Whole Foods Did What?

A month or so ago I was talking about Whole Foods and their approach to customers.  I also mentioned some of the trouble their CEO got into with a blog posting he wrote.  Well I just read Andy Sernovitz's Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! blog and he pointed out a WSJ article indicating that the board of Whole Foods modified their code of conduct to restrict executives from posting about the company, competitors, suppliers etc unless it is a company sponsored forum (to me this sounds like it is edited, reviewed and approved). 

Andy makes a great point about using blogs and forums in the right way.  In my original post I indicated there are some common sense rules you need to consider when posting especially if you are the head of a publicly traded company.  If there is one thing I learned in the last year or so it is that a blog is a great way to grow your business and build relationships.  It takes time but it works. 

I am sure the board is doing what they think is best but if you ask me (which they didn't) they are missing a great opportunity to communicate with their best customers.

Lets see what happens next. 

Oh and don't worry I will still shop at Whole Foods but I won't be reading their blog...

Josef