For our readers in the Big Apple, beware. According to Reuters, “Starting this week in New York City, the retailer will put up a temporary store in Times Square and have a truck roving around the city to celebrate the launch of AC/DC’s new album.”
NYC has of course, always firmly rejected the idea of Wal-Mart in the city. Last year, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott famously told N.Y. Times “I don’t care if we are ever here.”
But over the past year, Wal-Mart seems to have gotten little bored with the country life and is jonesin’ again for some city kicks. It didn’t go very well in Chicago, but they’re still at it in D.C. - and it looks like they’re getting their wish in New York - if for only a bit.
(That is, unless loyal Gotham City Wal-Mart fighters make it...uncomfortable)
But the NYC stunt isn’t the only interesting angle to the AC/DC story. Remember that AC/DC signed the exlusive Wal-Mart deal as a way of bypassing iTunes. Check out this gem from lead singer Brian Roberts:
“Maybe I’m just being old-fashioned, but this itunes, God bless ‘em, it’s going to kill music if they’re not careful,” going on to add: “It’s a...monster, this thing,” he said. “It just worries me. And I’m sure they’re just doing it all in the interest of making as much...cash as possible.”
Which store is he talking about again? If a slew of censored and exclusive Garth Brooks and Eagles albums is the way to save the music industry...maybe we’ll just all need to start listening to more books on tapes instead.
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
...a Wal-Mart Exec travels to Vegas to head a panel on how to integrate blogs and business. Seriously.
From the Wall Street Journal:
John Adwards, senior marketing manager at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT), and Michael Brito, social media strategist at Intel Corp. (INTC), will help lead a panel Friday to discuss how companies can integrate blogs and other social media strategies into their business models.
We SO wish we could be there!
*Still 3 posts on the Checkout Blog in the past 38 days, if you were wondering
**And a blogging/online marketing expert named Adwards? really?
Las Vegas Tradeshow To Bring Bloggers Face-To-Face [Dow Jones Newswire via Wall Street Journal]:
“The reach of the blogosphere is enormous and only growing,” says Rick Calvert, founder and CEO of BlogWorld, noting the 1,600 attendees at last year’s event had a combined blog monthly audience of 98 million visitors. Calvert expects attendance this year to increase 20% to 30%.
“Our event is a sign of the blogosphere’s move toward mainstream acceptance,” Calvert says.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Check Out, we hardly knew ye.
Remember Wal-Mart’s Check Out Blog? The one that the New York Times gushed over back in March? The rowdy band of nine fearless buyers Wal-Mart unleashed to conquer the blogosphere with unfiltered wit and opinion? The birth of Check Out was a time of youthful idealism: finally, a corporate blog where ideas could run free, and highly paid marketers could say what they truly felt. The future looked bright.
But less than a year later, Check Out is dying.
We’ve counted three posts on the site in the last 36 days. The few posts tend to be either on video games or apologies for writing so few posts.
Blogger Susan’s last entry reads:
Just wanted to apologize for being out of touch for the past few months! Of course I have a reason...I was recently promoted to the Merchandise Manger over the Video Game and PC software categories. I have been busy learning my new role and feel terrible that I haven’t posted anything as of late.
Russell has also stopped writing, leaving the simple, homespun world of Check Out for the bright lights of more exciting things:
But, let me tell you blogging is hard work. Anyone that consistently maintains any type of online commentary is to be greatly commended. It isn’t so much finding time to post, for me. It isn’t even writer’s block. The problem is finding a compelling story to tell, one that I think other people would find interesting.
And Tifanie echoes Russell’s sentiment, sadly solidifying Check Out’s ghost town status:
I feel Russell’s pain on the blog front....if you would like to know something specific or have an interest you would like me to expound upon, feel free to make the request; otherwise, you will be subjected to my ramblings.
Most sadly though, sustainability guru Rand Waddoups has been missing in action since mid-July. Perhaps he got moved back to salty snacks and has secluded himself for months, racking his brain to invent the greatest Wal-Mart-exclusive salty snack of all time. (Rand: just let it go, it’s already been done.)
Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to mourn the loss of yet another Wal-Mart social media project. We can only hope another, similarly misguided replacement will come along soon...
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Wal-Mart markets its new “Love, Earth” jewelry line as “fashion jewelry that honors, cherishes and protects our planet.” Targeted at shoppers concerned with the environmental and human rights problems associated with gold mining, shoppers can trace their “Love, Earth” jewelry from “mine to market,” assured that it is sourced “from mines that maintain leading environmental and social standards.”
