Fortune 100 Series... Whole Foods Market

Please welcome Jenn Staretorp as a guest blogger on Media Words.  Jenn is one of my Social Media students at Daniel Webster College this term and this is her first blog post (ever).
We welcome your comments and continued support of her social media experience.

Whole Foods Market - Fortune 100 Company #22

When one thinks of the word ‘organic’, technology is the farthest thing from one’s mind. One well-known company however, has taken their natural and organic food store from a small one-store location in Austin Texas, to a dominant web based presence: Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods Market can now be found chatting away with customers and fans on one of their two blogs (Whole Story and The CEO’s Blog) Twitter (@WholeFoods), Facebook, and sharing pictures on Flickr.

Giving Social Media a Try

Since WFM first delved into the social networking world in 2005 they have become known as one of the best social networking companies. Rated #1 on the Top 3 List: Brands Using Social Media by The Beacher Agency, and can now be found ranked at #32 (based on the number of followers) on Twitterholic.com. Although their progressive attitude towards social networking is commendable (especially since most companies are having a hard time understanding the value of social media), their record in using social media sites is not completely clean.

Failing Fast

In 2007, WFM was faced with a major social backlash from customers when it was found that CEO John Mackey misused the powers of social media when he trashed Wild Oats, a WFM competitor, onYahoo!’s stock market forum under the pen name  ‘Rahodeb’. His postings had gone unnoticed until WFM began looking at acquiring the Wild Oats company, followed shortly by the Federal Trade Commission filing and administrative complaint against the merger containing the anonymous postings.

Coming Out On Top

It is safe to say that WFM learned their lesson (and were able to settle with the FTC) as they now employ a social media staff, whom probably monitor the CEO’s online posting activity now, and have become one of the top SM users.  WFM now boasts a stunning 63 Twitter accounts (not including the general @WholeFoods) as well as over 84,000 fans on Facebook. 

They recently challenged Ashton Kutcher (@Aplusk) to a “Tweet-Off” which, if accepted, could launch them into the social media record book with CNN. On the other hand, is there such a thing as too much social networking? Seeing as how multiple attempts to discuss WFM social media use was met with silence or a polite “Sorry but we can’t help you” one begins to wonder if they are reaching their limit.

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