Emily Gamble, Molly Metzung, Izia Sidler
Dr. Davidson
MKT 421-02
Monday, April 22 nd , 2013

Situational Analysis ………………………………………....................................…………....….. 3
State of the Industry........................................................................................................ 3
Competition......................................................................................................................... 3
Challenges for Whole Foods Market, Inc. .............................................................. 5
SWOT Analysis for Whole Foods Market, Inc. ..................................................... 5
Integrated Marketing Communications and Advertising............................... 6
Identification of Target Audience ……….....................………………………………...…. 10
Healthy Indulgers........................................................................................................... 10
Identification of Creative Strategy and Campaign Objectives ......................... 12
Media Mix Strategy and Budget Allocation ………...………………………………...... 15
Newspaper........................................................................................................................ 15
Television.......................................................................................................................... 18
Direct Mail......................................................................................................................... 20
Scheduling of IMC Campaign.................................................................................... 23
Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………….............. 24
References ……………………………………………………………………………………............... 25
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According to Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s 2012 Annual Report, the company, a part of the
United States grocery industry, which includes conventional supermarkets, supercenters, limited-assortment and natural or gourmet-positioned supermarkets, had approximately
$584 billion in sales in 2011, a 3.8% increase over the prior year (3). Within this broader category, natural product sales through retail channels were approximately $73 billion, a
10% increase over the prior year, according to Natural Foods Merchandiser, a leading trade publication for the natural foods industry (“Annual Report” 1). Whole Foods Market, Inc. operates within NAICS 44511 which is defined as,
“[comprising] establishments generally known as supermarkets and grocery stores primarily engaged in retailing a general line of food, such as canned and frozen foods; fresh fruits and vegetables; and fresh and prepared meats, fish, and poultry; included in this industry are delicatessen-type establishments primarily engaged in retailing a general line of food products”
(Industry Statistics Sampler). According to Progressive Grocer Market Research, shopper traffic within organic grocers was expected to increase 45.9% in 2012.
Within the Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s Annual Report for 2012, their competitors are explained:
“Our competitors include but are not limited to local, regional, national and international supermarkets, natural food stores, warehouse membership clubs, online retailers, small specialty stores and restaurants. Their businesses compete with us for products, customers and locations. In addition, some are expanding more aggressively in offering a range of natural and organic foods. Some of these competitors may have been in business longer or may have greater financial or
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marketing resources than we do and may be able to devote greater resources to sourcing, promoting and selling their products. As competition in certain areas intensifies, our operating results may be negatively impacted through a loss of sales, reduction in margin from competitive price changes, and/or greater operating costs such as marketing”
(12). Of these competitors, Trader Joe’s and Wild Oats Market are direct competitors because of their presence within organic food retail. Wal-Mart and Kroger Co. are indirect competitors because they are in the grocery retail sector.
Whole Foods Market believes the growth in sales of natural and organic foods in the grocery industry as a whole is being driven by numerous factors, including heightened awareness of the role that healthy eating plays in long-term wellness, a better-educated and wealthier public whose median age is increasing annually, increasing consumer concern over the purity and safety of food and environmental concerns. In 2012, according to their Annual Report, Whole Foods Market, Inc. appropriately navigated the balance between price investments, gross margin and sales momentum (4). Whole Foods posted vigorous sales gains, better than historical gross margin results and decreased the pricing gap versus competitors on known value items to its narrowest margin yet (“Annual Report”
4). These sales gains may have been derived from the differentiated product offerings of high-quality natural and organic products with a strong emphasis on perishable foods.
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Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s weaknesses include product recalls affecting brand image, weak international operations and increasing rental expenses. The threats Whole Foods
Market, Inc. faces are intense competition, which may have an adverse effect on profitability, and stringent regulations imposing additional liability. One of their biggest challenges is competing with Wal-Mart because it is such a large organization and can control much of the industry. Whole Foods is differentiated from Wal-Mart; however, because Wal-Mart plays such a large international role, the company has a large influence on the efforts of other smaller businesses in this particular industry.
Some opportunities that Whole Foods faces are increasing demand for organic products, increasing popularity of private labels that will improve margins and trends that support increased demand for food products. Some of their strengths are broad product offerings, a focused growth strategy and a strong focus on the right sizing of stores.