Just one day after Norway slammed Wal-Mart’s “sustainable” gold supplier for massive environmental damages, the environmental group Global Response has publicly condemned Wal-Mart for its gold greenwashing campaign. While the company makes overtures to environmentalism - using pictures of green fields and butterflies on the “Love, Earth” website - it relies on vague terminology, few enforceable standards and biased monitoring in calling the jewelry line “sustainable.” From Global Response:
Wal-Mart’s criteria look good on paper. They include “Safe disposal and management of waste and hazardous materials ...Protection of ecological functioning, ecosystem services and important biodiversity...Respect for the rights of individuals, indigenous peoples and communities [and] Contribution to the sustainable development of communities affected by operations.” But who is monitoring Newmont’s performance? Newmont and Wal-Mart.
The group goes on to criticize Wal-Mart’s mining partner, the Newmont Mining Corporation, for mining on land owned by the Western Shoshone tribe of Nevada. The Western Shoshone Defense Project has been fighting Newmont for years over the corporation’s environmentally-damaging practices.
Wal-Mart’s other partner in the “Love, Earth” line is Rio Tinto, a mining company recently blacklisted by Norway’s pension fund for its environmental damage in Indonesia. Norway has categorically refused to invest in irresponsible corporations: Wal-Mart itself was dropped from the fund in 2006.
Wal-Mart wants customers to see it as an environmentally-progressive corporation, but the company is trying to do it on the cheap. Rather than improve its sourcing practices or demand change from its suppliers, Wal-Mart has repeatedly focused on marketing instead. This not only fails to protect the environment, it actually tricks shoppers into supporting unsustainable practices.
What you can do: Join Wal-Mart Watch and Global Response in calling on Wal-Mart to stop greenwashing its gold. Click here to write a letter to the retailer, or send a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission for false advertising. With your help, we can spread the word about Wal-Mart’s greenwashed gold.
Posted by Enviro. Team | Permalink
A few weeks ago - Wal-Mart Watch had an inside source in a Wal-Mart focus group who clued us in to some new ads the company was planning to release. Several stories over the weekend tell us how Wal-Mart is ready to roll out the new series of ads - just in time for the the Democratic and Republican Conventions.
It’s been clear that Wal-Mart is trying to take advantage of the political atmosphere and cast itself as a fixer of America’s economic problems and combat its reputational woes. The company has been pushing the “Wal-Mart as government” theme for a while, and these latest ads are the most direct effort yet. (Of course, Wal-Mart’s ad team probably didn’t intend to roll out the new campaign just a week after the store’s low wages led to the first North American union contract, and while embroiled in a massive electioneering scandal.)
We asked readers on our blog to vote on which one of the new ad themes were the most deceptive. The results were as following:
42% (319 votes) “Some believe that fixing the economy starts in DC, we believe it starts closer to home.”
32% (242 votes) “We started $4 prescription plan; now others are following our lead. We believe a healthier America is a better America”
24% (181 votes) “Most people live pay to paycheck, we help your paycheck go further.”
2% (16 votes) “Wal-Mart saves you money—that’s our economic stimulus plan.”
Wal-Mart to air economy-focused ads [NW Arkansas Morning News]:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday it is launching a series of economy-focused TV ads during the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
The 15-second ads highlight some of the company’s top initiatives, including its $4 prescription drug program, and communicate how supercenter shopping saves on gas.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Eric Bull | Permalink
There’s still way too many bloggers talking about last week’s Wall Street Journal story for us to give an accurate run down of all of them. But that’s not the only thing going on in the world of Wal-Mart this week: our Friday Blog Round-Up has the details.
WAL-MART RECOMMENDS LEAVING CARBON OFFSET DETAILS “VAGUE”
We caught a post earlier this week from Sustainable Industries, which mentioned that Wal-Mart has come out against defining carbon offset standards. Given the company’s desperate attempts to be seen as environmentally friendly, we found this a bit shocking, and we weren’t the only ones…
To Everything: Term, Term, Term [Grist]
In comments to the Federal Trade Commission earlier this year, Wal-Mart asked the agency not to define the terms “carbon offsets” or “renewable energy certificates” in order to keep the terms flexible and to retain their “less tangible nature.”
Carbon Offsets: To Define or Not to Define? [Green Tech Media]
Wal-Mart has attracted plenty of attention for its environmental initiatives, including more energy-efficient lighting – the chain surpassed a goal to sell 100 million compact fluorescent light bulbs in 2007 – less packaging and a goal of removing nonrenewable energy from all its products, although an Environmental Leader report released in May found that most consumers didn’t identify the company as socially responsible, in spite of its significant green marketing.
