2. Marketing Philosophy
Does Walmart really have to invest
in marketing strategies?
Yes, and no.
-Already strong name brand
-current philosophy
3. Innovative Advertising Campaigns
• “See for yourself” Campaign
– Shows savings comparison
– Very competitive
– Stirring controversy with competition
4. Target Markets
• Strong prominent brand
in United States
– Third biggest retailer in
the world
• Current target markets
include:
– International markets
(like Brazil, China, etc)
• “Neighborhood Market”
store concept
– More localized Walmarts
– Expanding to college
campuses
5. Future Marketing Considerations
• Expansion in both
international and
local markets
• Own-label products
• Online shopping
• Lightening existing
negative publicity
Editor's Notes
As one of the top supermarket chains in the United States, Wal-Mart’s efforts to have a strong marketing strategy are slim. “It is the world’s largest retailer, third biggest public company, largest private employer and one of the most valuable companies in the world”. With such immense power, worldwide, Wal-Mart has little to no need to create a strong marketing strategy in pursue of higher profits. We can still note several marketing strategies that have been used in the past years to create brand consciousness and to keep the Wal-Mart name as a synonym of great savings and consumer convenience. Jurevicius, O. SWOT Analysis of Walmart. Strategic Management Insight. http://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com. May 17th, 2013.
The first and most important aspect of Wal-Mart’s strategy towards consumers is their store layout, which focuses on bringing everything to the shopper into one location. Wal-Mart can be known as a micro-mall. Each store usually contains a variety of departments including clothing, food, hardware, toys, tech centers, and even optometrists centers and jewelry isles. They also partner up with Subway and McDonalds to even bring an area for customers to eat while they shop. This convenience to consumers is what separates Wal-Mart from other supermarkets since it brings customers an extreme amount of variety. This giant quantity of products also works as a lever for Wal-Mart as they can afford to provide extremely low prices that most competitors cannot matchSo, Does Walmart really have to invest in Marketing Strategies? Yes, and noWalmart already carries a strong name brand, but they do need to invest in adverting campaigns that support and remind the public of the brand. They are also expecting to expand to different demographics, which will require a marketing strategy within itself.
The second aspect of Wal-Mart’s strategy is their latest “See for yourself” campaign reminding consumers of their low prices. This series of commercials has stirred controversy with competitors, who feel that most of the commercials are not accurate; But Wal-Mart stands behind their publicity and Quinn (Wal-Mart’s Chief Marketing Officer) says “It’s somebody’s real list. We don’t tell them what to buy. We take those groceries from the competitor and scan them across our scanner so there’s no doubt about … if it’s the same item” The advertisement series follow consumers doing their groceries and show them the amount of savings they have by choosing Wal-Mart. As mentioned below, it is no surprise that competitors are unable to fully compete with this company with offering the lowest prices. Hermanlyn, M. Walmart’s “See For Yourself” Campain, a Lesson in Local. CBS Altitude Group. July 16, 2013http://www.cbsaltitudegroup.com
The third aspect of current Marketing strategy is a more international approach as Wal-Mart still finds its place through the international market. This a major opportunity for the company as they have recently considered to close some underperforming stores in international grounds and plan on opening and expanding in territories like India, China, Brazil and others. They still face several struggles like international permits and empowering the name brand Wal-Mart to countries that do not differentiate this as a strong supermarket destination. Our final marketing consideration is the company’s expansion into college campuses to reach the millennial consumer. Recently, Wal-Mart has expanded smaller locations into college campuses like Georgia Tech and Arizona State. These branches are smaller than a regular Wal-Mart store and are targeted towards the millennial consumer, which seems to be of great interest to the company right now. Durisin, M. Walmart has a New Strategy for Tapping into the Millennial Market. Business Insider. April 9, 2013. http://www.businessinsider.com
Wal-Mart can consider future marketing expansions in both International and local markets. These include own-label products, online shopping, and lightening the negative publicity that already surrounds the media.
