THE MOST IMPORTANT DIGITAL LESSON I’VE LEARNED… I have picked this pearl of wisdom to share with you today: You can’t control what people say about you on the web, but you can be a good listener. This is from Walmart:
Walmart has been getting into the act it would seem in a big way, starting (if not chronologically) with its Save Money, Live Better portal. Except for starting off with fairly obnoxious Walmart tv ad, this site is refreshingly simple to navigate. The heavily blurred images incite you to click on them to find out what’s there and because there are only four (at least for now) to visit, it’s a quickly done. There’s also Walmart SoundCheck, (Listen Up, Look Good) here featuring Indie.Arie, a personal favourite (powered by Dove!). You can of course pick up her “Love & Politics” album at Walmart. Other initiatives by Walmart include ElevenMoms (curiously featuring 12 Moms for the price of 11; aka InStoreNow) which features a Save & Live Green portion (see below), CheckOut Blog (10 authors) and their own YouTube Walmart Channel.
“The organic nature of the web means that when you are the world’s largest retailer, people will talk,” said Wanda Young, senior director-digital marketing at Walmart. “And we’re OK with that. We believe the hallmark of a really great brand is that you are relevant. And part of the way you do that is listening to what your customers have to say.” Ms Young is surely committed, but I have no idea to what extent their sites are moderated and/or monitored by the Walmart senior executive team.
My last little pick up from these Walmart sites: a little rollover counter on the bottom left of the site that figuratively shows the compounded savings (since Jan 1 2009) generated by Walmart based on Walmart’s impact on the economy, no matter where consumers shop…
Not that I am a Walmart shopper or even a fan, but it is interesting to contemplate how the single largest worldwide retailer may be moving the tectonic plates of corporate social media…
