Wal-Mart: "For" or "Against"

As the largest American multinational retailer corporation, the biggest private employer in the world with 2.2 million employees, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., or Walmart, has been running chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores since 1962 (incorporated in 1969). Company is controlled by the Walton family with 48% stake in it. It is also the U.S. largest grocery retailer and the world's third largest public corporation after Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell. By the end of 2012 Walmart had 8,500 stores under 55 different names in 15 countries and is currently developping strategies for growth through the next 20 years. The company is proud of its strategy and even incorporates it within its moniker "Always Low prices, Always." While company's business in United Kingdom, South America, and China is going very well, German and South Korean ventures were unsuccessful.

Walmart is not the only store criticized for its policies, but it has become a symbol for much of what is wrong with employers. For the fiscal year ending in January 2011, Walmart reported a net income of $15.4 billion on $422 billion of revenue. It's obviously a lot of money to justify some questionable workplace practices; however, stories persist about wage law violations, inadequate health care, exploitation of employess, and the retailer's anti-union position. Some 5,000 lawsuits are filed against the company each year. Walmart is facing an enormous wave of negativity - from community activists trying to keep big retailer away from their neighbourhoods, to local governments mandating that Wal-Mart supply workers with health insurance, to opportunistic lawyers trying to get rich by bringing on endless lawsuits, to labor unions, grassroots organizations, religious organizations, environmental groups, and customers of course. Company is being accused in racial and gender discrimination, mistreating illegal aliens, denying overtime pay. Criticism also includes the corporation's foreign product sourcing, treatment of suppliers, compensation and working conditions, environmental practices, the use of public subsidies, and the company's security policies.

Walmart's SWOT analysis can help understand its internal and external potential. Among company's Strengths are: large scale of operations, extensive information systems, wide range of products, low cost leadership strategy, and international operations. Weaknesses include labour related lawsuits, high employee turnover, little differentiation, and negative publicity. Corporation's Opportunities are the following: retail market growth in emerging markets, rising acceptance of own label products, healthy eating trends, and growth of online shopping. Threats that Walmart is facing are: increasing competition from non-chain and online competitors, resistance from local communities, rising commodity product prices.

PEST analysis can help to define the areas of Walmart's concern which are important and necessary to activate immediately. This analysis also reveals the positive or negative affects to their business according to some factors. In political sphere, corporation is affected by policies on economy and trading agreements, such as NAFTA. Economically, unemployment rate and slightly increase in consumption are likely to influence Walmart. The U.S. government is planning to decrease the amount of supercenters to leverage capital assets through increase in returns and sales across the country. In socio-cultural terms company is affected by the faster pace of life where efficiency is the key. Social infuence pushes consumers to shop at Walmart to the point where it becomes a trend to use one stop service. Walmart uses IT technologies and online shopping opportunities for the core purpose of marketing, they rely on social media for advertising and selling their products.

There are many groups and individuals who have a stake in what Walmart does, the market and non-market stakeholders are among them. The first ones include the stockholders, company's executives, employees, consumers, non-profit organizations, online and gasoline retailers, and commuities where Walmart is located. Non-market stakeholders have a non-economic or political stake in what course the company takes, they are labor unions, international retail stores, and politicians. In public, Walmart uses top of the line Public Relations strategy firms to produce commercials for its stores and to portray the best possible image. Its relationships with key stakeholders are maintained as well by the communication of corporate statements on its Internet site and through other paper based corporate communications. Walmart's public message is consistent, and has been so over time. The core message is that Walmart is a "family friendly" store, and that it is good to its customers, and that it is an asset to the local community. The messages of selling for less, respecting employees and communities, and expanding are all echoed in company's Annual Reports.

According to company's reports, their sales continue to improve, but different measures of public opinion indicate that their reputation declines, which affects both ability to reach new shoppers and to build new stores. In order to further increase sales the company must either sell more products to existing customers or identify new ones. Recent public opinion surveys indicate that although people are shopping there, they are not happy about it because of Walmart's poor business practices. The Harris Interactive survey found that shoppers consider company's labor practices above all other social responsibility issues. In 2008, The Reputation Institute ranked the 150 largest U.S. companies based on "the overall trust, esteem, admiration and good feelings consumers have toward them." Walmart came in at number 136 out of 150 companies, dropping 76 places from number 57 in 2007. Walmart Watch 2007 Public Opinion Survey indicates the drop by 5% in overall favourability, 27% of respondents developed a more negative opinion on the company. It's clear enough that Walmart needs more than a logo or an advertising campaign to fix the situation.