Strengths
 Broad product offering
 Focused growth strategy
 Strong focus on right sizing of stores
Weaknesses
 Product recalls affect brand image
 Weak international operations
 Increasing rental expenses
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Opportunities
 Increasing demand for organic products
 Increasing popularity of private labels will improve margins
 Trends support increased demand for food products
Threats
 Intense competition may have adverse effect on profitability
 Stringent regulations impose additional liability
Whole Foods does very little traditional advertising. There are little to no national advertising campaigns on the behalf of the organization. When Whole Foods does advertise it is generally at the local and/or regional level, some examples of which are listed throughout the situational analysis continuing below.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. has an overall very unique approach to advertising their brand and the products under that brand. AdWeek recently featured the Whole Foods campaign “Come Together” as “Ad of the Day” on November 7 th , 2012 (“Olson in
Minneapolis...”). There were various highly digital, animated videos showing how Whole
Foods’ organic and natural foods will bring together families and friends. Below is a picture from that campaign, an example related to gathering around the table for Thanksgiving.
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One IMC, or Integrated Marketing Communications, element used in the recent past was online and printed coupons. A coupon book titled “The Whole Deal” includes coupons as well as deals, daily recipes and a daily meal planner. Another form of sales promotion that is used by Whole Foods is flyers available upon entering the store promoting current or future sales (“The Whole Deal”). Whole Foods does utilize Facebook and Twitter to promote recipes, blog posts and sales as well.
In terms of direct marketing, Whole Foods Market, Inc. has a magazine that is distributed twice a year directly to customers. This magazine was developed to inspire healthy eating. This publication, through its dedicated content, serves to enhance customers’ commitment to a healthy lifestyle.
An application must be filled out in order for Whole Foods to sponsor an organization also exists within the organization’s list of current marketing strategies. There are applications for both national and local or regional sponsorship opportunities. Whole
Foods does like to sponsor nonprofit organizations that are giving back to their communities.
In terms of public relations and publicity, Whole Foods has won many awards in the past years. Their most recent award was the Sustained Excellence in Green Power in 2012 from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Personal selling is also among popular Whole Foods IMC and marketing strategies. There is more of an emphasis on regional and local personal selling, very similar to their advertising strategies.
Whole Foods Market, Inc. has used several different advertising campaigns, be they local, regional or sometimes national. Some have been directed at specific holidays or
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religious groups; others have been related to employees of various stores. Over the past ten years, Whole Foods has created some very diverse marketing campaigns for its industry.
In 2006, Whole Foods created a print campaign in New York City that ran for ten weeks.
The plan emphasized the value and deals with which Whole Foods provided its customers.
The slogan for the campaign was “Whole Foods, Whole Paycheck.” These ads ran in the New
York Times’ city section.
In July of 2011, Whole Foods started a Ramadan-based marketing campaign. The campaign was mostly online and featured special recipes and product giveaways for the month of August, when the Muslim holiday takes place. The campaign ended up being pulled because many right-wing bloggers began to make claims that Whole Foods was
“anti-Israel” and “jihadist” (“Whole Foods Abandons...”).
In late 2012, a Denver-area Whole Foods Market took its marketing matters into its own hands and used their own employees in in-store advertising, as seen below. Each week the Denver-based store had its employees pose with their “pick of the week,” a specific item sold in-store that they encouraged customers to purchase. Pictures were displayed throughout the store with quotes directly from that specific employee regarding why they thought customers ought to purchase specific produce items (“Innovative Whole Foods...”).
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Overall, Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s marketing campaigns make an attempt to appeal to the fresh, natural, organic quality of the items sold in-store while trying to appeal to various demographics with the promotion of various products for specific holidays.
Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s brand positioning strategy is to promote their quality organic and natural products rather than the price of those products. Whole Foods wants to focus on how their customers see their products. Whole Foods wants their customers to know that they have not only quality products, but also that they are organic and natural.
Over the years, there have been more advertisements about natural and organic foods because it is a growing trend in the United States. It is hard to find information on their positioning due to the very little advertising that Whole Foods engages in.
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The current target audience for Whole Foods Market, Inc. is a multicultural, diverse audience. Key customers of Whole Foods Market, Inc. are working parents between 30 and
50 years of age, with most of these people being women. The current target audience consists of those educated to degree levels; they are professionals with mid- to high-level incomes. These individuals targeted by Whole Foods are city and urban folk who are health and fitness conscious, concerned with healthy food for themselves and their children, the environment and issues related to sustainability. The current target audience Whole Foods is focused on is looking for premium service and a well rounded shopping experience: a one-stop shop to suit their busy lifestyles.
