Working Families for Wal-Mart: Counter-attacking critics

Vigorous use of a personal stories archive makes for compelling reputation management.

The Site

Working Families for Wal-Mart is a booster site set up by Wal-Mart, the US’s leading supermarket operator, to counter the fierce criticism it attracts for its employment practices, in particular its long-standing opposition to union representation of its store employees.

As well as a Paidcritics.com section, which digs out embarrassing stories about its major political and media opponents, the site invites contributions to the Read Wal-Mart Stories section. An online form allows visitors to submit their own story – with photograph if they wish – of how Wal-Mart “makes a difference” to their lives. Stories are archived on the site and can be browsed initially by state or one of six categories (Charitable Giving, Customer, Disaster Recovery, Helping Communities, Job Opportunities, Suppliers). Each state can further be browsed by city. Stories include a full-name accreditation and date.

The Takeaway

Few companies face the high-profile and persistent campaigning that Wal-Mart’s stand against unionisation attracts, but neither do many turn to the web in such a vigorous way to carry the fight to their opponents. Tactics such as exposing the shortcomings of its attackers may be too confrontational for many organisations, but less assertive devices such as the Wal-Mart Stories are worth studying. Simple interactive forms encourage visitors to submit their experiences, while making the stories browsable on several levels both draws readers in and creates the impression of a critical mass of material.

Site visitors respond well to personal stories or testimonies. These can be effective not only in illustrating social responsibility or community activity, but also in another area where reputation management is critical but often overlooked: careers.

First published on 28 November, 2006