After all this, we may be curious to see how Walmart's social media strategy addresses its online brand reputation issues. While being perceived as an "evil empire" by some, company does a lot of good for its communities and the world, for example providing 2,450 truckloads of supplies to Hurricane Katrina victims and donating more than $2 million to end world hunger. The brand developed the strategy to share corporate news and build public goodwill by sharing information about how Walmart is helping society. They created multiple Twitter handles, each targeting a different audience with the information and messages that pertain to them. Walmart's Director of Social Media, Umang Shah, also implemented a way to monitor social media conversations almost around the clock so that questions and issues addressed in social media are addressed as soon as possible. Before implementing that strategy company analyzed data by utilizing Social Flow tool.  Additionally, Shah stated that engagement online could be bought, but the true value of the content and the way of engagement is told by how much succeed without paying for it. Walmart constantly updates its Facebook feed, and created pages for each store across the nation. As was noted by Wanda Young, Vice President of Media and Digital Marketing for Walmart, company's marketing team asks questions to engage its customers on Facebook, and uses the answers to change the way it does business. Walmart understands the importance of building relationships with customers through social media platforms, let's see where this  path full of controversy and negativity will take them...

Picture credit: helloladies.com

Comment # 1 (Case Studies and Issues in PR)

The 3 F's of Time Management for Overwhelmed Entrepreneurs. By Elena Velree.

Sometimes we need to slow down in order to get work done. Being overwhelmed by the pace of my school activities, I realized that mono-tasking is the way in a real life experience, especially if you are going to become an entrepreneur. By minimizing distractions and focusing carefully on the task at a time, we can actually speed up our overall work rate. With so much head work, we can often neglect our bodies. Regular exercise helps me blow off steam, gives me more energy, greater concentration and better sleep at night. It's good to track your time hour-by-hour for one week: everything that you're doing from the time you get up until you go to bed. This is so sobering! By doing that I usually see where the holes in my calendar are. It helps to rearrange my life (and calendar) accordingly. Some may not support me, but being selfish is a good thing. Once I have prioritized my to-do list, I put that ahead of all others' lists. When I'm able to get my own work done, I'm in a much better position to support others with their projects.

The power of persuasion (TOW#1, Case Studies and Issues in PR)

In its purest form PR often promotes one group's endeavors to persuade another group to its point of view. There is competition for the available time and space. Some individuals seem to get more than their fair share. Other are barely visible. Some do not appear at all. The competition is a fact of life in the news business. That's why it is important to develop a "hook", a reason that your organization should be singled out for coverage.

Here's 3 questions concerning public persuasion that I'm going to answer providing my own examples.

What made you change your opinion of a public figure, organization or brand?

Upon my arrival in Canada from Republic of Belarus in 2010 I was not familiar enough with Walmart, the largest retailer in the world. It was obvious: Winnipeg is packed with company's stores. I must say that my impression about their business was not vivid, because some former employees I know had negative experience with Walmart. The list of reasons explained seemed to be endless: horrible wages and high demands,  poor health insurance and environmental approaches, discrimination against pregnant, labor abuses, high staff turnover, union-busting, shareholders' greediness, local retailer oppression, outsourcing from Asia with terrible labor violations. Company spends more spying on their own employees than on security of their consumers, who are being robbed, raped and murdered on the parking lot (2005 Walmart parking lot crimes). Word of mouth played its role in shaping my own opinion on Walmart policies. Now I wonder how does the company address such a bad publicity. Food for thought for a separate blog post...

What factors have influenced your decision to do or not to do something?

Being a member of GoodLife Fitness Club for the past year I've been constantly following company's presence in the media. Thanks to their efforts to give every Canadian the opportunity to live a fit and healthy good life, I got engaged with this whole idea instantly and can't imagine my life without regular exercising anymore. Since its foundation in 1979 GoodLife have created a big community with their own values (7 corevalues), which are shared with a positive attitude through multiple ways, whether it's a blog, forum, facebook page, twitter, training program, marathons, charity cause, etc. They are definitely good in gathering people. I find their campaigns are very appealing and messages clear, for example: "When you experience the life-enhancing benefits of exercise, others around you do as well." Every new campaign includes short TV spots, radio spots, direct mail, online and in-club merchandising material. While writing this post I came across GettingStarted Page, which starts with Founder and CEO's, David Patchell-Evans's, appeal to fitness beginners. The page contains information that can be personalized by all kinds of new members, it has many 20 minute video tutorials, FAQ about workout, club services and reward programs. GoodLife Fitness do not just draw our attention to make us join the club, they show how to achieve our personal goals by being a guide into the world of fitness. 

