Wal-Mart's Marketing Strategy: An Integrated Communication View

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Wal-Mart's integrated marketing communication strategy and marketing mix. It begins by introducing Wal-Mart as a major global retailer with a focus on customer service and value. The report then details Wal-Mart's integrated market communication strategy, emphasizing respect for customers, excellent service, and a positive market environment. It compares Wal-Mart's approach to that of its competitor, Target, highlighting similarities and differences in advertising and promotional strategies. The marketing mix of Wal-Mart is examined, focusing on product, price, place, promotion, and services, all underpinned by an integrated market communication strategy. The report also addresses risks and challenges faced by Wal-Mart in its integrated market communication strategy, including public relations issues, competitor pressures, and supply chain vulnerabilities. Suggestions for improvement are offered, emphasizing the importance of promotional mix optimization, supply chain efficiency, and building customer trust. The report concludes by reiterating Wal-Mart's significant presence and impact in the global market, highlighting its ongoing efforts to enhance its structure, culture, and customer service while navigating competitive challenges.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................................2
2. Integrated Market Communication Strategy of Wal Mart...................................................................2
Marketing Mix of Walmart:.....................................................................................................................3
Product:...................................................................................................................................................4
Services:...................................................................................................................................................4
Price:........................................................................................................................................................4
Place:.......................................................................................................................................................4
Promotion:...............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Risk faced by Wal-Mart in IMCS...................................................................................................5
Suggestions:............................................................................................................................................6
3. Integrated Marketing Communication strategy for Wal Mart.............................................................6
Print Advertisement of Wal Mart:...............................................................................................................7
4. Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................8
5. References...........................................................................................................................................9

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1.Introduction
The primary purpose of the paper is to evaluate the marketing strategy as well as the
marketing mix of the organization named, Walmart. Walmart is one of the largest company
which contains several department stores as well as warehouses. The organization was founded
by Sam Walton in 1962 in America. In 1972, Walmart used to trade on the stock exchange
market of New York. There are 8,500 stores of Walmart with several names all around the
world. The goal of the company is to be a better organization by focusing on the services or
values provided to the customers. There are four normal values of the company named,
individual respect, customers' service, act as integrity and strive for excellence. Walmart operates
in countries like the U.S., Brazil, Japan, Canada, Argentina, UK, and India. The company earns
high revenue in the UK, Japan, and India.
There is a creative as well as dynamic culture in the organization. The size of the
company is immense, hence it contains a hierarchical structure. Walmart has 2.2 million employs
throughout the globe. Moreover, the board of directors includes 16 members, and among them,
two family members of Walton included. The organization is having only one department of
human resource management, one information technology department and more than one
marketing department.
2.Integrated Market Communication Strategy of
Wal Mart
Walmart has an integrated strategy for communication in the market. The strategy
consists of various products of high quality. The company used to retail those products in the
market with low prices. It maintains the low cost of the products by applying electronic
technology in their warehouses. The manufacturers help the company in terms of negotiating
with the merchandisers and thus, it remove the broker from the strategy of cost reduction
(Grover, Chiang, Liang & Zhang, 2018).

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Here are the three basic points in which Walmart has the deep belief for the market
communication strategy:
o The individuals, as well as the customers, should be respected in the
market
o The customers should be provided with better services
o Create an excellent environment in the market
The decision of the management is responsible for the successful market communication
strategy and hence, leads to the success of the retailer.
Walmart can be compared to Target in terms of the programs related to communication
advertising. The programs are organized to advertise the stores as well as products of the
company. Both the organizations centered the programs of integrated communication to
differentiate the products as well as administrations which the company offers and provide to the
customers. Long ago, Target and Walmart took part in a competition and the procedures of both
the companies for platform center the qualities of their products (Pope & Pope, 2015). They use
printed advertisements, social media, radio plugs, and coordinate advancements. The social
media is usually resulting in getting the response in the market as the shoppers or the customers
use their mobile phones and tablets for giving feedback or comments on the products.
Walmart and Target set their advertisements in such a manner so that the consumers
could see it easily while using various applications. The social networking like Facebook has
turned to be useful for promoting the programs of the organizations. The advertisement process
seems to be similar because the stores of both companies offer a variety of same items to
purchase to the customers. The organizations provide coupons for the purchase of basic needs
and tech products.
The differences between the two organizations can be identifiable in the sense that
Walmart has low appraising procedure. Walmart is supposed to be an expensive alternative in
the business of supermarket. It is also observed that the company pay attention to the benefit of
the customers as well as the quality of the products, for instance, the products of furniture for the
family (Pomering, 2017).

