Wal-Mart rides good PR, plans secret spin strategy

[Eugene]

Wal-Mart rides good PR, plans secret spin strategy
Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:00 AM ET

By Emily Kaiser

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT.N: Quote, Profile,
Research) is enjoying its best publicity in years as even its
harshest critics laud the retailer's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

But Chief Executive Lee Scott isn't resting on his laurels just yet.

For years, Wal-Mart largely ignored its image problems as customers
flocked to its stores and its growth seemed nearly unstoppable. But
the company acknowledges that it can no longer dismiss increasingly
vocal and well-organized groups that are having some success in
blocking its U.S. expansion, particularly in urban areas.

And now, Scott has started to drop hints about a secret spin strategy
to counter a union-backed, anti-Wal-Mart media blitz that he says is
not going to go away.

Scott -- who says his job is to defend Wal-Mart's reputation from
those who contend the world's No. 1 retailer pays poverty-level wages
and drives competitors out of business -- wouldn't divulge details of
the new public relations plan, but he has stressed its importance.

<snip>

More: http://today.reuters.com/business/newsarticle.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2005-09-15T125929Z_01_MOR546783_RTRIDST_0_PICKS-BIZFEATURE-WALMART-PR-DC.XML

As a critic points out, if Wal-Mart did the right thing routinely,
they wouldn't need to spin.

[ret5hd]

1. He might not have divulged details, but...

i bet i can tell you what it WON'T entail: raising poverty level wages and health insurance.

[Rude Horner]

2. Probably some commercials showing

everyday Joe and Jane employees in their beautiful suburban homes, driving SUV's and sending their kids off to college, all while "Proud to be an American" is playing as background music.

<Commercial snip>
Here at Walmart, we care about our employees. That's why we put their health and well being ahead of profits. At Walmart - we care.
<fade to pretty music>

:puke:

[warrens]

3. They didn't "ignore" their image problems

They were PROUD of their image problems. They have an extremely paranoid culture, and took great delight in screaming about their victimhood. They used it to keep the culture inward looking and always in an us-vs-them mode.

I give them enormous credit for what they did during Katrina. Other large retailers, including Home Depot, Sears, Lowe's, Costco and Target also did a lot.

But one spurt of generosity is not going to make up for decades of abuse. They continued to crow about all the cashiers who became millionaires from the stock purchase plan long after there was any possibility of that happening ever again. Anytime anyone questioned their wage structure and union-busting, they'd drag some grandma out who had retired with a million when the stock exploded in the 80s.

The real truth about Wal-Mart is to be found in Nickel and Dimed. It's a brutal culture, where any hint that you might be "soft" means you won't progress. It values people who are humorless, insensitive and almost thuggish in their store management. The merchandisers are just as bad; being rude to a vendor gets you street cred with your bosses.

Like they said about Bolton, it's a suck up, kick down culture. No amount of spin is going to change that. They're suddenly seeing their era of unlimited growth coming to an end, and the American shopper finding alternative sources for goods. Aldi and the dollar stores are attacking from below; Target, Trader Joe's, Costco and others from above. Pretty soon Wal-Mart will be just another store, and without the velocity provided by constant store openings, its profits are going to suffer, and its stock will get hammered even more than it is today.

PR campaigns only truly work when there's a kernel of truth to them. Trying to present WM as a fuzzy, friendly kind of place is doomed.