With retailers on all sides of the aisle attempting to become one-stop-shopping and lifestyle platforms, traditional supermarket retailers are moving in that direction as well. Safeway—the megachain with a footprint stretching across much of the United States—has just offered a glimpse at its own attempt to become more things to more people, providing a peek at its new wellness platform slated to launch in the second quarter.

"Today, we're a supermarket company ... selling wellness services and wellness products," CEO Steve Burd told analysts, according to Drug Store News. But within 10 years, he said, Safeway would become a wellness company that happens to sell food.

The impulse for supermarket chains to expand the meaning and capabilities of their brands is understandable, in an environment where mass merchandisers such as Walmart and Target have impinged greatly on their CPG business, and even drug-store chains and dollar stores are selling more groceries. Now Walmart, for example, also is expanding its purview in healthcare and "wellness" as well, beyond the traditional in-store pharmacies long offered by mass discounters and supermarkets alike.Continue reading...

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It’s the authentic, organic kind of success story that makes everybody happy. Annie’s, maker of organic food and snacks, marketed under the tagline, “We make good,” just joined the ranks of digital marketers with a social media campaign true to the core of their brand message.

“Part of our corporate philosophy is doing well and doing good at the same time,” comments Sarah Bird, Annie’s SVP marketing and “chief mom officer.” “We’re hoping to seed a conversation about doing good.”

The video, which can be viewed on Annie's Facebook, shows a woman encouraged to tweet hashtag #sharegood to “get something good.” Post-tweet, (spoiler alert) a series of surprising events begins, such as a man in a bunny suit jumps out with a bowl of Annie’s mac and cheese for the woman to eat. Upon eating, a group of magicians appear and perform street theater while the woman is encouraged to shout “Something Good!” which triggers a musical performance from the back of a truck. 

The macro message, “Share something good to get something good,” starts with sharing the video on Facebook or Twitter, which generates a "thank you" and a stream of cute bunny videos, because hey—who doens't like bunnies? Continue reading...

Safeway is struggling to survive in a competitive market increasingly defined by upscale brands and value rivals. “Safeway’s greatest challenge is that competition from non-traditional grocers at the high end and low end of the market is stealing its customer base,” comments the Around Dublin blog. “Stores such as Grocery Outlet, Wal-Mart, Target, Sprouts Farmers Market, and Whole Foods Market have thrived in their respective niches as they expand throughout the United States.”

The grocery retailer's strategic course corrections include building new stores, converting older ones to a hipper more prevalent “Lifestyle” format with enlarged space to expand  offerings in the more profitable verticals of health, deli, and bakery, and its “Just for U” program, offering personalized deals based on a customer’s purchase history. Personalization is high on the list of features U.S. consumers would like to see more retailers offer.

Consumers can join the Just 4 U program to qualify for discounts online at Safeway’s website or by downloading an app for iPhone and Android devices, where special discounts based on a person’s shopping history are available. The targeted marketing program provides relevant, personalized offers, coupons, weekly specials and tools for each individual shopper.Continue reading...

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K-Cups are everywhere in the news now that Starbucks is rolling them out from coast to coast. Yet in the grocery aisle, those little "K-Cups" designed for single serving Keurig brewing machines are highlighting the battle between store brands (private labels) with name brand consumer packaged goods for shelf space.

Both Kroger and Safeway, two major U.S. grocery chains, are launching private label "coffee pods" for the Keurig machine. Safeway announced it will bring to market five types of Keurig-compatible filtered coffee pods. The chain already makes three store brand instant products for the machine.

The move by Safeway and Kroger caused shares of Green Mountain, the company that sells K-Cups along with Keurig brewing machines, to plummet. Since September, in fact, its stock has dropped 82 percent, according to Reuters. Two of the patents that cover the K-Cup design will expire in September 2012, which means other companies, not just Green Mountain, could manufacture Keurig-compatible cups.Continue reading...

Annie's Homegrown has a new headquarters in Berkeley, Calif., in the old headquarters of another better-for-you food brand, Clif Bar. But fresh off its successful IPO, the organic-foods pioneer is more concerned about another type of real estate: shelf space at mainstream supermarkets.

Although Annie's grew to as $135-million company mainly by plying its trademark all-natural and organic macaroni-and-cheese and fruit Bunny snacks at the likes of Whole Foods Markets and other natural-food stores, CEO John Foraker believes that Annie's can be instrumental in making such fare generally appealing to U.S. consumers.Continue reading...