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Marketing Mix of Walmart:
The marketing mix of Walmart relies on the products or services of the company as well
as on the elements such as price, place, and promotion. The strategies of the marketing mix of
Walmart is relying upon its integrated market communication strategy (Dadzie, Amponsah,
Dadzie & Winston, 2017). An integrated market communication has the main objective that is to
organize an effective campaign which involves several media stages. If it includes poor quality
products then, it may not be possible to overcome the weaknesses of the company.
Product:
A product is one of the most crucial elements of the marketing mix. Walmart has to focus
mainly on its product strategy and tries to lower down the cost of the product. For cost reduction,
the company with the help of the manufacturer eliminate the middleman. Later, electronic
technology has been used by the company for making the products. By doing so, the product cost
will be low and hence, provide low price to the consumers.
Services:
Walmart in this marketing mix put an effort to provide better ideas related to the product
or price to its customers and offers discounts to them (Fan, Lau & Zhao, 2015). The company
provided a suggestion box outside of all the stores so that the consumers can suggest as well as
complain about something. With the use of that suggestion, the company will try to improve the
services provided to the customers.
Price:
Price is one of the components of the marketing mix of every company. Walmart tries to
reduce the cost of product strategy so that it can offer a low price to its customers. It maintains a
customer-friendly price and adopts excellent strategies for procurement which helps the
company to bargain with the marketers for keeping the low price (Taillie, Ng & Popkin, 2016).
Place:
In this element of the marketing mix, Walmart focus on finding a better location or place
for the convenience of the consumers. Location plays a critical role in an undertaking of the
business. The company use the number of delivery trucks for delivering door-to-door services to
the customers.

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Promotion:
Walmart uses this component of the marketing mix for attracting the people towards its
product. It runs regular promotions in which it provides discounts on the products every season.
The stores of Walmart use various slogans for promotion such as save money, live better
(Fulgoni, 2018).
2.1 Risk faced by Wal-Mart in IMCS
There are several challenges or risks associated with the integrated market
communication strategy faced by Walmart. Walmart is in the top list of 500 at present and it's
future doomed to be on top. However, the company failed to implement the strategies
correctly as it is related to the public. Public relation is one of the most significant parts of
the process of management because it helps in maintaining mutual relationships of the
company as well as the public (Ma, Cheng, Ke & Zhao, 2018). The success, as well as a
failure of the company, relies on the public relation.
The competitors of the company are the major risks that Walmart has to face. The
reason is that the company does not have strong strategies and it failed to maintain positive
behavior towards its employees (Obeng, Luchs, Inman & Hulland, 2016). The reputation of
the company is always in danger as its competitors always try to intimidate the organization
because of its behavior towards the employees (Barua, Kar & Mahbub, 2018). The rights of
the workers are abused by the department of management of Walmart. It has been claimed by
the competitors that Walmart never tries to motivate the employees to take participate in the
trade union. If Walmart does not improve such an image, then it may have to face many
problems. The employees of the company also start to blame Walmart for the market
strategies and thus, it creates a wrong impression on the community.
Market risks are the risks that come in the category of generic risk. It affects in
various ways to every company. As an example, the interest rate is manipulated by the
Federal Reserve which has various impacts on a particular bank such as JPMorgan Chase as
well as a food chain such as Chipotle. Hence, the regulations of the government with no
doubt affect the latter one than the prior one. A significant challenge faced by the supply
chain of the company is the cost of regulatory compliance in all the countries.

