Wal-Mart Spurns Sports Car, Changes Tagline Instead

Wal-Mart’s midlife crisis has led the company to trade its classic tag line “Always Low Prices” for a younger, sexier, “Save Money. Live Better.” With sagging growth and drooping sales, Wal-Mart is hoping the new tag line (and a new ad campaign) will give it back its lost luster, but we’re thinking the new efforts are probably going to be as convincing as a combover.

But the failed clothing line wasn’t Wal-Mart’s only problem. Recently, the store has faced an image crisis. Wal-Mart has become synonymous with the closing of mom-and-pop stores in once-thriving American downtowns and small towns, and anti-Wal-Mart groups and Web sites have flourished.

Wal-Mart Looks to the Past for Its Future [ABC News]

Wal-Mart has woven its way into the fabric of American culture during the last half century.

Known for its deep discounts and a smorgasbord of goods, the retail giant pioneered the one-stop shopping experience.

But now, for the first time in 20 years, the company is looking to reinvigorate its brand and court consumers with a new, yet nostalgic tag line.

New Tag Line Goes Back to Basics
“Save Money. Live Better” made its global-marketing debut exclusively on “Good Morning America” Wednesday. It’s a quote from late Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.

The campaign features all-American images of what shoppers can do with the money they save, and serves as a corporate effort to get back to company roots.

“We don’t claim to be anything in this advertising that is beyond what we really are,” said Wal-Mart’s chief marketing officer Stephen Quinn. “Wal-Mart has, is, a company that has always been founded on the notion that if we save people money, they’ll have the opportunity to live a better life.”

Quinn said he believes the campaign allows Wal-Mart to find its true voice.

Image Troubles
It’s a voice that has weakened recently. Wal-Mart’s new advertising promotion comes as Wall Street questions whether the retailer was experiencing a midlife crisis.

Wal-Mart has 4,000 stores in the United States, and 2,200 more in 12 other countries, and is one of the biggest global companies, boasting $345 billion in sales in 2006.

However, the company’s growth has slowed. In 2006, the retailer had its worst performance in a decade when its U.S. division posted a mere 1.9 percent gain in same-store sales—putting it behind competitors like Target, Walgreen’s and Best Buy.

The company’s slowdown can be attributed to a variety of factors, according to analysts. One glaring example of a recent misstep was the retailer’s attempt to challenge retail rival Target by coming out with its own upscale clothing line.

It touted the line in fashion-forward publications like Vogue—but the line flopped.

“They typically are the discounter for all Americans and when Wal-Mart tried to adjust themselves to go up in their assortment, to go up in their prices and styling, it wasn’t who they were and wasn’t who their core customer knows them for,” said retail analyst Dana Telsey. “They have to return to their core, and their core customer is Mr. and Mrs. America who are looking for their daily and weekly needs to be fulfilled.”

But the failed clothing line wasn’t Wal-Mart’s only problem. Recently, the store has faced an image crisis. Wal-Mart has become synonymous with the closing of mom-and-pop stores in once-thriving American downtowns and small towns, and anti-Wal-Mart groups and Web sites have flourished.

Wal-Mart and the Economy
The company hopes the new ads will help polish its image. Wall Street also will be watching because the retailer’s success has close ties to the economy and American consumer.

“Wal-Mart is a very important bellwether of the U.S. consumer. Wal-Mart sales account for roughly 10 to 15 percent of overall retail sales in the United States,” said Deutsche Bank economist Joe Lavorna. “So, very often as goes Wal-Mart, so goes the U.S. consumer and by default the economy.”

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, September 12, 2007

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