I Was an Erewhon Tourist
Marketing Lessons from an $18 Smoothie
Erewhon Markets in Los Angeles are Ground Zero for aspirational marketing. From their humble beginnings as a natural foods market stall, Erewhon has become a social and lifestyle hub for a very specific clientele.
According to Forbes, Erewhon has been growing the rate of 35 percent a year since 2016 and with only a small number of stores (poised for more), it boasts a revenue of $2,500 per square foot (2019 figures). In 2019, a deal with New York-based growth equity firm Stripes Group, now a substantial minority owner, will enable Erewhon open more stores south of Los Angeles in Orange County while also bringing the chain to Northern California for the first time. A big launch in New York City could come in a few years.
Erewhon has created the perfect spaces for its ideal clientele — health-conscious, affluent millennials — to hang out, shop organic and drink smoothies. In fact, you can’t talk about Erewhon without mentioning smoothies, and $18 smoothies at that. It happened after Hailey Bieber, model-influencer posted her favorite strawberry, banana, peanut butter smoothie on Instagram. That was before it had a name and with the reveal of a few more key ingredients such as collagen, hyaluronic acid and sea moss gel, became the Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie and as written in GQ, "quickly ascended to the mythical—a swirly pink symbol of impossible beauty, hype, luxury, and unattainable wellness."
The same GQ article goes on to quote Vito Antoci, Erewhon’s executive vice president on the stores’ mind-boggling sales of 40,000 Strawberry Skin Glaze smoothies a month. Per Antoci, they’ve captured “the demographic of the girls flying from San Francisco to stand in front of Erewhon Beverly Hills with Hailey Bieber smoothies, taking a picture of Erewhon and tagging Hailey. The fan girls really make these drinks viral.”
While the fan girls might come for a day and leave, Erewhon’s dedication to sourcing small craft makers of healthy foods, lesser known brands and a membership program helps delight and retain longterm loyal customers.
Perhaps this is a good time for some back story ...
Erewhon came to Los Angeles from Boston with a humble beginning as a farmer’s market stall in 1966. In creating the brick and mortar version in LA (on Beverly Blvd.), they inspired the macrobiotic and organic food movement and, as the first store of its kind, it served as the model for similar natural food stores.
There are now 10 Erewhon's in upscale Los Angeles neighborhoods. I finally capitulated to the recent craze and visited the one in Beverly Hills nestled between jewelry and clothing stores.
Once inside, I realized that if the Bieber smoothie hadn't helped Erewhon catch fire, its locations plus near obsessive shelving, packaging and marketing would have done it for the aspirational consumer. Whole Foods and other markets may have private labeling, but Erewhon takes it to the next level.
Yes, there was a scene at the smoothie bar, but as I moved past that, deeper into the store, I was just one of several Erewhon "tourists" who stopped in awe when we reached the floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with pristine jars of every kind of nut there is. Each one was labeled simply "Erewhon." Each one faced the exact same way. Each shelf perfectly filled, even though the market was busy with people taking things off the shelves.
It might be the health food, or the smoothies that bring someone into Erewhon, but it’s the brand’s healthy obsession with creating the total perfect experience to those people that is the market’s key to success. Just as you will be tempted to pick up a container of perfect $13 lettuce spears, be sure to also put a few of Erewhon’s brilliant marketing ideas in your sustainable cloth tote for use in your own business.
THREE FRESH MARKETING IDEAS IN MY CART
As I wandered through Erewhon, sipping on a Strawberry Skin Glaze Smoothie, sure that my skin was glowing more by the minute, I loaded up on several of the fresh marketing ideas that have made Erewhon such a brand force.
The brand is laser focused on its customer base -- health-and-status-conscious millennials located in upscale neighborhoods. A robust Instagram account of 360K followers brings that aspirational lifestyle alive with wellness tips, beautiful people and one-of-a-kind private label offerings and of course, smoothies!
ADAPT FOR YOU … Go deep into what your clients want more of from your brand and consistently share it. Would it be behind-the-scenes content, a walk-through your garden, kitchen, space, inventory on a weekly basis, or perhaps special collaborations and/or guest appearances with your vendors, partners or team members?
Innovation from the shelf-up. Erewhon has re imagined its shelves with their specific customer in mind. You won’t find your basic brands in those prime eye-line locations. Instead, that real estate is filled with items such as gluten free cereal brands and healthy chickpea puffs sourced from smaller, often unknown brands for customers to discover.
ADAPT FOR YOU … Can you create a line of products or a service that is exclusive to you and your geographic area? Or possibly its a collaboration with another brand that would be new to your clients?
Retaining customers through a membership program. Erewhon continues to delight its clients with a two-tiered membership program. The $100 Cafe Membership offers a smaller version of Membership Plus. The $200/year membership offers discounts, merch, events, sampler’s boxes, and more.
ADAPT FOR YOU … Consider a loyalty program, maybe one that your best clients get access to automatically. Each month give them something from you that is special — a special recipe, a behind-the-scenes video, a small thank you gift, or an in-store invitation. And make sure they know they are now part of your “club” by giving it a special name and its own branding.