Wal-Mart has been taking many major steps go green in recent years. The mega-retailer has taken steps to assess the carbon footprint of some of its products, and it has become the largest buyer of organic cotton and of locally grown produce...So you can imagine my surprise when I came across Wal-Mart’s comment on the Federal Trade Commission’s attempts to standardize carbon offsets.
Walmart Against Setting of Carbon Offset Guidelines [Carbon Offsets Daily]
There seem to be loopholes in Walmart’s argument as well - it argues that the FTC should refrain from setting concrete offset guidelines as there is lack of “widespread consensus about the precise contours of what constitutes a carbon offset or a REC”. But isn’t that exactly what the FTC is looking to rectify?
My good deed for the day. [The Writing on the Wal]
The Christian Science Monitor has noticed that despite its vaunted green reputation Wal-Mart doesn’t want the government to formally define carbon offsets in order to facilitate pollution cap and trade programs. Confused? So is the guy who wrote the blog post...Therefore, he called Wal-Flack Central (aka the Wal-Mart Press Office) for clarification...Can you imagine what the Wal-Flack who took that call must have been thinking?
a) “At Wal-Mart, we are very concerned about…”
b) “At Wal-Mart, we do not comment on pending legislation…”
c) “Let me tell you about all our other wonderful environmental programs…”
After the jump, bad deals, jalapeno peppers and the Griswold family makes their mark on the American retail landscape.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart and NBC announced today a massive marketing partnership to target women viewers of the “Today” show and female users of NBC’s online portal “iVillage.” The deal involves commercial air time for Wal-Mart as well as product placement “vignettes” on “Today.”
Wal-Mart’s decision to paint itself as a “mom-friendly” store is intensely hypocritical: the retailer has a shameful history on women’s rights in the workplace. Wal-Mart is currently involved in the largest workplace gender discrimination lawsuit in history: more than 1.3 million female employees are suing the retailer for failing to equally promote and pay women. Wal-Mart has also been sued numerous times for firing women after taking maternity leave: in 2005, Wal-Mart was fined $188,000 by the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission for violating California state law when it refused to reinstate a woman after she completed her maternity leave. [U.S. Department of Labor, via Freedom of Information Act; California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, case no. E 200203 M-0774-00-pe, C 03-04-026; Sacramento Bee, 6/14/05]. In addition, Wal-Mart also offers a pitifully small amount of paid sick time for working women, and requires employees to be available for shifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, making it extremely difficult for working mothers to schedule child care or take time off to care for a sick child.
Wal-Mart doesn’t mention these facts in its new commercials. Rather, this deal can be seen as part of Wal-Mart’s larger effort to convince customers it’s now a a softer, friendlier company. The retailer launched a new marketing campaign - complete with logo redesign and new catchphrase - to make customers forget about its reputation for poverty wages, poor health care, damage to communities and irresponsible sourcing practices. Wal-Mart’s history of discriminating against women is no exception. Though Wal-Mart’s new commercials on NBC might make consumers feel warm and fuzzy, the company’s labor practices should not. Anyone who cares about gender equality in the workplace should demand Wal-Mart changes its practices. The retailer has gotten away with underpaying women for too long, and “momtourages” everywhere should cast a skeptical eye on these new ads.
Read more about women’s rights at Wal-Mart here.
To Reach Mothers, Wal-Mart Signs Deal With an NBC Unit [New York Times]
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
The website hosting this apparently amazing Wal-Mart map has been down all day, but because we’re willing to believe whatever MTV tells us to, we’ll say “OMG WAL-MART IS HUGE.”
The Rapid Spread Of Wal-Martaphentitis Across The United States [Best Week Ever]
Some guy who has a LOT of spare time on his hands, and really hates Wal-Mart, made this animated map showing the spread of Wal-Mart stores across America. When I’m watching it, I’m not gonna lie, I get a chill in my bones. When this kind of thing happens in movies, they usually have to make a decision to blow up the nation.
The Growth of Wal-Mart [The Linkist]
At first, the dots representing store locations seem to tell a local success story, but starting in the late 70’s it begins to look more like an infestation.
The Growth Of Wal-Mart Across America [The Presurfer]
Wal-Mart has been criticized by some community groups, women’s rights groups, grassroots organizations, and labor unions, specifically for its extensive foreign product sourcing, low rates of employee health insurance enrollment, resistance to union representation, and alleged sexism.
