PR Strategic Campaign Plan

Groups Name : Group E

Group Members: Anna Krymchanskaya, Jamila White, John Tufaro, Donovan T. Smalls
1. PR Campaign Title: Walmart For a Better World.
Organizational Background
Walmart is one of the biggest wholesale retailers in the United States. The company has also expanded
successfully in various international markets. Presently, Walmart has 11,000 stores in 27 countries under
69 banners. Walmart employs over 2.2 million associates around the world. They have over 1.3 million
sales associates within the U.S. Walmart also promotes about 160,000 people to higher paying jobs
within its company. In 1970, Walmart became a publicly traded company and it soon became to expand
as a wholesale retailer. Walmart became an international company in 1991 with its first non-U.S. locations
in Mexico and Canada. Today, Walmart International is led by the companys President & CEO David
Cheesewright.
Walmart started off as a company with humble beginnings, but quickly became the biggest U.S.
th
wholesale retailer during the 20 and the new millennium. The first Walmart was opened in 1962 by the
companys owner Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas. Since its establishment, Walton aimed to set
Walmart aside from its competitors by offering lower prices and great services to its customers.
After Walton died in 1992, Walmart continued to honor his legacy by committing to providing its
customers with not only lower prices and great services but always ways to improve local communities
through efforts of the Walmart Foundation.
Internationally, Walmart also expands its commitment to improve local communities and its customers
lives through its corporate responsibility report. Each year, Walmart publishes its global responsibility
report which outlines the companys initiatives to making a difference in the world by helping its
consumers live better.
In its yearly report, Walmart states that it believes that their company has the responsibility to make a
difference in big issues such as the environment, fighting hunger, empowering women and providing
access to healthy, affordable food all over the world. Walmart makes continued efforts to meet each of
these responsibilities that are important to its companys global responsibility. Examples of the companys
success can be traced by to the companys announcements of environmental sustainability in the early
2000s. In 2005, Walmart announced that would make a constant effort to create zero waste, use only
renewable energy and sell products that sustain people and the environment. Additionally in 2010,
Walmart committed $2 billion dollars through the end of 2015 to help end hunger in the U.S. Presently, in
its end of the year 2013 report, Walmart continues to stick to its commitment of global responsibility by
reducing land waste, promoting the use of renewable energy in their store locations and giving back to
the hungry by becoming the first partner in the Feeding America Foundation.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths
1.Renewable energy
supplies 21% of Walmarts
power discharged.

2.
Walmart has saved
their customers 2.3 billion
dollars on fresh produce in
2013.

3.
Walmart has a
commitment to hire any
U.S. veteran who has been
honorably discharged.

Weaknesses
1.High Employee Turnover

Opportunities
1. Promote fair trade
and human labor laws/
Lobby Federal
Government for tax breaks
and incentives

2. Labor Related Lawsuits. 2.

3. Large importer from

other countries vs. made
in the USA products.

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Promote green world

3. Expand to other
countries/ Improve local
communities perception

Threats
Affordable Care Act:
Healthcare reforms such as
the affordable care act will
post a he threat to Walmart.
In fact, it is stated that
Walmart cut back on health
care benefits for its
employees due to the
recent healthcare reforms
such as Obama care.

2.
Backlash due to
underplayed employees:
Reports state that Walmart
part time employees
received 8.64 dollars an
hour. If the wholesaler
continues to pay its
employees lower they will
continue to receive negative
backlash from the public.

3. Continued Lawsuits: As
long as Walmart continues
to be under investigation
with lawsuits the company
will continue to get
negative press.

