Will Whole Foods’ Ongoing Investment Boost Its Store Sales?

The U.S. organic foods firm, Whole Foods Market (WFM), is currently facing intense competition from rivals which has been driving its comparable store sales on a downhill ride in the fiscal year 2014. In the entire year, same-store sales stood at 4.3%, down from 6.9% reported in the previous fiscal year. Hence, as a venture to boost sales in the next fiscal years the Fortune 500 company is ready to invest around $20 million on a national ad campaign. So, what is the campaign all about and how is the company expecting it to rejuvenate the slack in sales? Will it really aid the company in achieving the goal to improve its sales? Let's take a peek into the details of the campaign to understand how it can actually pull up the comparable store sales as well as the stock which has already plunged around 30% year to date. Investors are also highly concerned with the drop in the chain's sales growth amid increased organic grocery competition.

Campaign linked to sustainability

For years, Whole Foods proudly acclaimed that it is the sole retailer that has minimum expenditure on advertising and marketing than other retailers as it relied heavily on "word-of-mouth advocacy" by its customers, which it felt was far more valuable than "traditional advertising."

Back in the 1990s, Whole Foods was acquiring one company after another and shaping itself in the organic retail industry with almost no competition. But, now it's facing the heat from competitors who are more candid with their advertising strategies and, thus, Whole Foods has started to feel the pinch in the store sales count that is drastically affected by lack of marketing efforts. So, now, the company is trying to adapt to the reality in the marketplace. 

What is the campaign like?

The Austin-based organic supermarket giant has recently launched its first ever nationwide ad campaign in the U.S., in its desperate attempt to reverse the sales slump and share price slide.

Analysts' have estimated that the company would be spending up to $20 million on the campaign which would be run on television, in print, online, outdoors and in its 399 stores until December. In fact this represents almost four times more than what the company had spent in the previous fiscal year on advertising. The natural foods retail giant is now seeking to buck up the downward trajectory by putting its values at the center of the group's largest ever brand marketing campaign in its 35-year history.

In the 60 second "Values Matter Anthem" the company declares – "We are hungrier for better than we ever realised. We want to know where our food comes from. We want to trust our sources. We want people and animals and the places our food comes from to be treated fairly. The time is ripe to champion the way food is grown and raised and caught. So it's good for us, and for the greater good, too. This is where it all comes to fruition. This is where values matter. Whole Foods Market, America's healthiest grocery store."

Top 10 Beverage Companies To Watch In Right Now

This central narrative plays a number of separate ads such as in a com