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The integrated market communication strategy of Walmart builds a database of the
potential customers and enforce them (Kitchen & Burgmann, 2015). It also segments the
potential customers in several groups in terms of behavior and awareness and thus, a unique
media strategy will be created.
The strategy leads to maintain a strong relationship between the stakeholders of the
company and the customers (Vracheva, Judge & Madden, 2016). The IMC strategy produces
promotion mix of marketing for getting maximum effects in the relationship.
The measures of work environment require to be implemented by Walmart in China
than in the United States. It also requires to recognize a significant level of the vulnerability
of the government. There are two unique examples of governmental hazard that emerges in
China in 2014 and the United States in 2015. The administration of China had made a fine of
about $10 million to Walmart for violation of safety. In return, the company reacts by
reinforcing up reviews of programs and products.
Moreover, several other vital risks may be faced by Walmart which involves interest
rate risk, business cycle risk, intense competition from big companies like Amazon, and
exchange rate risks.
Suggestions:
With the use of the promotional mix, the company could gain a variety of things which
are:
 The company should recognize where to position the products of the
company as well as how do the products are valued for meeting the objectives
 The retailers can be able to lower down the investment funds with the help
of the production network, and it is possible only when the middleman is eliminated
(Spicer & Hyatt, 2017)
 The improvements can be used by the association for gaining trust in the
buyers in terms of return strategies
 A computerized closeness is vital for the company in this fast moving
world

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3.Integrated Marketing Communication strategy
for Wal Mart
Print Advertisement of Wal Mart:
Adve rtisi ng
Perso nalsellin g
Publicrelati onsDigita lmark etin g
Salesprom otio n

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(Source: Cao & Li, 2015)
4.Conclusion
It is concluded that Walmart is one of the biggest company in the world and the structure,
as well as the culture of the company, is also well developed. It makes huge developments in the
market. The company is engaged in creating a better structure with the passing of days. Walmart
involves opening various new stores across the globe which has a positive impact on its
structure. The organization contains high quality in making unique goals in its culture. The
company also tries to focus on offering better services to its customers. Besides these, Walmart
has to face major risks or challenges such as rivals in the market like Target or Amazon. The
marketing mix of Walmart such as product, price, place, promotion or services depends on the
integrated market communication strategy.

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5.References
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Garment Industry: Evidence from the World’s Second Largest Exporting
Nation. Barua S., Kar D., & Mahbub FB (2018). Risks and their management in
ready-made garment industry: Evidence from the world’s second largest exporting
nation. Journal of Business and Management, 24(2), 75-99.
Cao, L., & Li, L. (2015). The impact of cross-channel integration on retailers’ sales
growth. Journal of Retailing, 91(2), 198-216.
Dadzie, K. Q., Amponsah, D. K., Dadzie, C. A., & Winston, E. M. (2017). How firms
implement marketing strategies in emerging markets: An empirical assessment of the
4a marketing mix framework. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 25(3), 234-
256.
Fan, S., Lau, R. Y., & Zhao, J. L. (2015). Demystifying big data analytics for business
intelligence through the lens of marketing mix. Big Data Research, 2(1), 28-32.
Fulgoni, G. M. (2018). How Limited Data Access Constrains Marketing-Mix Analytical
Efforts: Why Data Barriers Are Preventing Marketers From Optimizing Marketing
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Grover, V., Chiang, R. H., Liang, T. P., & Zhang, D. (2018). Creating strategic business
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Kitchen, P. J., & Burgmann, I. (2015). Integrated marketing communication: making it work
at a strategic level. Journal of Business Strategy, 36(4), 34-39.
Ma, W., Cheng, R., Ke, H., & Zhao, Z. (2018). Optimal pricing decision for supply chains
with risk sensitivity and human estimation. International Journal of Machine
Learning and Cybernetics, 1-14.

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Obeng, E., Luchs, R., Inman, J. J., & Hulland, J. (2016). Survival of the fittest: How
competitive service overlap and retail format impact incumbents’ vulnerability to new
entrants. Journal of Retailing, 92(4), 383-396.
Pomering, A. (2017). Marketing for sustainability: Extending the conceptualisation of the
marketing mix to drive value for individuals and society at large. Australasian
Marketing Journal (AMJ), 25(2), 157-165.
Pope, D. G., & Pope, J. C. (2015). When Walmart comes to town: Always low housing
prices? Always?. Journal of Urban Economics, 87, 1-13.
Spicer, A., & Hyatt, D. (2017). Walmart’s emergent low-cost sustainable product
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Taillie, L. S., Ng, S. W., & Popkin, B. M. (2016). Walmart and other food retail chains:
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