Organic Valley: Thoughts on Positioning

John Carvalho / January 2, 2014

Organic Valley’s problem: grow share without alienating diehards.

How do we create “loyalty beyond reason” in a commodity market with razor-thin margins?

Step 1: Figure out what makes these Diehards tick.

They ask for “the best” and are directed to organic.

A hint comes from understanding Diehards’ at-shelf behavior. According to my sampling of Whole Foods employees, these customers don’t come in asking for organic.

So, we start to untangle the relationship between “best” and “organic” in search of a brand value proposition that can resonate with both Diehards and the untapped middle.

Instead of buying Organic Valley because it’s organic, what if we instead propose that you buy Organic Valley because it’s simply the best choice, and let “organic” become a supporting value?

But, being the best does not simply mean the most epicurean, the most fancy. Epicurean appeals to Diehards, but doesn’t appeal to middle-America moms, and doesn’t help truly broaden appeal.

Gourmet

Instead, let’s consider two ideas that are often placed in opposition to each other:

Simplicity / Luxury

We’re constantly told luxury is a

question of more. More horsepower. More flavors. More features. Instead, we propose something radical: that the quality of a product is not related to its number of ingredients. The luxury of less. The superiority of simplicity. Organic Valley is pure, simple, and the absolute best choice. And there’s a luxury in that.

What does this do for each of our target audiences?

Diehards: profoundly affirming: all we’re doing is reminding them that the choice they’re already making is the choice they should have been making all along.

Untapped Middle: This is someone who is one step away from purchase, but is a casualty of information overload: buy this because Omega-3 promotes heart health- buy that because DHA promotes brain health. She’s heard organic is a good idea, but doesn’t feel she knows enough. She wants the best, not as a badge of status, but because having the best lets her know she’s taking care of herself and those in her life. She fully understands she can’t maximize everything, so she wants to maximize the things that count with the time and dollars she has. Milk, a family staple, is one of those things.

In a world of noise and inauthenticity, a simple message of genuine, attainable luxury can shine through like a beacon. What a relief to know you’ve made the best choice- to not have to evaluate the benefits of different additives because there aren’t any.

How to Execute

Think of Honest Tea. Buy it at Whole Foods? You’d think it was a small batch brand launched last week. Glass bottles. Unsweetened blends. Simple labels.

Buy it at Cub Foods, suddenly you can tell it’s owned by Coca-Cola. Plastic bottles. Sweetened flavors. Next to the Gatorade.

We don’t need to bring Whole Foods into Cub Foods- we just need to create a brand that can live in both places.