I've already blogged about what I think agriculture can learn from Coca-Cola.
But what other lessons can we learn from US brands?
Let me share some more ideas picked up at Ragan Communication's Social Media for Corporate Communications and Public Relations Conference, in Florida earlier this month.
Celebrate diversity – Whole Foods Markets
Whole Foods have over 300 stores in the United States, each with its own Twitter and Facebook account. Yes, that’s right 600+ social media accounts not managed by Head Office, but under the Whole Foods brand.
When asked how Whole Foods manage a consistent voice and narrative across so many accounts, their Social Media Director, Natanya Anderson, said the company values diversity and considers diverse voices a strength. Therefore, the stores are allowed to manage their social media accounts autonomously.
Choosing to have a range of voices telling the Whole Foods story reflects the diversity of their customers and ensures a better chance of engaging widely.
(In fact, Whole Foods know their customers so well, they don’t post photos of meat to their Facebook pages, as that is where the majority of their vegan customers are! They find Pinterest audiences much more receptive to the promotion of meat.)
We hear talk of Australian agriculture needing a common narrative, a consistent voice, a brand. But should we promote industry diversity instead?
Will diverse voices provide higher levels of engagement with metropolitan communities?
Provide a service. Help your customers – Whole Foods Markets
Whole Foods specialise in natural and organic foods.
When customers started asking questions about GMOs, Whole Foods decided to provide information to assist purchasing decisions.
This was in the form of infographics titled “How to eat if you’re avoiding GMOs” which were shared through social channels and in-store displays.
Note there is no judgement of GMOs in the infographic title.
Whole Foods, while wanting to promote their brand, were careful to ensure that the information they provided was neutral, again noting the diversity of their customer base.
Customers not only appreciated the information about GMOs, but that it was relevant to the products they were purchasing in Whole Foods Markets.
Do we in agriculture help our customers understand issues of concern to them?
Is this information provided in neutral terms, free of judgement?
Celebrate your heritage, but move forward – American Airlines
Even in Australia, the steel “unpainted” livery of the old American Airlines will be familiar. But American Airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2011, then merged with US Airways in 2013 to create the world’s largest airline.
The challenge was to build a new airline, with a new fleet of planes, while restoring the somewhat damaged American Airlines brand.
Jon Bird, from American Airlines says the brand has so much heritage (for example, as this video shows, Charles Lindbergh was chief pilot for the early incarnation of their airline) that they were keen to restore its prestige.
But, they also knew that they needed to take the brand into the future, not only with a new look and new flight offerings, but also with a new voice in social and digital media.
Welcome #newAmerican. A new voice for an old brand, that engages in the cultural life of its customers (they sponsored SXSW in 2013) and uses social media to share their business story.
(A new plane livery was needed not least because new aeroplanes are made of composite materials meaning unpainted they would be a tacky green colour!)
Has agriculture got the balance right between promoting our heritage and being a modern, high tech industry?
Do we go where our customers are, and engage with them there?
Celebrate connections – FedEx
FedEx. They deliver parcels. All around the world. They’re a logistics company.
But FedEx manage to tell a story that goes beyond their business model to promote that what they really sell - connections.
They connect businesses with their customers, families with each other, patients with medical supplies, zoos with exotic animals, through deliveries all around the world.
Digital team members Michele Ehrhart and Victor Reiss asked us to identify the deeper connection we have with our customers.
Is saying farmers feed and clothe the world akin to FedEx saying they deliver parcels?
What is the deeper connection we have with our customers?
Have others tell your story - FedEx
People engage with other people, not brands.
FedEx staff and customers are invited to tell the FedEx story in order to build support for their brand.
Examples include a staff member sharing how FedEx supports their charity work, a customer explaining the importance of FedEx to their business or a driver sharing how the timely delivery of a parcel made a difference to the life of their customer. These stories are used in advertising and in online campaigns.
Does agriculture facilitate enough opportunities for our customers to tell our story?
Well, I know of one great example! I love MLA's competition to send a lucky person to a remote cattle station to learn about the northern beef industry and then present their findings at TedX Sydney this month. Having a customer speak to other customers is great peer-to-peer engagement, allowing others to tell the beef industry’s story.
We need more of this!
Food for thought.