PR Issue Statement:
In this situation, Walmarts main issue is that the company continues to get negative press from media
outlets about its lack of corporate responsibility. This bad press has a damaging effect on Walmarts
reputation as a leader in global responsibility initiatives. Additionally, this bad press has an effect on how
Walmarts key stakeholders view the company. Examples of recent negative reports pertaining to
Walmarts image as a leader in global responsibility have been its lack of fair treatment of its employees.
One report from the Business Insider stated that the retailer pays its full-time employees close to $13.00.
Unfair labor acts such as this defeat the purpose of Walmarts global responsibility initiatives. In this
situation, a PR action is necessary because if Walmart continues to receive negative press from media
outlets, they will ultimately see a backlash from key publics that have vested interests in their company. In
order from Walmart to overcome this issue, the wholesale retailer must take action to overcome this bad
press and shows its key stakeholders in image of the global leader that its aims to be.

1. Identification and Analysis of Key Publics (3):

1. Employees
With close to 2.2 million employees worldwide (including approximately 1.3 million in the U.S),
Wal-Mart is the largest employer in the United States, employing almost five times as many people as
IBM, the second largest employer in the U.S. These employee are a key public because when hired they
become the face of the corporation. How they handle themselves and customers in their work
environment really affects Walmart. Employees are held to a high standard because they carry the
company and really drive Walmart offers competitive pay and benefits, including health care plans,
education assistance, retirement plans, and training and development opportunities. Every new
supercenter provides roughly 300 jobs. Nearly 75% of Walmarts store management teams joined the
company as hourly associates. They offer eligible hourly store associates quarterly cash bonus
opportunities, a health care plan that starts at $17 per pay period, a 401k plan with a company match, a
10% discount on merchandise, and, most of all, a chance to move up through the ranks.Employees must
represent the Walmart and help save face when necessary. They are the customers first source of
assistance and the company looks at them to keep their name in good light.
Walmart offers associates a comprehensive benefits package that provides more cash up-front
to pay for eligible medical expenses, the potential to receive more income today through [Walmarts]
bonus incentive programs, and incentives to save and help them plan for retirement. About 75% of our
store management teams started as hourly associates, and they earn between $50,000 and $170,000 a
year similar to what firefighters, accountants, and even doctors make. Every year, Wal-Mart promotes
about 160,000 people to jobs with more responsibility and higher pay. Walmart actively recruits former
military personnel, providing jobs for our soldiers when they return home. Beginning Memorial Day 2013,
Walmart will offer a job to any honorably discharged veteran within his or her first 12 months off active
duty. The corporation believes Walmart is already the largest private employer of veterans. And they want
to hire more. They project that they will hire more than 100,000 veterans over the next five years.
Employees are a target public because this is a corporate social responsibility model that targets all of the
walmart community. Employees are a vital part of the organization as a whole and must be targeted
differently than other key publics.

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1. Consumers
A large portion of the population shops at Walmart. This is be due to their cheap, affordable price
and quality products that they offer. In a study conducted most people who shop at Walmart tend to be in
the income range of between less than $15,000 annually to $75,000. The average income for a Walmart
customer is $41,847 a year. This is actually below the average for income in the entire consumer
demographic. With that being said, Walmart caters to a group of people who are financially not as well off
as other Americans. Walmart sells to all age groups with the average age of a Walmart shopper being
around 45 years old. Another key fact is that most adult shoppers have either only graduated high school
or did only 1-3 years of higher education. This is correlated with income level. The majority of Walmart
operations take place in southern states. Most of the shoppers are believed to be of Republican affiliation
and hold deep religious values. Their main intake of media is from television news and local news.
Walmart is believed to have a strong positive affiliation with most of their consumers. Walmart
works to strengthen local economies and offers employment to a large number of people. At the current
moment, shoppers are aware of Walmarts CSR campaign but are not fully informed. These consumers
tend to get their information from local sources as well as right-wing slanted news organizations (McIntyre
& Stockdale, 2011). These third-party influencers must be utilized and be used in our media campaign.
Other local authorities such as pastors and ministers act as opinion leaders and should also be used in
states that are of stronger religious backgrounds. Walmart being a global organization must take
advantage of all media sources, local, national, television, and online. If all fronts are covered influence
should be able to managed. Motivating self-interest consumers for instance tend to be centered around
affordability and quality products, in which Walmart offers both. Another key factor is that customers want
to believe that they are shopping at a store that benefits the community and possess strong social
responsibility. We must strengthen our CSR campaign so that consumers are fully knowledgeable of it
and realize that shopping at Walmart benefits them, their community, and society as a whole. This will
increase consumers shopping at Walmart and also increase sales. This will be done so by aligning
shopping at Walmart with being Charitable

