In 1969, our beloved (my beloved) Trader Joe’s was a small California grocery chain competing against stores with bigger budgets, better locations, and more name recognition.
They couldn’t out-spend the competition. So, founder Joe Coulombe did something else.
He started writing a newsletter.
Yes, a newsletter.
He wrote every single issue himself for 19 years. 19 years.
This wasn’t to push products, but to explain and bring to life the Trader Joe’s world to his customers.
This is what we call a relationship asset. And it’s one of the most underdeveloped aspects of modern brand strategy.
The Asset That Prints Money & Drives Real Relationship…Without Ad Spend.
In 1969, Joe Coulombe started writing a newsletter for Trader Joe’s customers.
He called it the Insider’s Wine Report. It was just the results from wine tastings they were holding in stores. Nothing fancy.
Then he expanded it. Added food. Modeled it after Consumer Reports. Renamed it the Insider’s Food Report. Added his perspective on top.
He wrote every single issue himself for 19 years.
I’m going to say that last part again: 19 years.
This is what we call a relationship asset.
The newsletter trained customers to see Trader Joe’s as their guide. Their translator. The person explaining which wines were worth it and which new products deserved space in their kitchen.
It worked so well that Dave Nichol, president of Canadian grocery chain Loblaws, paid $100,000 to license the name “Insider’s Report.”
In 1985, Trader Joe’s renamed it the Fearless Flyer. It still runs today. Same energy. Same voice. Same job: be the customer’s guide.
Here’s the detail that tells you everything - for years, the Fearless Flyer was printed with three rings on the cover because customers were keeping them. Collecting them. Referring back to them.
This was content that earns trust and trust drives business forward.
The Consumer Psychology Underneath
We all have to understand, sometimes, well, most of the time, that our customers/fans/audiences don’t want information. They want a guide.