Healthy Indulgers are senior citizens who lead rather healthy and luxurious lifestyles; these senior citizens often splurge on purchases. Overall, Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s marketing campaigns make an attempt to appeal to the fresh, natural, organic quality of the items sold in-store; therefore, the selected target audience to be segmented for this specific, new campaign will be the Healthy Indulgers because these specific senior citizens wish to lead a healthy life regardless of cost.
For many senior citizens who are living in the colder areas of the country, they tend to move somewhere warmer once they have retired. Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s marketing campaigns would be most effective in attempting to reach this group of retirees as well. In having knowledge of this information, Whole Foods Market, Inc. will be able to reach this specific target market with ease and know that they will make revenue on having
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advertised in this area.
The three geographical markets to which the advertising campaign will be executed are men and women over the age of 65, the Healthy Indulgers, in Florida, Rhode Island and
Pennsylvania. The focus on these states is important because these states have the highest over-sixty population and have more than one Whole Foods stores in existence. The statistics listed below for each state are courtesy of the United States Census Bureau and some have been rounded for legibility:
Men & Women Over the Age of 65, Worried about Health:
Florida: 6.94 out of 18.80 million people (36.89% of the population)
Rhode Island: 363, 520 out of 1.05 million people (34.54% of the population)
Pennsylvania: 4.56 out of 12.70 million people (35.94% of the population) (Annual
Estimates of the Population).
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Whole Foods’ current positioning in this campaign will remain the same. Whole Foods is recommended not to change the prices of their products because the company wants the
Healthy Indulgers to purchase their products at normal prices because they have the extra money to afford Whole Foods’ products.
The primary message that will be conveyed in the creative strategy is that eating Whole
Foods’ products means eating organic, natural and healthy products; the older someone is, the more they may think about eating and remaining healthy so they can live a longer life and avoid more serious health issues down the road. Consuming Whole Foods’ products will keep the Healthy Indulgers healthier longer, as will consuming the correct amounts of dietary supplements necessary for people in that stage of their lives.
The secondary message for this campaign is for the Healthy Indulgers to be active and involved in their family affairs, in order for them to be able to see their grandchildren and family members grow older. Being able to be around to watch their families grow leads to families coming together and having fun, laughing and reminiscing everything life has to offer.
What will be communicated: eating healthy will keep Healthy Indulgers healthy, alive longer and will help them to watch their families grow into the future. Healthy Indulgers want to be healthy and are conscious about what they eat and what they do in their lives to keep them healthy. Being able to communicate to the audience that the consumption of
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Whole Foods’ products means a healthier lifestyle, a life well lived with friends and family, will increase revenues because the message hits home with the over-sixty crowd.
The positioning statement used will be “Don’t Miss a Thing.” A play on the former
Whole Foods slogan of togetherness, “Come Together,” this statement brings together the idea of being healthy and living a healthy lifestyle in order to spend more time doing the things an over-sixty male or female might enjoy doing, especially spending time with their family. Healthy Indulgers who consume Whole Foods’ products regularly are the kind of over-sixty men and women seen outside with their grandchildren having a good time and making memories. They won’t be “missing a thing.”
The new campaign will use real people, or “average Joes,” to drive the positioning statement of living a healthy lifestyle and not missing a thing home. The goal is to prove that Whole Foods’ products are what Whole Foods says they are: healthy, fresh, natural and organic. The message used will fit the slice of life form of message appeals. The goal with this campaign is to have the targeted audience, Healthy Indulgers or the over-fifties crowd, relate to the message about living a longer, more active, healthier lifestyle so that they can live longer and see their families and friends go through various milestone moments in their own lives.
This campaign will be integrated across elements and media through the positioning statement. “Don’t Miss a Thing” will be made visible and/or audible through each of the three suggested media. Below are the objectives set for the new Whole Foods Market, Inc.
IMC and advertising campaigns.
Objective 1: To increase traffic in the Whole Foods stores by 65% among men and women
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over the age of 50 concerned with their health in Florida, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania within the last quarter of the 2014 calendar year.
Strategy: In order to promote the Healthy Indulgers to enter into the Whole Foods stores and then have them be returning customers, offering samples and promotions for the
Healthy Indulger to enjoy while shopping at the stores is highly encouraged.
Objective 2: To increase sales by 12% among the men and women over the age of 50 concerned with their health in Florida, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania within the last half of the 2014 calendar year.
