Brands Create Customers

Seth Godin has a very insightful post on the success of Trader Joe’s. One of his key points:

“The key mantra is that Trader’s finds foods for its customers, NOT customers for its foods.”

To that I say, Amen.

Trader Joe’s plays an important role in the food experience of our family. At one time we did most of our grocery shopping at Safeway. Now, Safeway takes 1% of our grocery dollars, if that.

Our monthly grocery breakout is something like this:

Costco (meat, fish, staples) 30%
Berkeley Bowl (produce, organics) 20%
Trader Joe’s 30%
Ranch 99 (Asian foods, fish, produce) 20%

We buy dairy, some organics and many speciality items at Trader Joe’s. They have a solid combination of quality/price and taste (that we like).

Trader Joe’s is farther from our house than the local Safeway. It has more congested parking, and is often more crowded, with long waits at checkout. Yet we still go there.

Why?

Store and brand are one
We go there because Trader Joe’s is on our side. While they have far fewer sku’s than a typical Safeway, what they do have is more focused, and relevant. Shopping there is an extension of us. Safeway offers brand choice, but Trader Joe’s offers brand trust. What they lack in acres of “name” brands they make up in holistic brand performance. In this, the Trader Joe’s store and brand are one. (In fact, Trader Joe’s own brands probably have more appeal because they’re not widely advertised. They’re discoveries, not “merchandise.” The store itself is their platform.)

Shopping at Trader Joe’s is a collaboration. It’s highly efficient for them, and for their customers.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 22nd, 2006 at 9:31 am and is filed under Brand Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.