Protect your community, wouldya? After the jump, pygmy rattlesnakes, additions to the customer service hall of fame (shame?) and weighing in on Wal-Mart’s new, er, logo…
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
A new study out today from the Reputation Institute ranks the world’s largest corporations based on the overall trust, esteem, admiration and good feelings consumers have toward them. Unsurprisingly, Wal-Mart didn’t do so well. Despite being the world’s largest corporation, Wal-Mart didn’t even make the top 200 for most-admired global companies. Among the 150 U.S. companies included in the study, Wal-Mart came in at an embarassingly low 136, down from last year’s rank of 57. To put that in perspective, Halliburton came in last at 150.
Rankings like these expose a major weakness of Wal-Mart’s business model: treating people badly makes shoppers dislike you. R.I. explains why “good feelings” are important to a company’s bottom line:
Research shows that people act based on their feelings. They are more likely to buy the products of companies they trust, to work for the organizations they respect, and to recommend companies they like.
Which means Wal-Mart’s efforts to save money no matter what the cost are actually costing the company dearly. Wal-Mart’s business model involves skimping on wages and benefits but sinking millions of dollars in to marketing and PR, a method which is wearing thin. Studies such as this one reveal Wal-Mart’s strategy isn’t a long-term solution to the company’s environmental and labor problems. It’s not too late for Wal-Mart to improve its practices, but the company will have to start making comprehensive changes - not cosmetic ones.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
We received quite an interesting note yesterday in our mailbox. It was from the Director of Public Relations for Wal-Mart China! He wrote in to let us know what he thinks of our website.
Mr. Dong seems upset that we are “spreading misinformation.” After all, it’s unfair to spin stories to make your organization appear in a better light - oh wait, Wal-Mart’s already done that. Like a hundred thousand times. I think they actually hire people to do that professionally. What’s that position called? Director of......Public Elations? Oh - Director of Public Relations! That’s it! So Jonathan Dong is criticizing our organization for spinning news stories, when that is, in fact, his full time job.
Let’s first address Mr. Dong’s cries of sensationalism. The original articles he mentions are here (original version) and here. We’ll let you judge for yourselves.
Secondly, Mr. Dong expressed some concerns about our inability to read Chinese media reports. To which we respond: who says we don’t? The articles on our website didn’t translate themselves; Wal-Mart Watch does our own translations and stands by them. We even keep a Mandarin-language blog, hosted on a Chinese server. Last we checked, the Chinese media wasn’t too keen on Wal-Mart, and as the company has expanded retail operations in the country, opposition has been continually mounting. We’re willing to bet that’s why Wal-Mart China needs a Director of Public Relations in the first place.
Thirdly, Mr. Dong’s request that we “pursue high ethical and moral standards” is simply sad. For a PR director from the world’s largest corporation to ask a small non-profit working on behalf of low-wage employees to behave more ethically seems backwards and backhanded. Perhaps Mr. Dong could direct his criticisms to his own company before trying to reform others.
In conclusion, thank you for your suggestions, Mr. Dong. We’d be happy to stop sensationalizing your company’s news if Wal-Mart does the same and closes up its massive PR spin shop. But more to the point, we think that your company is hardly one to question others’ morals or ethics.
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Wal-Mart’s logo has evolved over the company’s 60 year history, but none have been as slick as the company’s newest version. Wal-Mart’s older logos were straightforward and purely functional: all Sam Walton needed was a way to let people know the name of his store. But Wal-Mart’s logo has now become a complicated piece of PR machinery, serving purposes far beyond Sam’s utilitarian signs. Elizabeth Blackwell on The Street says:
For years, Wal-Mart has inspired plenty of emotions, from fear that the behemoth was destroying small towns to anger at the perceived abuse of low-paid associates. What the company is after now is that warm-and-fuzzy feeling that keeps shoppers loyal because they believe in the store’s values and mission.
Wal-Mart is hoping mightily that this new image will make shoppers forget about Wal-Mart’s persistent labor problems, sweatshop allegations, environmental damages and legal issues. The company’s “values and mission” remain low prices at the cost of nearly everything else, but even Wal-Mart is realizing the problems with a race-to-the-bottom corporate image.
