What the heck happened here?
John Mackey, the very web marketing savvy and highly opinionated CEO of Whole Foods pens this article in the Well street journal where he decries the Obama government’s “socialist” health-care reform and speaks strongly in favor of health services provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. Point made.
Here’s the problem. Whole Foods’ customer base didn’t think so.
From what I understand, whole foods’ customer base primary consists of progressive thinking higher-income folks who believe in healthy eating and live an active and healthy lifestyle.
Here’s the math, Mackey : Progressive thinkers = Almost all Big supporters of health care reform
It gets worse. This is part of what he wrote in his WSJ article : “Many promoters of health-care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care—to equal access to doctors, medicines and hospitals. While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?”
Now, that’s a stand. Not a farmstand. But, an all out political issue stand. Business and PR 101 : Business and Personal political beliefs do not mix in the public domain. Period.
Sure, you might cut a check for the candidate of the hour to get him/her elected. But, at the end of the day, perception is reality.
The fallout has been quite shocking. The Facebook group ” Boycott Whole Foods” has a mission statement stating that the Whole Foods’ progressive intentions were deceptive and asked group members not to support Whole Foods’ anti-union, anti-health insurance reform and right-wing activities. This group had a membership of 27,000 members this morning. This afternoon they’re at 28,500 members.
With Mackey leading the way, Whole Foods has been at the forefront of using Social media as a marketing tool to converse with their customers. They’ve localized their conversations on Twitter where they currently have more than 150 local accounts where they try to maintain conversations with local customers as opposed to a centralized approach. They have a Flickr Account, they have blogs and they post how-you-do-it videos on a regular basis. They’ve also allowed people to comment on this issue on their blogs which has helped. But, the problems remain. Mashable has this neat whole foods article where they cited YouGov’s BrandIndex which tracked a brand’s consumer perception daily. The overall buzz on whole Foods was negative. Their brand reputation has also suffered a bit of a beating. While Yougov’s results may not necessarily be accurate, it’s important that Whole Foods realizes the negative impact of Mackey’s statements.
Today, the CtW Investment Group in a whole foods story on Yahoo Finance called for Mackey’s ouster as the CEO. Another Adweek article here.
The moral of the story, Mr. Mackey, is that you are like Ceasar’s wife. You need to be spotless and scandal free. If not, then you affect Ceasar’s reputation and standing in the senate and become a liability.
You’ve built a great business which provides a good service to its clientèle. Your brand’s smart, clever, sincere and quite honest, really. Unfortunately, you and the brand are near synonymous with each other. Like Steve Jobs and Apple. For now, do as much damage control as you can. Clarify your stand. Use your company’s social media to deliver a personalized message saying ” Gee, guys, that’s not what I meant.” Heck, even join the anti-Whole Foods Facebook group and apologize. A contrite confession goes a long way here. You’ll be looked upon as a misguided soul and then everyone will move on. The brand will recover and you can go on thinking of ways to expand your business.
Just don’t do something like the Wild Oats fiasco. Your anonymity was lost the moment you started pondering the state of the universe on your blog. Also, dont let this dissent faze you – Half the people dont even understand what health care reform entails are are just happy hipsters looks for a cause to align with. Good luck, old chap! Sometimes, it’s hard to sit on a throne and wear a crown.
