CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN Prepared by: Natalie Edwards, Nathan Hart & Sarah Eman Date: December 12, 2017
INTRODUCTION - Whole Foods Market Inc. is an American supermarket chain - Founded in Austin, TX in September 1980 by John Mackey & Mark Stiles - Serves the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom - Current parent organization is Amazon.com (June 2017) - Over 365 stores & 91,000 employees - Features foods without artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners & hydrogenated fats
INTRODUCTION - Whole Foods was acquired by e-commerce giant Amazon in June 2017 - Increased company expansion & exposure, as well as product availability - Company purpose = transform the “grocery shopping experience” - Make grocery shopping something you look forward to - Provide quality items and unique services to promote physical & mental wellness - Goal = for their products to improve their customers’ overall quality of life
SITUATION Although commonly viewed a success, Whole Foods’ brand has been negatively impacted by a few notable missteps relating to food safety over the last few years: - June 2016 - under fire for violating FDA regulations when a U.S. food safety inspector warned the company that many infractions were discovered at their Everett, Massachusetts, plant that would result in their food being “contaminated with filth or rendered injurious to health.” - November 2017 - a turkey purchased from one of their stores tested positive for an FDA prohibited drug that is toxic to humans.
SITUATION Within the area of food safety, the aforementioned instances & existing prodromes articulate an opportunity for Whole Foods to create a new PR campaign designed to help the company mitigate crisis, as well as promote the brand’s emphasis on food safety. - Being a food supplier, food safety/contamination is the most common issue they are likely to face - Must be ready to mitigate & minimize any food safety related crisis at any given time - Create proactive campaign that aims to generate credibility & goodwill surrounding their food production process Our crisis communications plan will leverage a new campaign entitled Whole 4 You, which seeks to mitigate any fears or doubts that Whole Foods’ products are unsafe to consume. - Will show key publics how they identify with, satisfy & demonstrate the following “pillars” with their business/food products: safety, quality, community, & health.
STRATEGY Our crisis communications plan involves a proactive strategy that will be handled in three parts: 1 2 3 Crisis management Whole 4 You campaign, Final Stage Communicate clearly 4 “pillars” Evaluation Minimise fallout Food safety accreditation. Own the issue Offer solution
STRATEGY Through the promotion of our Whole 4 You program, we will achieve our objectives by leveraging the following areas of opportunity that will help us build traction for our campaign: MEDIA RELATIONS - Media trained Whole Foods spokesperson: Walter Robb (CEO) - Media Contacts: Local & national news media outlets, websites & newspapers (NBC, ABC, FOX, Houston Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, NY Times, Washington Post) - Will reach out to our trusted media contacts to: publicize the launch of our Whole 4 You campaign, organize interviews & cooking tutorials, inform the public about any in-store/offsite events we will be hosting, update stakeholders with any important info we may have
STRATEGY SOCIAL CAMPAIGN COMMUNITY RELATIONS THIRD-PARTY ENDORSEMENTS - Engage with local health - Social media plan will be - Align with the FDA, NSF organizations & health clubs created & will incorporate a International & American nearby Whole Foods locations viral video series and posts Cheese Society to promote in major cities across the U.S. - used to engage/inform users our food safety accreditation introduce/push our food safety initiative + freebies
STRATEGY CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT EMPLOYEE RELATIONS SPECIAL EVENTS - Have community - Leverage Whole Foods - Frequent, fun & interactive members/customers serve as employees as brand in-store & off site promotional brand advocates for the campaign ambassadors for the company’s activities will be implemented - Build trust with current & food safety initiative; feature within the community to appeal prospective customers by asking employees & their testimonials to current & prospective their opinions (in-store and online) in campaign content (videos, shoppers in order to help better their ads, media interviews, & social) operations/product options
GENERAL CAMPAIGN GOALS The Whole Foods team set both general goals and measurable objectives that we aim to accomplish through our new, 6-month long Whole 4 You campaign. Each goal will be evaluated at the conclusion of the campaign. - To mitigate crisis as quickly & efficiently as possible in regards to any food safety or contamination issue that arises - To regain control of the situation and conversation as timely as possible - Minimize negative perceptions amongst key publics & stakeholders - Generate content that contributes to positive perceptions of the brand in response to crisis - Obtain NSF International accreditation to build trust - To establish brand ambassador relationships
MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES (SMART) - To generate awareness for our Whole 4 You campaign amongst our target audience & key publics by 50% by July of 2018 - To increase the brand’s Net Promoter Score (level of customer satisfaction & positive acceptance) by 2 points after experiencing crisis by July 2018 - To increase in-store purchases by 10% by July 2018 - To increase sales (in-store or online through Amazon) by 8% by July 2018 - To establish a minimum of 5 ambassador relationships by March 2018 - To generate awareness amongst people living within 5 miles of a Whole Foods Market by 60% by July of 2018 - To increase Whole Foods’ social media following by 10% by July 2018 (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube) - To generate website traffic (new Amazon landing page) by 5% by July 2018
AUDIENCE Whole Foods’ primary key Whole 4 You’s target publics & stakeholders: audience includes: - Whole Foods Market organization (365 - Whole Foods shoppers stores & 85,000 team members) - Prospective Whole Foods shoppers - Current Whole Foods shoppers - Whole Foods employees - Prospective Whole Foods shoppers - Amazon consumers - Whole Foods employees - Community members - Amazon consumers - Food & Drug Administration - Community members - Shoppers concerned about health - Food & Drug Administration - Shoppers concerned about their health
AUDIENCE
TACTICS The following tactics will be implemented to reinforce our strategies & to promote Whole 4 You & its 4 pillars: safety, quality, health, & community. - These action steps will be used to generate goodwill for the brand surrounding the issue of food safety, as well as create an impact amongst our key publics. - In terms of the “voice” for our campaign, we will have multiple spokespeople serving as brand advocates: key public figures/celebrities, community members, customers, & Whole Foods employees. - Our CEO, Walter Robb, is the brand’s official spokesperson, but only for media relations purposes.
TACTICS THIRD PARTY ENDORSEMENTS - Promote Whole Foods’ food safety accreditation from the NSF International, FDA, and the American Cheese Society In-store - have stickers on products and signs/posters promoting the accreditation ○ Feature a food safety accreditation logo on all promotional materials ○ Create a video explaining the accreditation & how it impacts the brand & customers ○
TACTICS Social Campaign - Create a viral video series featuring brand ambassadors - will show them interacting with the brand (in their own unique way), preparing fresh meals (tutorials), & explaining the brand’s emphasis on food safety Diverse, creative & likeable group of celebrity ambassadors ■ - Each video will emphasize a different “pillar” - will demonstrate the brand abiding by & supporting: safety, quality, health, & community - The videos will be displayed on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube) & will also serve as content for the website, internet radio, & :30 second TV commercials - Create Snapchat account & utilize the “Story” option - pre-made videos + live
AYESHA CURRY JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE BRAND AMBASSADORS DEMI LOVATO KRISTEN BELL JESSICA ALBA BUDDY VALASTRO
TACTICS CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT - Feature local ambassadors in our video series (recruit them from social media) - They will explain what food safety means to them & will show them using Whole Foods’ products (fun cooking tutorials & informational videos) - Will make Whole 4 You appear more interesting, personable & relatable - Build trust with current & prospective customers by asking their opinions via in-store and online surveys to help better the brand’s operations & product options
FOOD BLOGGERS STAY AT HOME MOMS BRAND AMBASSADORS WORKERS HEALTH CONSCIOUS ASPIRING CHEFS SOCIAL BLOGGERS
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