What had made you think differently about an issue?

 
An American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, actor, and writer/author George Carlin made me think differently about issues in politics, psychology, religion, and other aspects of socio-cultural life. By employing black humor Carlin was making light of otherwise solemn subject matter; he knew how to bring up very unpleasant, serious, or painful topics and make people think about them. Death, war, disease, crime, corruption, bureaucracy, beliefs, mass cultures, taboos, everything that arises from stressful, traumatic, or life-threatening situations were served by Carlin on a plate just like a dish flavored with light, silly, or satirical fashion. His "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine was complained about to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) back in 1970's. However, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC action, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene" and giving FCC freedom to determine what constituted indecency in different contexts. "I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately," - noted Carlin.

                                                          Portrait by Odwin Rensen

                                                                                                     

My PR Fundamentals II class: Learning Outcomes.

Yesterday was an important day for me and all of my classmates. Separated on several groups we were assigned to prepare a communication plan for a real client, Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The plan had a goal to target youth audience, 15 to 25 years old people. I must admit it was a real challenge, this time everything appeared to be serious: 1 out of 5 proposed plans will be named as the Winner and be executed (at least partially, with the use of its ideas). By the end of the course we were asked by our instructor to reflect on 3 key learnings each of us have taken away. Further, I'm going to justify my point of view on that question, followed up by the learnings concerning the PR project we've worked on for the past 6 weeks.

The first topic that stands out to me the most after completing the course is Ethics in PR. Protecting relationship with the audience and public trust is essential to the organization's reputation and PR practitioner in particular. Moreover, it depends primarily on the actions of the last one. Public Relations organizations are developing and maintaining their code of ethics, which are expected to be obeyed by all its members. The primary objective os such codes is usually to guide and educate members on the subject of professional conduct. Despite all that, ethical dilemma still exists. Many, if not all, of the major PR firms routinely engage in unethical practices. Let's face it, they do that to clean up the mess for their client, and money is a big motivator in the "era of materialism, services and price tags". The common sense must navigate each and everyone: be true and honest to yourself, be trasparent and interactive with those around you, be respectful to the cause you are working on. There's no science behind it and it goes without saying.

Secondly, I had a good lesson on how to measure social media Return On Investment. Many PR practitioners are frustrated when dealing with ROI. Though measuring it may not be perfect, it's not impossible yet. This is a great way for both small and big businesses to assess what they are getting out of their social media commitment. For example, Facebook has Conversion Measurement tool allows advertisers to record the behaviour of the users. But ideally, user clicks and then registeres on company's site. Optimized CPM tool helps Facebook ads target the right people. At the same time, measurement seems to be loosing its weight between impressions and likes, which makes interactions very relevant. That's why everything should be maintained and measured altogether. Analyzing website analytics against pay per click is  another way to measure. To sum it up, no social media ROI measurement is perfect and I realized that it takes time to find the best way to measure social media presence and mentions.

My third and not the least important learning outcome is about Crisis Management and Emergency Preparation. Self-reliance become indispensable in situations when a lot of people are affected at once. Immediate response and preparedness are much more effective when discussed and planned prior to potential crisis. Crisis Management is a matter of facing the threat quickly. That includes minimizing negative perception and losses. The first step in developing a plan should be the conduct of a SWOT analysis. Once possible theats and weaknesses are assembled into a list, the group should discuss the action during the time of current crisis. These simple actions will eliminate the turmoil and minimize the frustration in difficult circumstances.

Finally, I would like to mention the learnings from the idem CMHR project. Crafting a message for youth we were confused in the beginning. Maybe because of the fact that me and my groupmates represent only the last sub-audience on a scale from 15 to 25 years old. We decided to go on streets and simply talk to young people. Engage them into conversations about the new Museum, information that they are aware of, attidudes, concerns. And the main point we were trying to make is what do Human Rights mean to them. We value every opinion. After several days of interviewing random strangers we finally shaped our own vision on the project. I think it would not be as easy to accomplish the work we've done without simple interaction with our target audience. And I'm going to use this approach further while practicing my Public Relations skills.

Comment #3(4)

Getting Back To Basics: Why Brands Are getting it Wrong in Social Media. By Brian Solis. May 21, 2013.

