5 Aspirations of Clif Bar

From Running & Rambling magazine 7/10 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz

The entire CLIF enterprise is built around the “Five Aspirations” business model, where the company commits itself to:

1) Sustaining their Brands: by creating a diversity of nutritious, high-quality products based on Customer-demand rather than contrived Marketing campaigns.

2) Sustaining their Business: by remaining a privately-owned company that provides a good standard of living for its employees, and positions itself to thrive for future generations.

3) Sustaining their People: by providing a place where people can contribute, learn & grow while living the life they want to live.

4) Sustaining their Community: by using a portion of our funding & manpower to support local social & cultural needs, and being a conscientious neighbor with all those we directly impact.

5) Sustaining their Planet: by minimizing their global footprint as much as possible through a wide variety of ecological initiatives …

Red vs White Road Journeys. A central theme to this book is taking “white road” journeys, which denote small rural routes on the European maps of Erickson’s adventure travels, instead of the “red roads” which indicate major thoroughfares. This is a lengthy analogy, but the main idea is that our purpose in life shouldn’t be to simply reach our destinations as quickly as possible; we should take time to enjoy the scenic, unpredictable route, & appreciate the entire journey, wherever it may end up leading us.

Clif Bar’s Marketing Strategy. I remember how cool I said it was for me to meet Owner/ Gary Erickson and his wife/co-owner Kit Crawford on my visit? It turns out that probably wasn’t a happy accident; Erickson explains how CLIF intentionally minimizes traditional advertising methods in favor of connecting directly with its customers on a grassroots level as much as possible. He takes every opportunity to talk to customers face-to-face, and looks for ways to make meaningful personal connections.

I’d absolutely recommend taking any opportunity you can to learn more about the CLIF company and support its various endeavors. I’ve got two suggestions for how to get started: buy book or borrow it out from your local library. Trust me, you’ll be dazzled.

Comments: What do you think of the “5 Aspirations? Could you add anything to it?