’s workshops combined with its digital subscription product offerings to commitment plan subscribers. As of December 31, 2022, the company had a total of approximately 3.5 million subscribers, of which approximately 2.8 million were Digital subscribers and approximately 0.7 million were Workshops + Digital subscribers. Segments The company operates through two reportable segments, North America and International. North America segment refers to the company’s North American company-owned operations and franchise revenues and related costs. International segment refers to the company’s Continental Europe company-owned operations, the United Kingdom company-owned operations, and Australia, New Zealand and emerging markets operations. Services and Products Program and Food Plan The company offers services and products that are based on its weight loss and weight management program and that help the company’s members build habits to lead healthier, more active, more fulfilling lives. The company’s program is rooted in advanced nutrition science and founded on a simplified, holistic approach for the body and mind. It is consisted of a range of science-based nutritional, activity, behavioral and lifestyle tools and approaches. The company’s program continues to be grounded in its scientific Points system, which uses a proprietary nutritional algorithm to assign each food a value based on its calorie, saturated fat, unsaturated fat, added sugar, protein and fiber content. After a proprietary, personal assessment takes into account a member’s metabolic rate, members receive a tailored daily and weekly Points Budget to guide them towards healthy foods and appropriate portion sizes, forming the foundation of a healthy eating pattern. Members can also take advantage of over 200 ZeroPoint foods (nutritious foods which do not need to be weighed, measured, or tracked). The company’s program can also take into account the dietary needs of those living with diabetes by tailoring their plans towards foods that are less likely to impact blood sugar levels. In addition to focusing on healthy eating habits, and in furtherance of the company’s intention to focus on overall health and wellness, the company’s program provides tools to address other aspects of a healthy and fulfilled life. These include a customized weekly activity target, trackers for food, water, activity, sleep and weight (and, for members on the company’s diabetes-tailored plan, a tracker for blood sugar) and content regarding behavioral techniques for building healthy habits. WW’s Connect platform, a members-only social network accessed through the company’s app, fosters meaningful relationships by helping people find communities based on interests, including food preferences, identity cohorts, wellness journey, activity, mindset, hobbies, locations, events and workshops. Subscription Businesses The company’s members mainly participate in its program either by solely using the company’s digital product or by using its digital product supplemented by group workshops. Within these two channels, members can find services and tools that best meet their preferences and needs. Additionally, the company’s coaches educate members on its program and provide inspiration and support to members in developing healthy habits. The payment structure for the company’s services globally is through subscription plans. Pursuant to these plans, a member typically commits to a minimum term and is automatically charged on a monthly basis until the member elects to cancel. Digital Business In the company’s Digital business, the company offers a digital subscription product based on the WW approach to weight loss and weight management. The company’s app provides interactive and personalized resources that allow subscribers to follow the company’s weight management program. These resources also help subscribers adopt a healthier and more active lifestyle, a helpful mindset, and healthy habits, with a view toward long-term behavior modification — a key aspect of the WW approach toward healthy and sustainable weight loss. The company’s app provides subscribers with content, functionality, access to coaches on Connect and wellness resources. The company’s personalized and interactive Digital subscription product gives subscribers an engaging experience. The company’s Connect online community, which can be accessed via the company’s app and its web-based platform, gives the company’s subscribers a way to stay virtually connected and support and inspire each other. The company continually innovates its Digital offerings to maximize the design, usability, features and capabilities of the company’s app to support its weight loss and weight management program and community. Workshops + Digital Business In the company’s Workshops + Digital business, the company presents its program in workshops of 30 to 45 minutes in duration, conveniently scheduled throughout the day. In March 2020, the company introduced virtual workshops in immediate response to the impact of COVID-19, and the company continues to innovate this offering to address the shift in consumer sentiment towards digitally-enabled offerings. Workshops + Digital members can attend unlimited workshops both virtually and, where available, in-person. The company’s interactive communities remain the cornerstone of the company’s workshops. Coaches facilitate interactive workshops that encourage learning and inspire members to make positive changes towards their individual goals. Members provide each other inspiration and support by sharing their experiences with, and by providing encouragement and empathy to, other people on weight loss and weight management journeys. In addition, the company’s members have access to the company’s digital tools to assist them on their journeys. The company has franchisees in a limited number of territories. Consumer Product Sales The company sells a range of consumer products that complement its program and help the company’s customers in their weight