SUB-ZERO GROUP
STAYING CONNECTED IS A BEAUTIFUL THING
As purveyors of luxury with purpose, Sub-Zero Group, makers of Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove appliances, design best-in-class products for those who view cooking as both self-expression and a way to nurture others. Embracing a tri-branded future, they partnered with AKQA to refresh key moments within their owner’s app experience. The result is a more elegant, intuitive, and engaging extension of the brand, one that ignites the imagination while inspiring moments worth savoring in the home.
AKQA Associate Creative Director
The revamped splash screen draws on Sub-Zero’s stunning food and drink photography, featuring fresh ingredients and masterful meals that fire the imagination. Still images were brought to life using AI-generated cinemagraphs in a continuous loop, creating an atmosphere of warmth, craftsmanship, and timeless luxury that sets the tone for the entire app experience. An alternative concept explored the use of photography to visually connect the cooking process to each of the three brands, reinforcing their shared purpose while highlighting their distinct roles in the kitchen.
Previously only available on the website, Use & Care videos are now integrated directly into the owner’s app, offering a seamless, in-context way for owners to explore their appliances through a single, unified source. The initiative aimed to increase in-app engagement by 45 seconds per month, an incremental, measurable goal designed around real usage patterns, and shift viewership from the website to the app, delivering an experience that elevates daily interaction with Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove’s state-of-the-art appliances.
This foundation set the stage for bringing recipes and cooking guidance directly into the app, seamlessly paired with the videos that support them.
To bring the performance of Wolf appliances into everyday life, we reimagined how owners access and experience recipes within the app. Previously only available on the website, recipes are now integrated and paired with Mode videos, transforming learning into doing and empowering users to get the most out of their appliances.
Beyond Mode pairings, the new Recipe Gallery offers curated collections tailored to each Wolf product, complete with smart filters for Course, Main Ingredient, Mode, and Season. Owners can search, save favorites, add personal notes, and enter a dedicated cooking mode that keeps the screen awake while in use. It’s not just about following a recipe, it’s about mastering the art of home cooking with confidence and precision.
Designed for the flow of real cooking, Recipe Mode helps you stay focused and hands-on in the kitchen. Once activated, the screen stays awake to minimize disruption, and each swipe locks the current step to the center, keeping instructions focused and easy to follow.
You can toggle between Preparation and Ingredients at any time. When you switch tabs, the app intelligently scrolls to highlight the ingredients relevant to the step you’re on. For example, it jumps straight to the glaze ingredients when you’re working on the glaze prep. It’s a subtle but powerful way to stay in sync with the cooking process.