Comment. June 21, 2013.

Understanding the importance of social media today, I definitely support organizations that use social media channels to connect with the public. Social networks are used by the companies as the tools that are effective and useful in their efforts to reach their target audiences, no doubts. However, from my own observations I defined several reasons why social networks are not the key influencers for evaluating company's performance. At times, it is wrong and potentially dangerous for the brands to rely solely upon communication channels.

Troubles while using Twitter or Facebook appear uexpectedly and usually caused by the delays in Application Programming Interface, which frustrates users who are trying to post something. Such platforms are also being changed frequently without any prior warning to users. The way content appears in user feeds and the following sharing are affected as well. The real social posts made by real people are often being pushed down to the bottom of the feed by the biased news feeds that are defined as "most popular". Not every member of the social audience gets to see the the message posted at the moment. And the last but not the least, how uncommon is it for you to see annoying spam coming from fake or hacked accounts? A well established connection between organization and its audience can be seriously harmed in seconds because of virtual attacks. Many users would prefer to unsubscribe from the organization's feed and find another source of information rather than wait till the problem is eliminated.


From: Twitter Terms of Service. 
Effective: June 25, 2012

From: Facebook Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.
Last revision: June 8, 2012

The Future of Care Campaign at Misericordia Health Centre

Misericordia Health Centre has been providing health care to Manitobans since 1898. It is a non-profit organization geverned by a volunteer Board of Directors. Today, Centre offers a vide range of health programs from walk-in Urgent Care to Misericordia Place, personal care home that has 100 bed. As a research and teaching centre, Misericordia affiliates with different educational organizations, University of Manitoba and Winnipeg are among them.

Centre has been going through a comprehensive redevelopment since May 2011. Among the facilities under construction are Buhler Eye Care Centre, the Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre and PRIME, a day centre for seniors. Misericordia workers are proud to be a part of the project which was started as The Future of Care campaign that encourages community partnership. Redevelopement campaign was launched as of June 16, 2011. Bonnie and John Buhler generously donated $2 million dollars for the cause, the province has pledged $38 million, and the Misericordia Foundation contributed $7 million for Phase 1 of redevelopment.

During the beginning of the massive redevelopment Misericordia Health Centre Foundation hired a new Communications and Fund Development Officer, Glynis Corkal. Glynis's backround embraces great marketing and communications experience that she gained while working for the National Sccreen Institute, ProMar Management Services, SAAN stores and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. The Future of Care campaign plan was projected for over the next few years. Dirung this period Glynis's personal competence will include developing a monthly giving program and suppoting special events throughout the year. Glynis also manages newsletters, donor recognition and direct mail pieces.

Comment #2

New Digital Influencers: The Coming Youthquake. By Brian Soilis. May 14, 2013.

Comment. June 4, 2013.

This article proved to me that my brother Daniel is a true representative of the Generation Z. He was born in 2001 when I was 13 years old. At that I already had my first computer. More and more of friends of mine were getting new PC's. Digital era occupied our lives inevitably. Social networking became a new way to connect with people and
share. To me it was mind blowing. I could chat with teenagers just like me from all over the world in real time. Browsing different online chats, joining numerous rooms dedicated to specific topics, spending my leisure time a home in front of the computer screen seemed to be fun, but my parents  did not take it that way. Enough was enough. My web consumption was limited to a certain point. But I still wanted to enrich the connections and expand the view. Later on, even the time spent together with my little brother became a mutual staring at the computer screen. Sometimes, the only way for me to calm cranky 2 year old Daniel, was to put him on my lap and make busy with following the activities on the screen. Being 3 years old, he was able to play sophisticated computer games and persistently demanded his own private time to do so. Even being grounded for misbehaviour and suspended from gaming, Daniel knew how to put together completely unplugged computer wires and play at least a little bit before he gets caught. I was fun watching him doing that. Being 5, he was advising our mother about her cellphone options that she had troubles with.


He is turning 12 this month and knows how to use many devices that I know of. He he has his own laptop, tablet, Xbox, PS Vita, and Ipod. Soon he's gonna get a cell phone and the rest is in history. But now, I often hear him talking to his friends from US, UK, Germany, Brazil, and many more as they play online together. Socializing online has become a part of his everyday life. He is very friendly, sociable, funny and cute in real life conversations. I'm sure that he found his most appropriate balance between the two worlds and I'm very proud of him. As for myself, I think our Technological Era is just the beginning...