Too bad the wheels at Wal-Mart never heard that adage until after they hired Julie Roehm, a self-proclaimed “Change Agent.”
Sam Walton personified the initial Wal-Mart brand and achieved near sainthood among American business legends. Then, the company’s success became its worst PR problem as “Wally Worlds” rolled across America, crushing “mom and pop” stores. Competitors like Target chose to not compete on price. Their brands stood for a better shopping experience. Customers gladly paid a bit more for better service and nicer stores. Wal-Mart, feeling attacked, decided to shake up their “brand.”
Soon the company with the slogan “Always low prices. Always” watched as Roehm took the price-cutting sword away from old smiley face and slashed the brand to bits. Her antics became a trade media soap opera that made Desperate Housewives look like a Disney movie as the media raced to show the flashy blonde’s latest shenanigans that ranged from alleged bribery, late-night martini parties with an agency vying for Wal-Mart’s near $600 million account and office hanky panky.
Wal-Mart’s reputation, if not its core brand, was in a downward spiral until the older and wiser heads at Wal-Mart, probably the same ones who hired the change agent in the first place, stopped freefall. It’s still to be decided if they can stop the damage to their brand.
Julie Roehm was hired to shake things up, but her style was the total opposite of Wal-Mart’s corporate culture and brand. The lesson is that companies must stay true to their brand. An old copywriter once warned us against trying to be something we’re not.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
William Shakespeare |
