I was just recently chosen to be one of Walmart’s Elevenmoms. Elevenmoms is a group of real-life moms and bloggers, who among many other things offer money-saving tips in the form of informative (and may I say fun) videos on Walmart’s YouTube channel. Not surprising for Walmart offering you always lot for your buck – “Elevenmoms” current number is actually 15 mothers (well, including one mother-to-be), and I wouldn’t be surprised if the number is even growing the next few weeks.
After I told about this for a few of my friends, I received raised eye-brows and questions about why I would like to support a “company like Walmart”. As an emerging PR person, and social media consultant, my image is extremely important to me, and the question “who do I work with” is extremely important for me to answer right for the sake of the brand that I am trying to build for myself.
While partnering with an international retail giant is a no-brainer, I (too) had some negative feelings about Walmart. Especially after visiting one of their stores (in Leesville, Lousiana) this summer and the media recently portraying Sarah Palin’s biggest support group “Walmart Moms” (and I don’t agree with her politics, not that it really even matters, because as a Finnish citizen, I do not have a right to vote).
I’m sure I had several reasons not to have “my brand” mixed with Walmart’s image.
I have more reasons to be part of something I believe is going to be revolutionary in American marketing history, with a company making world history.
Walmart has given me a chance to have my voice heard by more people, and not to spread the word of what they do or sell, but what I believe in. Living smart and saving money is one of them. Sustainability and living green is another one.
But this isn’t really about me. This is about something much bigger. Walmart didn’t just give me the spotlight to get my voice heard, they gave me a chance to get your voice heard.
I was just visiting Bentonville, Arkansas, with the “other moms” learning more about Walmart’s company culture and their marketing and sustainability programs among many other things. Women and especially moms form the largest group of customers for Walmart, and Walmart wants to reach out to this group even more than before and do it right. That’s where I and the other Eleven Moms come along. We offer them information about what we real-life moms think, like, and want – all of us very involved with social media and blogging and voicing out not only the concerns of what we think but also what our readers and people in our networks think.
I would love to hear your questions about Walmart and hope to get you some answers you have been looking for. Please join me on my journey as one of Walmart’s “marketing moms”.
