Wal-Mart boosts investments to drive people to corporate public relations site (nice move considering all the ways WalMart short changes women, minorities, destroy's communities and exacerbates sprawl all while they accelerate the out source of jobs to other countries). It is nice to see them pay big bucks for internet strategy for the public relations arm.
Wal-Mart is going on the offensive, and in a small but significant way, it has turned to paid search to help alleviate its woes.
Last week, the retail giant launched WalmartFacts.com to tell its story, backed by a massive print campaign. To help drive traffic to the site, Wal-Mart purchased paid search ads through Overture.
Type "walmart labor" in Google and the top-ranked page is a February 2004 Congressional report called "Everyday Low Wages: The Hidden Price We All Pay for Wal-Mart."
I called Wal-Mart to find out more about their paid search campaign. The representative couldn't answer strategic questions but shed a bit of light in her own way. "We did a media buy," she said. "We bought whatever we bought."
"we bought whatever we bought" ,,sounds like a really nice and friendly public relations person. However, I would be a bit grumpy too if I spent my time defending one of the largest companies in the world that thrived on externalize costs of ethical business.
"We see a downward spiral within the community that is led by Wal-Mart," Miller said at a news conference at his Concord office.
Substandard pay and health care benefits for Wal-Mart workers allow the firm to charge very low prices that force nearby stores to slash their workers' pay and benefits in order to compete, said Miller, ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee.
Wal-Mart the largest employer in both the United States and Mexico, imposes financial burdens on local governments. A certain percentage of its workers must turn to subsidized medical care, free school lunches, housing subsidies and other taxpayer- supported welfare services, Miller said.
Lessons for advocacy groups from this sham Walmart campaign. Wal-Mart is jumping on the defense and using the website as a central campaign hub. (I imagine the minions of Wal-Mart managers and spokesperson pinched between economic security for their families and town activists will use the Wal-Mart campaign site as a training ground and talking points for all those that encourage exporting money from their community)
Wal-Mart needed to be more aggressive as the lawsuits, media criticism, and rumors mounted. The centerpiece is the Web site. Ads lead to the site, and the site provides a central channel to inform the messaging that the company carries out to the world.
Smart campaign strategy. Greedy Family.
