Kevin Miller (pictured at top), CMO of The Fresh Market, is a featured speaker at the ANA's upcoming Brand Masters Conference April 26-28 in Bonita Springs, FL. ANA Senior Vice President Mike Kaufman recently sat down with him for a pre-conference interview.
Mike Kaufman: You've been at The Fresh Market (TFM) now for just under three years, and those have been remarkable years for the company. But organizations can be slow to change. How did you manage such a remarkable turnaround in such a relatively short period of time?
Kevin Miller: I had the benefit of coming to the company under a mandate for change. At the time, TFM was privately held by Apollo Global. They had just replaced the previous CEO with a new CEO to help lead the turnaround of the business and prepare it for a possible IPO or M&A. So, the first conversations we had were about what needed to change at TFM to drive unprecedented growth. We both had similar beliefs and strategic outlooks and I ended up being the new CEO's first hire as CMO with a mandate to innovate and drive change.
Kaufman: Another truism of management is that change must start from within, and it's best to start by getting your own house in order. But you received a pretty negative Glass Door rating. Where was that on your priority list, and how did you tackle it?
Miller: Yes, that was bad. Bad for our brand perception and bad for the company morale at a time when business was not good. Was that perception widely held within our organization, and were drastic steps required? If you look at the details in the ratings, it was driven primarily by front line employees in the stores not having confidence in the executive management team after several years of instability and turnover at the top of the organization. Where's TFM on Glass Door now? I'm not sure where we are, but we do know our internal surveys indicate that our employees are happier with their jobs. And that is reflected in our overall satisfaction scores and our Net Promoter scores from the customers they serve, both of which have been near or at the highest levels ever for the company. Additionally, we were voted Best Supermarket in America for the second year in a row by USA Today, and Newsweek/Statista ranked us a Top 5 Most Trusted Brand in our category for 2022.
Kaufman: Grocery has become crowded with entries that arguably step on TFM's branding, such as Amazon Fresh and Wegmans, while established chains have received similar makeovers focusing on freshness. How have you managed those challenges, and kept the "fresh" strong in TFM's branding in the face of the new competition?
Miller: We stay focused on our vision of becoming one of America's most loved brands and our strategy for achieving that vision. One of the key pillars of the strategy is to establish a reputation for being the best place to purchase the highest quality fresh food. Unlike other grocers, even the ones that have "fresh" in their names, over 70% of what we sell is actually fresh product vs. traditional grocery whose mix is only 25% fresh food. Additionally, we focus on three key fresh food occasions -- where to go to get your fresh meat, seafood and produce -- Where to shop when there is a special occasion, and where to shop when you ask yourself "what's for dinner tonight?". Freshness is at the core of each of these shopping occasions and clearly our quality, service and experience differentiates our fresh offerings from anyone else's.
Kaufman: That USA Today "#1 Best Supermarket in America" honor is a remarkable credential for your brand, and a CMO's dream I suspect. How have you leveraged that in your communications?
Miller:It is a dream, and it is well deserved by each member of The Fresh Market team. We leverage the designation by including the logo and the Best in America messaging across all our advertising platforms, TV ads, digital, social, direct mail, outdoor, mobile, search, email campaigns, etc. Since we have the privilege of being voted No. 1 in back-to-back years of 2021 and 2022, we estimate that we have delivered over five billion advertising impressions that have touted to America that we are No 1 over the past two years!
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