Strategy: In order to increase sales, the advertising promotions sent through direct mail will bring in more Healthy Indulgers to the stores to purchase Whole Foods’ products. Sales will be increased because of the increase in customers coming into the stores but also the awareness of healthy foods to the Healthy Indulgers.
Objective 3: To encourage brand recognition among 50% of men and women over the age of 50 concerned with their health in Florida, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.
Strategy: To promote brand recognition among consumers, keeping the logo at how it is now will be able to relate to the Healthy Indulgers because the color green is associated with health. It is recommended to focus on the emotional aspect of how Whole Foods makes the consumer feel after consuming and using their products. In doing so, the Healthy
Indulgers will be more willing to come back to Whole Foods over and over again and be loyal to the brand that they love to purchase.
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The three forms of media Whole Foods, Inc. will use in its new marketing campaign are newspaper, television and direct mail.
Newspaper advertisements will be used because most newspaper readers are educated adults with relatively high household incomes, much like the Healthy Indulgers Whole
Foods is targeting in its new campaign. These newspaper advertisements will be displayed as preprinted inserts in local newspapers for each of the geographically targeted areas,
Florida, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.
In Rhode Island the newspaper campaign will be distributed to the city of Cranston through the local newspaper, the Cranston Herald. The Cranston Herald is part of the Rhode
Island Newspaper Group (RING), which also owns the Warwick Beacon and the Johnston
Sunrise (”Our History”). In order for Whole Foods to distribute their newspaper advertisements to the Cranston Herald, it has to be done through RING, meaning that the
Warwick Beacon and the Johnston Sunrise would also show the same advertisements leading to a larger market reach.
In Pennsylvania the newspaper campaign will be distributed to the “City of Brotherly
Love,” Philadelphia, through the Philadelphia Inquirer. The largest paper in Philadelphia, the Inquirer features a variety of local and national news, including regular sections on food, style and more.
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In Florida, the campaign will be distributed through Aventura Digest, which is a part of the South Florida Sun Times. This digest reaches the Aventura market, which has a large
50+ year-old population and a Whole Foods, located directly in the city (“The South Florida
Sun Times & The Aventura Digest”).
The newspaper advertisement will be used as a promotional tool to reach 50% of the selected target market within eight months of the 12-month campaign. The Healthy
Indulgers are prone to reading the specific newspaper that is delivered to them whenever they are eating breakfast in the morning or have free time throughout the day. In constantly seeing the promotions in the newspaper, there will be an increase in brand recall and they will be more likely to come into a Whole Foods Market and purchase the products.
The ads will be displayed once a month for the eight-month period. These ads will be displayed throughout Cranston, Rhode Island, right outside of Providence, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania and Aventura, Florida, right outside of Miami. The ad example below is set to be distributed in the Aventura Digest, when the ad is distributed through the Cranston
Herald and the Philadelphia Inquirer the locations on the advertisement will be appropriately changed to fit the specific city in which they are advertised, be it Philadelphia or any other city. These ads will run alongside the television commercial and will have an appearance similar to that of the direct mail for the campaign, in order to be all encompassing and holistic.
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Healthy Indulgers—Don’t Miss a Thing Campaign: Newspaper Advertisement
Healthy Indulgers—Don’t Miss a Thing Campaign: Newspaper Advertisement Budget
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A forty-second television commercial centered on the position statement “Don’t Miss a
Thing” will be created for this campaign. The commercial will feature an average over-sixty female named Marion. The commercial will air during the daytime (9 AM) and prime time
(8 PM) dayparts. These dayparts will be used as airtimes for the Whole Foods commercials because most individuals in the over-sixty crowd watch nearly seven hours of television a day and are most likely to watch talk shows, local and world news programming, game shows and competition shows like “American Idol” or “Dancing with the Stars.” These advertisements will be network advertisements, airing on some of the major networks such as CBS, ABC and Fox.
In Rhode Island, the channels the Whole Foods commercials will run on CBS (channel
WPRI 12), ABC (WLNE 6) and Fox (WNAC 64). In Pennsylvania, the commercials will run on CBS (KWY 3), ABC (WPVI 6) and Fox (WTFX 29). In Florida, the commercials will air on
CBS (WINK 5), ABC (WZVN 7) and Fox (WFTX 4). It would be ideal to have these commercials air on Sundays, during CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Mondays or throughout the week on ABC’s “Live! With Kelly & Michael,” Tuesdays with ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” on
Wednesdays during Fox’s “American Idol,” and Fridays with ABC’s “20/20.” It would be beneficial to air the commercial during these times and these shows because Healthy
Indulgers, the segmented target audience for this new Whole Foods campaign, are very interested in watching TV, especially the shows mentioned above. Below is the commercial storyboard.
