Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market Kicks Off New "Passionately Picky" Print Ad Campaign

Business Wire, Feb 6, 2002

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 2002

Ads Reinforce Company's Core Values, Highlighting Quality

Selection Process In Fast-Growing Natural Foods Industry

On February 7, Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market, the nation's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, will be launching a new advertising campaign.

The company's northeast region, which has opened five new stores in the last two years, including its River Street store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is running the "Passionately Picky" label campaign to reinforce its core values, highlight its stringent quality selection processes and support its store expansion in the northeast. Whole Foods Market has over 130 stores throughout the country and 21 stores in the northeast.

"We developed this new ad campaign to highlight our unique attributes in a rapidly growing market. With over twenty years as a leader in the industry, we wanted to communicate our commitment to consistently deliver the freshest, highest quality foods that are free of artificial ingredients to our customers," says Mara Fleishman, northeast regional marketing director, Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market. "We chose to use a highly creative and persuasive ad campaign to inform customers about our stringent food selection processes and our commitment to unsurpassed quality."

The "Label Campaign" concept is designed to convey Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market's message that it goes far beyond other food markets and follows strict quality standards to procure the freshest and finest foods such as seafood, produce and cheese. Since these food items do not usually carry labels, customers should be informed about what they are buying. This campaign aims to educate customers about the company's commitment to developing long lasting relationships with artisan food producers, thoroughly researching where its foods come from, selecting of only the finest foods available and to supporting sustainable environmental practices.

The campaign, which was created by White Rhino Productions (Burlington, MA), features a series of full-color print ads each with the tagline: "Passionately Picky. That's a Label We Like," to signify Whole Foods Market's commitment to providing top-quality natural and organic foods. The print ads will run in major daily and weekly newspapers across the northeast region, including the New York Times, Boston Globe and Boston Herald.

The first print ad, which will break on February 7, features a photo of premium quality fish with a label reading "Our Waterfront Docks Bring You The Best of the Catch Not The Rest Of The Catch." The ad highlights the fact that Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market is the only supermarket in the country with its own waterfront facility in Gloucester, Massachusetts, called Pigeon Cove, which enables the freshest seafood selection to be delivered daily to its stores.

"Our market research showed that people who want great tasting, high quality food are highly educated consumers who demand more information about the foods they are purchasing," says Dan Greenwald, creative director, White Rhino Productions. "Our ad campaign provides these consumers with a compelling story that reinforces the Bread & Circus Whole Foods Market quality and standards message - in a uniquely creative way."

About Whole Foods

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market(R) (www.wholefoodsmarket.com) is the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods. In fiscal year 2000, the company had sales of $1.8 billion and currently has more than 130 stores in the U.S. The Whole Foods Market motto, "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet(TM)" captures the company's mission to find success in customer satisfaction and wellness, employee excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Whole Foods Market, Fresh Fields(TM), Bread & Circus(TM) and Wellspring Grocery(TM) are all owned by Whole Foods Market. The company employs more than 20,000 team members and has been ranked for four consecutive years as one of the "Top 100 Companies to Work for in America" by Fortune magazine.

About White Rhino

White Rhino Productions, (www.whiterhino.com) founded in 1990, is a full service advertising and design agency, specializing in the natural foods and technology industries.