Where launch momentum became everyday growth

In 2024, Wholefoods were preparing to open their second store in Wodonga. The goal wasn’t just to launch a new location, but to build a brand presence that felt polished, consistent, and scalable across both stores.

They needed:

- A strong digital-first launch to drive awareness and foot traffic
- A refreshed brand system they could use across in-store, social, email, and paid media
- A long-term digital strategy to support growth beyond the launch hype

Propel partnered with Wholefoods to lead the brand refresh, launch strategy, and ongoing digital marketing across social, paid media, and email.

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What We Did

2024: Brand & Launch PhaseWe rolled out a full brand refresh to unify how Wholefoods showed up across both locations, online and in-store. This included brand assets, content templates, and a consistent visual language the team could use long-term.

We then planned and executed a digital-first Wodonga store launch campaign across:

- Organic social content
- Meta Ads for awareness and foot traffic
- Community-led content that felt personal, not polished-for-polish-sake

This phase was about creating momentum, visibility, and a strong first impression in a new market.

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2025: Always-On Growth PhaseOnce the Wodonga store was established, the strategy shifted from “launch mode” to building sustainable digital foundations:

- Ongoing organic content across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok
- Always-on Meta Ads for awareness and seasonal pushes
- Email marketing and automation through Klaviyo to support online and in-store promotions
- Content formats designed to humanise the brand (vox pops, in-store moments, everyday food culture)

The focus moved from short-term spikes to long-term brand familiarity, trust, and repeat engagement.

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What Really Changed

Before working with Propel, Wholefoods’ digital presence was largely campaign-based and reactive, centred around promotions and store moments. Since partnering with us, their marketing has shifted to a consistent, always-on ecosystem.

The brand now shows up with a unified look and feel across social, email, paid media and in-store touchpoints, building familiarity rather than relying on one-off spikes.

Importantly, Wholefoods moved from “posting when there’s something to promote” to using content as a long-term brand and relationship-building tool, with stronger foundations in owned channels like email and automation. This shift created momentum beyond the Wodonga launch and turned digital from a support channel into a core growth asset.

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The Takeaway

Big launches create attention. Systems create growth.

Wholefoods’ results show that the real win wasn’t just a successful store opening, but what happened after.

By investing in consistent content, owned audiences and scalable digital foundations, they avoided the common post-launch drop-off and built a platform that continues to compound over time. The takeaway for any growing regional brand is simple: visibility is temporary, but infrastructure is what turns moments into momentum.