Brandstory: Values Matter

The new Values Matter campaign from Whole Foods is like a master’s class in brandstory.


WHY IT’S A HIT

From a brandstory perspective this campaign is a grand slam, knocking it out of the park in each of these brandstory key areas:

  • A fully developed brandstory

  • Brand message alignment

  • Brand personality

  • Brand identity (brand archetype)

  • Expected brand behavior

  • Brand authenticity

SELF-SELECTED CONTENT

The website’s content is brilliantly organized around the audience’s interests, motivation, and available time.

This allows the user to self-select their level of engagement with the brand.

T.F.K.D.

One of the questions I ask in every Discovery Session is this:

After each brand experience, what do you want your audience to think, feel, know, or do?

I don’t expect an answer to all four. In fact, I try to channel the group to just one, or two goals for each brand experience they are creating.

Whole Foods incorporated this same sense of brandstory goals into their site by allowing the user to filter the content by their own preferred motivation: “I want to learn, do, or both”.

THE WHY, NOT THE WHAT

Lastly, the Whole Foods: Values Matter campaign focuses on the “why” Whole Foods is in business, not the “what” of their business (groceries).

Normally, a commercial for a brand like Whole Foods would sound like this:

  • Biggest selection

  • Convenient locations

  • Best prices

  • Friendly service

  • Featuring natural, and organic foods

Instead, Whole Foods followed the principles outlined by Simon Sinek who teaches that customers buy why brands do what they do, instead of buying what they do.

I am excited to watch Whole Foods increase their brand equity through this campaign, and to see how this will affect their competitive landscape.

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