The value of quirky in-store marketing.

I read an interesting article this morning about a series of layoffs this week of Whole Foods employees both at the store and regional levels. Many of these layoffs included graphic artists and other employees who assist with in-store and regional marketing events. While this is part of Amazon’s strategy to streamline in-store marketing after acquiring the company (Ortenberg, 2018), it does raise a bigger question. During this acquisition, will the new parent company impact the more memorable aspects of shopping at Whole Foods?

I think so.

Amazon’s Whole Foods Marketing isn’t thinking about the big picture – getting rid of these in-store marketers who create the memorable art that we see around stores may do more damage to the brand than is worth the cost savings of restructuring staff. If they replace the colorful, sometimes irreverent or pop culture-driven marketing with slick corporate design, have they misunderstood what shoppers appreciate? Yes, they have the right as the new parent company to make changes, but this change is one that could affect the customer’s shopping experience, which may lead to lower profits. Do you think it’s worth the risk? Do you like the current WFM marketing? Should in-store marketing be mass-produced and corporate or retain a quirky sense of style that customers are used to? Only time will tell if Amazon made th right decision.

References

Ortenberg, C. (2018, March 23). With layoffs, WFM erases more brand marketing tools. Nosh. Retrieved from https://www.projectnosh.com