A Case Study: Mother's Day Feels + Influencer Marketing

Mother’s Day is an occasion to gather, sip, nosh and acknowledge the important women in our lives. It is also a critical season for retailers. According to the National Retail Federation, over 84% of consumers celebrate Mother’s Day and spent $21.4B in 2016 honoring moms.

Long gone are the days where we only had news media to turn to for information and trends. Today’s consumers also follow social media influencers and bloggers to keep up with day-to-day happenings and seek lifestyle recommendations from food and entertaining to fashion and travel. This expansion in digital tastemakers allowed us to be creative in how we reach audiences to position Whole Foods Market as the essential lifestyle destination for both everyday cooking and special entertaining occasions such as Mother’s Day.

In front of Mother’s Day last year, we hosted three intimate ‘Brunch Boot Camp’ events in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C. for bloggers and Instagram influencers. Theses were hands-on events for attendees to learn how to host a simple yet elegant brunch experience – including champagne cocktails, well-designed menus and seasonal floral arrangements – all inspired by and courtesy of Whole Foods Market.

For each market, we partnered with an exceptional co-host to illustrate Whole Foods Market’s local connections. This encompassed Sur La Table in Seattle, Jackie Ellis, owner of Boucoup Bakery & Café, in Portland and Crate and Barrel and Chef Clement Chan, owner of Torafuku, in Vancouver.

What were the results? 

The bloggers and Instagram influencers that attended the Brunch Boot Camps were inspired with entertaining and gift ideas that they shared with their readers and followers ahead of Mother’ Day. Guests left with new brunch expertise, their own handcrafted floral creations, and swag bags with recipe cards to recreate the dishes and cocktails at home.

63 influencers attended

161 social media posts

12 blog posts

818,502 total impressions