Joy Li, Maengheui Lee, Shiho Sakai, Jamie Wong and Emma Lamoreaux

What is Whole Foods?● American supermarket

chain specializing in organic food

● Supermarket Prototype for natural food industry.

Company HistoryWho: John Mackey, Renee Lawson Hardy Craig Weller and Mark Skiles

Natural Goods Store: SafeWay

Clarksville Natural Grocery

Company HistoryWhen: September 20th, 1980Where: Austin, TX

Company History

Early Whole Foods Market: Texas, 1980’s

Core Values1. Sell the highest quality natural and organic products available

2. Satisfy, delight and nourish our customers

3. Support team member excellence and happiness

4. Create wealth through profits and growth

5. Serve and support our local and global communities

6. Practice and advance environmental stewardship

7. Create ongoing win-win partnerships with our suppliers

8. Promote the health of our stakeholders through healthy eating

education

Target Audience● People aged between 18-39

● Concerned about eating natural/organic food

● More interested in natural supermarkets

● Strong connection with environment

● Post Graduates (MRI)

● Home value > 500,000 (MRI)

● Better educated

Positioning StatementFOR Customers desiring fresh organic and natural foods

WHO Enjoy healthy food

Whole Foods Is a market Grocery Chain...

THAT is able to provide fresh organic and natural food on a daily basis

UNLIKE traditional grocery stores, provides a large selection of fresh organic and natural foods on a daily basis

Lifestyle Imagery (First People to Use)

Lifestyle Imagery (Later/Current People to Use)

The Value Matter Campaign The Value Matter Campaign

Promoting an idea of their customers defining themselves by what they buy

With this, they will want to shop at their store!

“The Highest Standards Didn’t Exist SO We Created Them”

To differentiate themselves against competitors

Whole Foods values of humanely and sustainably food & fair labor practices

For consumers to stay loyal to the organic products at whole food

Values Matter TV Campaign (2014)

Health Starts Here ● First major health program/mini campaign● 2009-Ongoing ● Promotes:

○ plant based, whole foods, low fat, nutrient dense

○ mindful approach to healthy eating● How?

○ “health starts here” stickers so you can choose healthiest foods

○ in store healthy eating specialists● Stronger relationship with customer/ more than

just a business ● Advertising: (below) Videos, In-store classes

Below-the-Line Marketing: In-Store SamplesWhole Foods offers various samples in their

store.

Customers enjoy these samples and taste

them as they're walking around.

This helps Whole Foods with their sales!

→　consumers might buy a more

expensive organic popcorn snack at

Whole Foods instead of buying at the

larger market they usually buy their

snacks at such as Shaws, Market Basket,

etc.

Scandal: “Thumb on the Scale” Whole Foods routinely overcharged customers by

overstating the weight of prepackaged meat, dairy and

baked goods in stores in New York and California.

It was caused by human error.

Customers can get refunds for any items that have been

incorrectly weighed or priced.

BUT not all the reported Whole Foods mislabeling was

bad for customers.

In investigation, the Daily News found that some items

that were actually underpriced.

Social Media Following

Social Media PurposeConnecting with Consumers on 3 Main Topics -

1. Shopping on a budget at their store

Social Media Purpose Continued...2. Promoting overall health and nutrition

“Whole Kids Foundation Celebrates4,000 Salad Bars with Let’s Move! and Whole Foods Market”

Social Media Purpose Continued...