Enter our Unofficial Wal-Mart Logo Redesign Contest to create a logo that represents Wal-Mart’s true corporate values. We’ll be announcing the contest winners in the next week or so, so be sure to send in your entries soon. Below, for inspiration, a look back at Wal-Mart’s logos over the years.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Voting is now open in Consumerist’s “Worst Company in America” semi-finals! Wal-Mart is facing formidable competition from subprime mortgage king Countrywide, so make sure you vote! Use our handy tool below to weigh in on the Worst Company in America.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Rolling out a new logo can be a delicate time for brands - it’s a time of self-questioning and transition all-too-reminiscent of middle school. Sometimes companies (and their PR teams) say one thing, but really have a lot more on their mind. Portfolio.com’s Business Spin blog provides this helpful, insightful analysis of Wal-Mart’s new logo roll-out. The bottom line? “Don’t worry, we’re not abandoning our roots. We’ll still squeeze our suppliers like soggy dishrags.”
Parsing Walmart: This Is Not a Reaction [Portfolio.com’s Business Spin Blog]
After the news leaked over the weekend, Walmart confirmed that it will roll out a new de-hyphenated logo.
While most companies flog their make-overs, Walmart’s overly restrained release seems intended to tamp down any speculation that the company is struggling to find a new sweet spot, as competitors get increasingly efficient and Target’s model continues to pick up steam. Here’s the parse.
Walmart: Walmart U.S. Refreshes Stores’ Logo
Translation: We’re not changing our logo. We’re refreshing it.Walmart: For the past two years, a customer focused transformation has been taking place in Walmart’s U.S. business.
Translation: We’ve pushed the price-as-the-only-differentiator model as far as it can go.Walmart: Walmart’s U.S. locations will update store logos as part of an ongoing evolution of its overall brand…
Translation: It’s an evolution. The revolution didn’t turn out too well. And it’s definitely not a reaction to Target.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart spends millions on PR campaigns and re-branding efforts to fix its public image - money that could be spent on better wages and health care for its employees, stronger product safety standards or more environmentally friendly practices.
Instead of improving its behavior, Wal-Mart is introducing new logo that doesn’t change anything. Giving its employees new uniforms is not the same as giving them better health coverage. Changing color schemes is not the same as changing its impact on the environment. And a friendlier logo is not the same as a friendlier company. Do you think Wal-Mart's new logo will change people's minds about the company?
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Rapper and multi-talented entertainer Percy Miller (better known as “Master P”) has announced that he and his son Romeo will rerelease their clothing line, P. Miller Designs, exclusively through Wal-Mart. The move comes years after the line had previously been released through the department stores Mervyn’s and Kohl’s, and serves as the latest example of a previously anti-establishment music act going completely corporate.
Given Master P’s impressive track-record of community involvement, not to mention his work with the NAACP, one would hope that he would be critical enough of Wal-Mart’s disproportionate effect on and discrimination against members of his own community that he would be unwilling to sign repeated exclusive deals with them. With the launch of his new record label “Take A Stand” well underway, we hope that Master P won’t continue to fall to the fantastical rhymes of the world’s largest retailer.
Reuters has the story: Wal-Mart finds rappers Master P, Romeo a fashion fit
Master P and his son, fellow hip-hop hit-maker Romeo, have agreed to relaunch their P. Miller Designs apparel line exclusively through Wal-Mart, Billboard has learned.
The father-son duo’s brand of men’s apparel will be available at about 350 Wal-Mart stores starting in July and will include graphic T-shirts, fleece hoodies and fashion denims. The P. Miller line was last available at such retailers as Kohl’s and Mervyns “a few years ago,” Master P (aka Percy Miller) said.
The veteran rapper said that Wal-Mart was a logical vendor for P. Miller Designs, which he described as “high fashion at an affordable cost.” Master P said he has shifted most responsibilities for the clothing line to 18-year-old Romeo.
“Wal-Mart stands for everything P. Miller does,” he said. “It’s America and diversity. Our whole thing is price point. I want to put out affordable clothes where the masses can buy them.”
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Joel Nezianya | Permalink
Wal-Mart needs a new image - bad. The retailer’s latest attempt to upgrade its image isn’t just about being hip - it’s about trying to avoid its bad reputation for unethical business practices.
Just last week a Harris poll showed Wal-Mart’s reputation has been dropping fast. Wal-Mart’s continuing use of sweatshop labor and poor employment practices have undoubtedly harmed it here, as the study also showed these issues top consumers’ concerns. Additional cries of discrimination against women, damage to communities and local economies, unsustainable expansion practices, and unethical business and political dealings all draw an even more grim picture of the company. The company’s practices have earned it a place in the Worst Company in America contest, as well as Corporate Accountability’s Corporate Hall of Shame.
