Conceptually, this is spot on; WalMart moves in early to Face Book aiming for the back to school audience. Go where the target audience is, smart. However, it feels about as ‘in tune” as Will Ferrell in A Night at the Roxbury! I am really wondering about execution - the following PR text gives me cause to be skeptical.
…Students can also download a shopping list of dorm room items sold at Wal-Mart, link to Wal-Mart’s Web site promoting ”earth-friendly” products, or click on Soundcheck, Wal-Mart’s Web site showing musical performances by singers like Bon Jovi and Mandy Moore.
Mandy Moore? Bon-freakin-jovi? Someone PLEASE put their people in touch with their target audience. Last time I checked, the college charts looked like this. Come on, WalMart, didn’t you notice the last 5 years of Apple/Old Navy/VW ads?
I think we’re seeing a living example of the challenge of pile-on behavior in this in-process social experiment called FaceBook! Execution joking aside, it will be worth watching how this local shopping experiment pans out.
