Digging a big Whole - Whole Foods and their brand

I came across an interesting story this week that has two very valuable brand lessons. It involves the US supermarket chain, Whole Foods Market. They sell organic food and are champions of sustainable farming, nutritional food labels and the ethical treatment of animals, and with 230 shops and a value of £2.3bn, they've done it very well. But the founder and Chief Executive John Mackey has dug a bit of a hole for himself and his company with some comments he's made. And this is what has raised the importance of the role brand plays in business.

There's a lot of discussion in the US at the moment about healthcare; President Obama is proposing some radical reforms, a system along the lines of the NHS; healthcare that is available to everyone - whether or not you have insurance. But this has raised massive reaction from right-wing America, and this is where John Mackey steps in. He wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal, outlining an alternative to President Obama's plan and stating that Americans do not have an intrinsic right to healthcare. This position hasn't gone down well with his customers, most of whom are liberal, middle-class Americans, and now he has protests outside some of his shops. You can read about the whole story in this BBC article, but there are two points I want to focus on.

Values are valuable
The first point is captured in this is a fantastic quote, taken from a disgruntled Whole Foods customer:
"Whole Foods is expensive but people shop here because they identify with the social conscience of the company - now it turns out that ethos was just a marketing exercise."
There are two lessons to take from this:
1: If the brand values of your company match the values of your target market, they will pay more for what it is you're selling them. Not because the product is any better (necessarily), but because they have an emotional bond to your company, because you care about the things that they do. In this case it's organic food, but it could be driving fast (a car manufacturer) or looking beautiful (a cosmetics company).
2: Your brand must be consistent. Every touch-point in your brand (product/service; people; communication; work place) must reflect the same values and deliver a consistent experience. If you say that you are an ethical business (communication), you need to behave like one (product/service) - in the eyes of your customers. If you don't, you damage the relationship and loyalty you have built up. (You could argue that an opinion on healthcare politics has no connection to what the company does, but the only opinion that matters is the customer. And clearly they think it's important, in this case).

Does your business have its own personality?
Another quote from this story has a second valuable brand lesson to tell. John Mackey has commented on his blog:
"I gave my personal opinions... [the] company has no official position on the issue."
Again, this is a matter of opinion, and the customers have given their judgement. They see the opinions of John Mackey as the opinions of Whole Foods Market - and that is a failure in the brand. A brand is the personality of the business. It should give the company a distinct personality, separate from the owner, chairman, managing director, board members... anyone associated with the business. And again there are two reasons for this:
1: A brand makes the business more robust, so that if an individual behaves inappropriately the business can distance itself from that behaviour and maintain its credibility in the eyes of customers / shareholders / employees etc.
2: A brand makes the business more valuable, so that when it comes to sale, the perceived value of the company lies in the business itself, not in the individual who is selling it.

Now your business doesn't need to be worth millions for your brand to be important. Values can add value to any business, you just need to make sure you're talking to the right audience. And what's your exit strategy? If you plan to sell your business at some stage where is the value? In you? Or in your business?

If you'd like to know more about the value of your brand, you might be interested in our Brand to Deliver seminar on Tuesday 22 September: Your brand and why it's valuable. We will be joined by Foot Anstey, who will be looking at the value of Intellectual Property and Bishop Fleming, who will be explaining how to build value into your business. To find out more email jonathan@alderandalder.co.uk or call 01392 248107.