Unfortunately, a new logo won’t solve any of these issues. Wal-Mart might try to prove it’s changed by adopting a new logo and a new catchphrase, but two million employees around the world and countless American communities can feel the impact of a company that still pays poverty wages and drains local economies.
Concerned consumers everywhere should demand more from Wal-Mart than just a new logo.
Wal-Mart to revamp logo at its US stores [Associated Press]
Wal-Mart logo gets facelift [Benton County Daily Record (Ark.)]
Wal-Mart plans prototype store at Cordova site [Memphis Business Journal (Tenn.)]
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart recently decided to change its corporate logo from industrial blue to burnt orange. It’s an interesting color choice, one that reminds us of industrial grade vinyl, the plastic benches in fast food restaurants and, oh yes, the 70’s.
Is this really the style upgrade Wal-Mart Walmart was looking for? If so, they’re right on the cutting edge of design from 35 years ago. More after the jump (warning: some of this design may not be suitable for the faint of heart.)
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
News broke this weekend that Wal-Mart plans to change its logo - and its name. The retailer will shift away from its current hyphenated, blue logo with a star to a burnt orange, one-word logotype reading simply “Walmart.” The retailer is planning to announce the change later this week.
Wal-Mart has been trying to update its image for several years, but the change the company really needs isn’t cosmetic. New logos and marketing gimmicks can’t mask the company’s low wages and poor health benefits. What would be even more innovative than a new logo? Changes to the company’s business model that would improve treatment of employees, communities and the environment.
Wal-Mart Plans New Logo to Update Image [Wall Street Journal]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is about to change one of the most familiar logos in corporate America.
Part of Wal-Mart’s continuing effort to update its once-dowdy image, the new logo for signs and building facades includes white letters on a burnt-orange background followed by a white starburst, according to an artist’s rendering that the company filed recently with planning officials in Memphis, Tenn.
In a change, the name will appear as one word: Walmart. When the company first started in 1962, the name was hyphenated by a dash. But in the past decade, the dash has been replaced by a star on stores and the corporate letterhead.
Initially, the store logo included white letters on a brown brick exterior. About 20 years ago, Wal-Mart moved to a sign that affixed white letters onto a battleship blue/gray background, bordered by red strips.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
In a story out today about Wal-Mart’s declining reputation, the Morning News of Northwest Arkansas notes that admiration for the company is also falling sharply. Whereas Wal-Mart was once the most admired company in America according to Fortune magazine, the retailer is now barely in the top 20.
One expert called Wal-Mart’s poor reputation a “chronic” condition, as the retailer has repeatedly failed to take action on issues raised by activists and critics. Ignoring these complaints is not only inhumane, it’s a bad business strategy. Wal-Mart has years to go before it can even hope to begin regaining the trust of conscientious consumers.
Report: Wal-Mart Reputation Continues To Slide [NW Arkansas Morning News]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2007 continued to slip down a list of corporate reputation rankings, according to a survey.
The Bentonville-based retailer ranked No. 44 on the Harris Interactive report, which ranks the reputations of the country’s 60 “most visible” companies based on consumer perception surveys.
It was the third consecutive year Wal-Mart’s score on the list declined.
Wal-Mart’s slipped score was the also the third largest rating change, trailing behind Bank of America and Halliburton Co., which saw more significant declines in reputation scores.
Wal-Mart has similarly dropped down Fortune Magazine’s list of America’s most admired companies.
Read the rest of this story ...
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Research group Harris Interactive published this week the findings of their most recent “Reputation Quotient,” a ranking of major U.S. companies based on reputation. In this year’s report Wal-Mart had one of the largest drops in reputation value, ranking third worst overall - just behind corporate-misbehavior poster child Haliburton. The study also notes that despite being extremely well-known among consumers, Wal-Mart ranked poorly on a “sincerity” scale.
This news comes after Wal-Mart has spent more than two years trying to improve its reputation, during which time the company has hired numerous P.R. firms to convince consumers it is not only more sustainable, but a more friendly employer, too. So why hasn’t it been more successful? Harris perhaps provides the answer, noting “The most essential item in evaluating a company’s social responsibility is treatment of employees, including labor practices and human rights. Personal health and safety is a close second.”
For all its environmental platitudes, Wal-Mart has done little to address concerns of human rights violations in its supply chain, raise wages for U.S. employees or improve the quality of health care available to store associates. The company’s ongoing reputation for wage-and-hour violations and lack of care for injured employees only damage its reputation further. It’s time the retailer took some responsibility for these actions and realized cutting corners on human rights just isn’t worth it.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
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