Rural Roots, Rural South

S Create a product and an experience that customers value and prefer over others.

S Add a little magic to the value of your product experience.

S Listen to and observe customers and change accordingly.

S Change your system to fit the wants and needs of customers.

From Rural Roots to Urban Expansion Wal Mart’s strategy, stated simply, was to enter neglected markets with a store that gave customers a better retail experience than currently existed in those towns. Those who understand the military concept of flanking strategy realize that it’s usually fatal to launch a frontal attack at the core of a superior force. Marketers often make this mistake when crafting new branding strategies-they overlook niches and go for the masses in an attempt to attract large numbers of consumers faster. Like KISS, which had decided that starting out as a whale in a pond was better than starting out as a minnow in an ocean, Wal Mart chose to build its brand and fan base in rural America, segment by segment, foregoing mass markets where it had relatively few differential advantages. By staying away from cities and suburbs, Wal Mart avoided head to head competition with giants Sears and Montgomery Ward, which were entrenched in American culture in the 1960s and 1970s. Rather than compete with Sears, Sam Walton took on the “Harry’s Hardwares” of America, winning fans town by town for several decades, gradually amassing scale.

Walton’s strategy sounds simple enough, but the key to his success over time was in execution-giving customers better value and better in store experiences. When Wal Mart entered a small town in the Midwest or rural South, it brought with it the electricity of a KISS concert. In contrast to the sleepy marketing and inexperienced management that characterized so many of the small stores in these areas, Wal Mart offered a consistent experience of clean stores, friendly personnel, and a wide array of hard goods and apparel at reasonable prices.