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January 9, 2006

3:05 pm | 0 recommendations | 4 comments

Staring at the Wal

| posted by Kevin Ohannessian

Today's New York Times article (free registration needed) on Wal-Mart executive Thomas M. Coughlin puts a spotlight on the public perception of Wal-Mart. Here is an executive who used hundreds of thousands of dollars of the company's money on personal spending but told everyone it was for a secret anti-union project. And many people bought it. Among its many image issues, Wal-Mart is perceived as being so fiercely anti-union that such a lie becomes plausible.

Where is Wal-Mart in all of this? With the public perception of Wal-Mart so harsh and unflattering, why hasn't the company done more to change its image? I wonder if the negative view of the retailer has become irreversible. At this point, more run-of-the-mill campaigns to counter its bad image will be seen as too little too late. For Wal-Mart to change the public's perception it can't just talk, it must do something tangible. And even that is not without its pitfalls--the potential is high for such actions to be seen as publicity stunts. But the company probably won't even consider changing its ways if it affects those everyday low prices.

Tags: Management, advertising + PR
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Recent Comments | 4 Total

January 10, 2006 at 8:30am

Jim Snyder
Peter Drucker should be appointed CCO (Chief Change Officer) to establish the direction of this retail behemoth. So obsessed with success at the margins, which pushes more cash to the bottom line, they have ignored their center. You could graph them as a donut. They see their profit at the outside and their customers (vendors and consumers)trapped in the center. An image change, operating on the center but also expanding the margin, would involve expanded human resource support for its employee population. No entitlements, as everyone has espoused, but just access; to healthcare, financial planning, fitness, education. To make these "big box community destroyers" into the next community center. The work toward this is underway but strategists need to direct their attention equally toward the center and the margin.
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January 11, 2006 at 7:08am

Maryann Devine
Kevin, have you seen this piece? Wal-mart: A Progressive Success Story by Jason Furman. I can't give it as an example of what Walmart's doing to combat negative press since the company didn't commission it, but I've certainly seen it cited in media, including the New York Times. And here's Tim Manners's summary of another piece in the Times on Walmart's critics and the company's response: http://reveries.com/?p=175. I'm not pro-Walmart, I'm just saying there does seem to be a strategy for response on the company's part.
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January 11, 2006 at 3:50pm

Steve O'Keefe
"For Wal-Mart to change the public's perception it can't just talk, it must do something tangible." Wal-Mart did something tangible. They brought water and other supplies into Hurricane Katrina survivors in New Orleans before FEMA or anyone else. I am not a fan of Wal-Mart, but I had to stop saying bad things about them after they stepped up to help so many of my neighbors. The Wall Street Journal had a nice write-up about Jason Jackson, Wal-Mart's emergency response guru, who orchestrated the supply mission. I found a copy of the Journal's article at this link. The beauty of this incident is that it wasn't PR -- it wasn't planned as PR or intended as PR -- it was just someone doing the right thing and refusing to accept defeat. And for that reason, it is the best PR of all -- someone at Wal-Mart actually caring enough to make significant sacrifices in a time of need. I wish other corporations who should have been there showed such backbone in a time of crisis.
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January 12, 2006 at 8:28pm

Kris
Corporate mis spending will never end. Watch Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. It will shock you how deep conpiracy runs in the modern corporate world.
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