1. Media
1. Print News/Online News (NYT, Wall Street Journal, Huff Post, BBC, Reuters)
1. New York Times
1. Section: Business Day - International
2. USA Today
1. Section: Money - Business
3. Television News (CNN, MSNBC, Newscorp)
1. Target morning shows in order to reach the population in a
way that is approachable to the average consumer that
may be watching the show.
2. CNN
1. Target New Day (morning show)
3. MSNBC
1. Morning Joe (morning show)

1. PR Goal (1) and Key Objectives (3)

1. PR Goal: To increase positive awareness of Walmarts CSR plan and activities
among target publics
2. Key Objectives:
1. Employees - (Informational Objective) To increase the positive

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perceptions of Walmart's CSR agenda by 50% within the next year

2. Consumers - (Behavioral Objective) To increase overall produce sales
by 15% within next year
3. Media - (Informational Objective) To increase the number of positive
media hits of Walmart's CSR activities by 50% for the next 6 months.

1. Key Messages:
1. Employees - Walmart has one of the strongest Social responsibility campaigns of
American corporations.
1. Every year, Wal-Mart promotes about 160,000 people to jobs with
more responsibility and higher pay.
2. About 75% of our store management teams started as hourly
associates, and they earn between $50,000 and $170,000 a year.
2. Consumers - Shopping at Walmart benefits your community by giving jobs to
veterans and reducing your global footprint, versus other retail choices..
1. Walmart currently employs over 100,000 veterans
2. Walmart currently uses 21% renewable energy, and is the largest on
site green power generator in the United States.
3. Media - Walmart has the best interest IN MIND for the American Economy and
American Citizen.
1. Walmart has made a commitment to purchase hundreds of billion of
dollars of U.S. goods for their products.
2. Walmart has made a significant commitment to several programs of
the Walmart Ethical Sourcing program. Such as: Worker Safety
Initiatives, Womens Empowerment, Community Investment, Antihuman Trafficking, Stakeholder Empowerment.

1. PR Tactics (Overview): list the PR tactics with rationale in 1-paragraph for each tactic that
will be included in the PR Strategic Campaign Plan to achieve the overall PR goal, PR
objectives, and PR messaging strategies for the key publics.
1. Pitch Letter with rationale
2. Social Media News Release (SMNR) (with rationale)
3. Social Media Site (with rationale)
4. Event Plan (with rationale)
5. Newsletter, Brochure, or Flyer (with rationale)
6. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Ad (with rationale)
Note: The rationale for each tactic is typically included in the PR Strategic Campaign Plan; however, we
will address each tactic in-depth (with the rationale for each) as we craft the tactics throughout the
semester. The PR Strategic Campaign Plan is to be updated with the rationale for each tactic as each
tactic is completed. Group members will choose a total of five (5) tactics they would like to represent for
their groups efforts in the PR Pitch Presentation and PR Portfolio (which is to contain the full PR Plan
with tactic rationales) at the end of the course.

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Citations
McIntyre, D., & Stockdale, C. (2011, May 20). The ten states where walmart is
everywhere. 24/7 Wall Street. Retrieved from 247wallst.com
Wal-mart reaches out to veterans. (2013, January 15).New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/opinion/wal-mart-offers-jobs-to-veterans.html
?_r=0

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/walmart-employee-benefits.html
https://us.walmartone.com/en/walmart/home/
http://makingchangeatwalmart.org/walmart-and-workers/
http://thewordenreport.blogspot.com/2013/03/corporate-social-responsibility-at.html

Sources:
http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/environment-sustainability/global-responsibility-report
http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/history/history-timeline
http://news.walmart.com/walmart-facts/

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