John Mackey Talks about Amazon Merger: A Lively Business Speech

John Mackey of Whole Foods gave an interesting speech at a town hall with the Whole Foods community. He talked about Whole Foods recent merger with Amazon. Mackey's speech got favorable press. The merger between Whole Foods and Amazon has already created controversy. (Since I'm not a businessperson, I have no comment as to whether the merger is or is not good.) Fortunately for those of us who like to study speeches, the SEC filing included a complete transcript of Mackey's speech. Let's take a look.

We all love food!

First, Mackey obviously gave his speech extemporaneously. Unlike many of the boring speeches that we hear from less dynamic business people (not to mention boring politicians), Mackey gave the impression that he wanted to interact openly and enthusiastically. This is obvious from his casual, conversational speaking style. For example: "But without a doubt, this is utterly amazing. We will look back on this day, a few years from now. And we will be— I hope, as excited as— as I am today. And that’s the first emotion I kinda wanna communicate to you. I am, like, super, super excited. (APPLAUSE)." This is not the kind of statement that comes from a prepared transcript read from a Teleprompter. What the speaker lacked in polish, he gained by interacting. This made him sound much more sincere.

Second, the speaker made an interesting an analogy between the merger and a marriage! This helped him to explain some of the intricacies of the merger process, but it also put the merger in a positive light. Marriage sounds good, whereas talking about collusion, business trusts, or monopolies might sound bad. Words matter, and Mackey chose words very well."It was actually mutual friends set us up on a blind date. (LAUGHTER)," he said by way of narrative. Continuing: "And — Jason Buechel and Ken Meyer and David Lannon and I flew up to Seattle a little over six weeks ago. And— it— we just fell in love. It was truly love at first sight. (LAUGHTER)." This was not elegant speech. It was, instead, effective speech.

"This was a whirlwind courtship," he said. He continued to refer to the initial contacts as "blind date" followed by an engagement. Explaining that there is still more work to do before the merger could conclude, he continued the analogy to marriage: "But like an old traditional marriage, where there are all kinds of rules and chaperones, we can’t consummate the marriage, (LAUGHTER) until we’re actually officially hooked up."  All of this sounded light-hearted, familiar, positive, and proper.

Third, he offered reassurance. Change is disturbing, and a merger could make employees feel very uncomfortable.He took time to reassure the Whole Foods workers about the future. He said that he would continue as CEO. He discussed the consultants who will assist with the project, and talked about how the merger was "gonna be such a good thing for customers." He praised Amazon for long-term thinking, which, as we know, can be in short supply in the business community. He reassured the employees that, "as the companies are integrated, there'll be opportunities for many of you, if you are interested in them." And he finally asked the audience to "trust me." Near the end of the talk, he said, "So dreams are powerful things."

So: enthusiasm; extemporaneous, conversational style; and an interesting, positive analogy.

Department of Agriculture photo, via Wikimedia