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Healthy Indulgers—Don’t Miss a Thing Campaign: Commercial
Musical overlay throughout the Commercial
Zoom in: CU of Marion
Marion is driving her car to the local grocery to pick up a few things.
Pan: WS of Marion and her family doing various things together
On the ride, Marion thinks about fun times with her family (4 th of July cookouts,
Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, etc.); see Marion pull into Whole Foods with a smile on her face.
Cut to LS: Marion shopping for fresh produce
Music fades
Marion is pushing her cart through the aisles of Whole Foods, picking up fruits and veggies to serve her family for their next get together.
Marion continues to shop, family in mind. A voiceover plays: “We proudly provide the freshest, all natural produce around so you don’t have to miss a thing.” The phrase “Don’t
Miss a Thing” appears on the screen with the
Whole Foods Market logo.
This commercial will air during the months of January, March, April, May, July,
September, November and December. The commercial will run on this flighting schedule to attract people to the seasonality attached to Whole Foods Market, Inc.’s brand and products. Certain produce is best when purchased and consumed during specific months of the year and family and friendly gatherings are typically held during these months for certain holidays (New Years, Easter, Independence Day, Labor and Memorial Days,
Thanksgiving and Christmas).
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Below is a budgeted list of where (what channel), when (date and time) and for how long (how many episodes) the Whole Foods commercial will air, pricing information is courtesy of Ad Age (“TV Ad Prices...”). Further into this section is a schedule of how each
IMC element in the Whole Foods campaign will run, as well as an all-inclusive look at the budget.
Healthy Indulgers—Don’t Miss a Thing Campaign: Commercial Budget
Direct mail will be used, as well. Small fliers with local employees’ “picks of the month” will be used to showcase favorite products sold in Whole Foods by Whole Foods employees. These advertisements will showcase employees’ recommended purchases as well as in-store deals Whole Foods will have for the next month. These fliers will be sent to those who fit the title of Healthy Indulger, who will be found through census data and research on the surrounding gyms and health clubs in the three geographical target areas.
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The direct mail flyer will be shipped out once a month for the 2014 year to showcase the “product of the month.” Each month the product advertised will be different and include a coupon that relates to the specific product being promoted. It will be at the beginning of the month and the coupon will expire within that specific month. Each month’s product will be a seasonal product that would be likely to go along with the month it is promoted. Examples are:
January: Borage Therapy Advanced Formula Lotion
February: Amy's Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies
March: Whole Foods Market All Purpose Cleaner - Citrus
April: TerrAmazon Bath Tea Relaxing Amazon
May: Eros Blueberry Organic Greek 2% Yogurt
June: Engine 2 Hummus - Jalapeño Cilantro
July: Izze Sparkling Lemon
August: Bella's Spicy Garlic Wing Sauce
September: Nature's Rancher Fully Cooked Grilled Chicken Breast
October: Three Sisters Marshmellow Oaties
November: Aspall Organic Cyder Vinegar
December: 365 Everyday Value Winter Blend Whole Bean Coffee.
On the next page is an example of the flyer that will be distributed, as well as the budget for the flyer. The example is that of the month of July.
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Healthy Indulgers—Don’t Miss a Thing Campaign: Direct Mail, Flyer
Healthy Indulgers—Don’t Miss a Thing Campaign: Direct Mail, Flyer, Budget
Healthy Indulgers—Don’t Miss a Thing Campaign: Total Budget
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Below is the schedule, as explained in the above sections, for each of the three promotional tools used for the Whole Foods Market, Inc. The television campaign will take place during eight of the twelve months of the year alongside the newspaper campaign. The direct mail flier will be mailed out once a month with a product of the month each month and coupons attached.
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In summary, Whole Foods Market, Inc. has previously only utilized local and/or regional advertising campaigns. This new campaign Whole Foods will implement should use television, newspaper and direct mail flyer campaigns targeted at Healthy Indulgers, those men and women over the age of 65 who have the means to spend more money and live active lifestyles, in order to increase store traffic, sales and brand recognition for the organization for the 2014 calendar year.
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United States Census Bureau. NAICS 44511. Industry Statistics Sampler, 2007. Web. 10 Mar.
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