management efforts. The company’s WW-branded products include bars, snacks, cookbooks and kitchen tools. The company also licenses its trademarks and other intellectual property in certain categories of food, beverages and other relevant consumer products and services. Additionally, the company co-brands or endorses with carefully selected branded consumer products and services. The company primarily sells consumer products online through its e-commerce platforms, at its studios, and through the company’s trusted partners. By partnering with carefully selected companies in categories relevant and helpful to weight- and health-conscious consumers, the company has a high margin licensing business that gives the company access to these consumers and also increases the awareness of the company’s brands. In connection with the company’s acquisition from The Kraft Heinz Company (successor to H.J. Heinz Company), or Heinz, in September 1999, Heinz received a perpetual royalty-free license to continue using the company’s brand in certain food categories. Healthcare Offerings As healthcare costs continue to be a significant concern on the minds of employers and their employees, the company believe that the company’s broad range of services and products uniquely positions the company to serve the market and help employers reduce their healthcare costs and improve the overall well-being of their employees. The company are leveraging the company’s organizational capability to serve employers with both the company’s Digital and Workshops + Digital offerings. The company believe the healthcare market, including the diabetes segment, represents an important channel to reach new consumers. The company continue to explore different approaches to, and strategies for, this market. Marketing and Promotion The company’s communications with consumers and other promotional efforts enhance the company’s brand image and awareness, and motivate both former and potential new customers to join WW. The company utilizes a data-driven approach to its media placements, promotional offers, and website and app store presence to enhance marketing efficiency, drive conversion, and maximize subscription value. The company’s advertising campaigns are supported across multiple platforms (e.g., television, YouTube, social media, programmatic, audio, search, affiliate, branded content, electronic customer relationship marketing (eCRM), direct mail, and public relations). The company develops and maintains a high level of engagement with customers on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Also, the company utilizes brand ambassadors, spokespersons and social media influencers, including celebrities, as part of the company’s advertising and marketing. In addition to the above advertising channels, the company takes advantage of other channels for which the company is uniquely positioned given its long history and network of WW coaches and members. The word of mouth generated by the company’s members, combined with its strong brand and known effectiveness, enable the company to attract new and returning members. The company also carries out many of its key public relations initiatives through the efforts of WW coaches and members, and celebrity brand ambassadors. In October 2015, the company entered into a Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Oprah Winfrey, pursuant to which, among other things, Ms. Winfrey provides the company with services in her discretion to promote the company and its programs, products and services, including in advertisements and promotions, and making personal appearances on the company’s behalf. Seasonality The company’s core business is seasonal due to the importance of the winter season to the company’s overall member recruitment environment. Historically, the company experiences its highest level of recruitment during the first quarter of the year (year ended December 2022), which is supported with the highest concentration of advertising spending. Therefore, the company’s number of End of Period Subscribers in the first quarter of the year is typically higher than the number in other quarters of the year, historically reflecting a decline over the course of the year. Trademarks, Patents and Other Proprietary Rights The company’s trademarks are Connect, Digital 360, PersonalPoints, Points, Weight Watchers, ZeroPoint, and the WW logo. Regulation A number of laws and regulations govern the company’s advertising and marketing, services, products, operations and relations with consumers, licensees, franchisees, strategic and other contractual partners, coaches, guides, employees and government authorities in the countries in which the company operates. Certain federal, state and foreign agencies, such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, regulate and enforce such laws and regulations relating to advertising and marketing, promotions, packaging, labeling, privacy, consumer pricing and billing arrangements and other consumer protection matters. The company is subject to many distinct employment, labor, commercial, benefits and tax laws and regulations in each country in which the company operates, including regulations affecting the company’s employment and wage and hour practices and the company’s relations with its coaches, guides and employees. Laws and regulations directly applicable to data protection and communications, operations or commerce over the Internet, such as those governing consumer protection, intellectual property, privacy and taxation, continue to evolve. The company’s operations are subject to these laws and regulations and the company continues to monitor their development and its compliance. In addition, the company is subject to other laws and regulations in the United States and internationally. History The company was founded in 1961. It was incorporated as a Virginia corporation in 1974. The company was formerly known as Weight Watchers International, Inc. and changed its name to WW International, Inc. in 2019.