Six months on the client side, I’m pleased to note I am learning a few things in my new role. My firm focuses on, amongst other industries, retail. I’ve had quite the crash course since I came from a business to business environment. Change is good and this blog should benefit.
The most common thread woven through the retail industry is Wal-Mart. In some shape or form, the big yellow smiley face seems to impact every facet of retail. Some simple math shows you why.
- They’re ranked first on the Forbes 500 for the fourth year in a row.
- They reported 2004 sales of $285 billion. This is more than half of the $488 billion in 2004 sales reported by the nation’s top 10 retailers.
Anyone reading the news knows this retail leviathan is usually under the microscope. I suspect that Wal-Mart’s legion of media relations contacts are on the defensive more than they would care to admit.
In an attempt to go on the offensive, Wal-Mart is holding a two-day media event. Invitees were limited to 100 print media. According to Editor and Publisher, 50 media are expected to attend. “Wal-Mart said it will evaluate the results of the two-day media-education sessions and perhaps include broadcast media in the future.”
Nope, no mention of including blogs.
It's an interesting situation. We all talk about transparency, but how many companies are willing to open their doors in this fashion when they are under fire? I’m sure every last detail of the event is carefully orchestrated—from the invitee list, to every second spent during the event. But based on the event's timing, it’s a risky move to say the least.
Perhaps it is comparable to a game of Texas Hold 'Em poker? Wal-Mart can afford to buy a few pots with a stack of $285 billion chips. Not that they can buy the media, or would even try for that matter. But they certainly seem to be taking a creative approach as they look to expand into urban markets and enter into new markets across the globe.
Perhaps the Wal-Mart public relations team will tap into some online tools to get a quick read of whether or not they were successful?
UPDATE: Dan Gillmor offers some insight into the possible relationship between Wal-Mart and citizen journalism.
I like how Dan pointed out the Wikipedias/Wal-Mart pages which are augmented by sites such as "Wake Up Wal-Mart"
Posted by: Robb Hecht | 04/07/2005 at 12:04 AM
Those greeters so annoy me.
Posted by: Jeremy Pepper | 04/07/2005 at 02:53 PM