3. Healthy recipes using products from their store

About Social Media Numbers:

➔ An extremely low number of likes per post

➔ 60-70 likes per post

➔ Facebook shares roughly 10-40 per post

➔ 1,841,833 like the page

➔ 1,398,061 have posted statuses saying they’ve been to a Whole Foods Market at least once

About Social Media Numbers:

★ 57 boards

★ 5,400 pins

○ 82 likes→ Very low

○ 273,800 followers→ Ok

★ On average, Whole Foods get a few hundred pins on their boards○ This is low considering the number of followers

they have

About Social Media Numbers:

1,421 Posts Total

671,000 Followers (Low)

5,000-10,000 Likes Per Photo (Very Low)

About Social Media Numbers: 196,000 Tweets Total

4.8 Million Followers (High)

Average Less than 100 Likes Per Tweet (Very Low)

Average Less than 50 Retweets Per Photo (Very Low)

Social Media Numbers:● Joined September 18, 2006

● 37,516 Subscribers (Low)

● 12,323,270 Views Total → Extremely Inconsistent

Number of Views Per Video

→ One video has 57,888 Views

→ Another video has 701 Views

Media MixRadio

● “Passion for Food” (2010, around holidays)

● 1 minute spots highlighting organic local food, variety (experimenting)

Television/Online

● “Values Matter”: documentary style TV spots feat. suppliers (farmers,

fisherman etc.)

● Modern Family, Jimmy Kimmel, The Voice

● YouTube: 22 Video ads, (30 second segmentS)

Print

● Magazines and Newspapers

● Men’s Health, Rolling Stone, New York Times

SWOT AnalysisSTRENGTHS

● High quality fresh and organic products

● Catering, seasonal products, recipes and in-store-events

● Wide product line: seafood, grocery, meat, poultry, various bakery items

WEAKNESSES● Higher priced than its competitors

● A weak international operation system

● Lack of promotion through social networking

● US gov. has subsidized by providing more money to support corn industry rather than the organic farmers, so less companies using the organic ingredients.

OPPORTUNITIES● More people have became aware of healthy eating.

→Whole Foods come to people’s minds first.

● Offering a free reward card, a discount on the next

purchase and, a buy one get one free offer

THREATS ● Competitors in the market like Wal-Mart, HEB

Central market, trader Joe’s and so on

● In US, when food becomes expensive the customers might be unwilling to buy the organic food items.

Competitors Trader Joe’s (cheaper)

Costco Wholesale Corporation

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.

Kroger

Wal-Mart (leader, organic foods)

Target

Groceries:● CVS

Other● Safeway, Winn Dixie, Wild Oats, Roach

Brothers (local)

ExpansionMajor Markets● People in major Whole Foods markets spend more on

food than in less-populated areas. Need to shrink its average store size to scale to smaller markets

Opening more stores in smaller markets● Locations in Pennsylvania, West Des Moines, Iowa…

Lowering prices on fruit and vegetables● Training employees to help customers pick fresh foods

with the purpose of making healthier food more affordable

Brick and Mortar Expansion

・Dedication to quality and service extends beyond the Brick and Mortar of the

store

・Many of the major cities

・Close to offices and colleges

・“Whole Foods Market is devoted to serving the community in every way. We

strive for lasting relationships with local organizations, working closely with

them long before opening day,” - Jorge Trejo, Store Team Leader, Whole Foods

Market West Loop in Chicago

Global/National Expansion● The company has a weak international

operation system

● There are only seven stores in Canada and five stores in the UK.

● Canada in 2002

● UK in 2004

● Competitors in US but more competitors in other countries

What Would You Do Differently? ● Social Media:

○ Facebook enhance quality of photos, incorporate more hashtags in posts for

more traction,

○ Pinterest: quality re-shared pins, power pinners outreach, more creative/catchy

board ideas relating to brand products.

■ ex. recipes, crafts find way to decrease prices

● Find a way to cut spending and reduce prices for customers ○ Avoid thumb on scale scandal

● Offer more rewards to those that DO spend a lot

● Attack digital marketing EARLIER

● Not every store the same (size, location, culture)

Moving Forward● Enliven Brand Image

○ online shopping, own delivery service

● More customer interaction online via social media (pinterest, facebook, twitter)

○ deals/promos

● Third party endorser to combine education and audience outreach

○ celebrity chefs

● Develop marketing/sales (essential)

○ loyalty card,reward points for eco. friendly products

● Special events: specialized

● Grow International Stores: more across europe

○ sub brands beyond 365

Thank You Any Questions?