The first Whole Foods Market was opened in 1980 in Austin Texas. It began with a staff of only 19 people, however it has since expanded and Whole Foods can be found all of the United States and in the United Kingdom. Whole Foods’ mission is about sustainability, organic farming, fair trade and caring for the community. Whole Foods is very community and people oriented, so it only makes sense that they can be found on many social media channels as well. They have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pintrest, Instagram and Youtube.
Whole Foods is active and engaging on all of these platforms, however their Pintrest account is most intriguing to me. I am not the only one who is attracted to their 53 boards and 1,825 pins. Whole Foodsf has 118,000 other followers and are widely talked about on various blogs and articles. For example, Mashable praises Whole Foods’ activity on Pintrest and says they ” communicate the lifestyle that the Whole Foods team aspires to…”. Not only do they display bright colors and tasty looking food, but they also have boards titled ” How Does Your Garden Grow” and “Kids: Move That Body”. Whole foods promotes a healthy lifestyle whether that is eating healthy, growing your own food or just getting some excercise. Shown below are all 53 boards on their account.
According to Anna Washenko on Sprout Social, Whole Foods is setting an example for all other brands on Pintrest. One of the things Whole Foods does well according to this article is that they stay engaged with their followers. This is one of the reasons I was attracted to this platform. They are constantly repinning and uploading new pins for their consumeers to enjoy. This tells me they really want their fans to stay engaged with them on Pintrest. I also noticed that Whole Foods will comment on some replies on various pins. An example of this is shown below. One consumer found that the link to a pin was not working, and Whole Foods responding saying they will work on getting it fixed. This shows consumers that the brand cares about them and wants to give them the best experience on Pintrest that they can provide.
PR Daily also praised Whole Foods for their activity on Pintrest. This article addresses Whole Foods’ global community manager, Michael Aaron Bepko and his thoughts about Pintrest. One of the tings Bepko mentions is how Pintrest is great for outreach and metions their “Why Austin board.” Prior to reading this artcile, the whe “Why Austin” board caught my eye as well. This board talks about all the great things Austin has to offer. According to this board, Austin has great music, food, attractions and an overall great environment. I thought this was a great way to promote the city Whole Foods was founded in. It gives consumers an insight into life in Austin and all that it has to offer. It gives the impression that Austin is an active, healthy and beautiful place, whose values are not far off from the values of the brand itself. I thought it was very clever to make a board to promote this city. It shows that Whole Foods cares about the community it started in and is encouraging their consumers to visit this wonderful place.
Overall, I am impressed with the number of pins and board they have. Although they do have a variety of boards, each one is relevant to the average Whole Foods Consumer. The brand is staying true to their mission by endorsing healthy and sustainable living, while also providing an enjoyable and interactive atmosphere for their followers. Through their presence on Pintrest, followers are able to get an even better look into the brand and are able to see they are dedicated to their mission and want to interact with follower and consumers as best as they can. That being said, Whole Foods knows their auidence and knows whats types of things attract them. This is a key part of success in social media and Whole Foods does it well. They are able to attract their consumers in unqiue ways and do not just talk about food, but can draw them in through the lifestyle that surrounds Whole Foods itself.
From doing this case study, I realized just how important consistency is. It can be hard to have the same tone of voice and themes between all a brand’s account on social media, but Whole Foods makes it look easy. They never stray from their mission and values which only gives them more credibility as a brand looking out for the world and communities around them.
AshleyKPerez 