Costco! How Do I Love Thee?

Comment by Ben Kunz on April 25, 2009 at 2:31pm

I'm about to write something horrible but true. The answer lies in demographics -- many bloggers are early technology adopters with expensive laptops working in white-collar jobs, and thus more comfortable hanging out with cool, affluent, upscale people, which is why they like Starbucks, Apple, and Trader Joes. Going to big-box retailers with masses of downscale people isn't inspiring, any more than bloggers might like hanging with a Nascar crowd -- right @awolk? -- so the brand vibe is associated with the cognitive dissonance.

In other words, bloggers are elitists. The cool-hunting nature of many blogs leads us to look away from the brands representing the cheaper goods, and less economically fortunate worldview that goes with it.

I think brands are aware of this. Just look at McDonald's, which recently forced all of its store owners to spend upwards of $100,000 per store -- about one year's profit -- to upgrade the interior to muted earth tones, nice lighting, and steel countertops a la Starbucks. We all want a little inspiration from the brands in our life. I hear Walmart is working on it.

Comment by bg on April 25, 2009 at 6:09pm

Hmmm. Ben, not sure it's an upscale thing. Two words: Mommy Bloggers™. All they have to do is hook up with a major brand to offer discounts at not just Walmart, but any retail store in the demo and you know 10,000 people are redeeming coupons the next day.

@Bob - Focusing on tactics is like worrying about the house color when the foundation has issues. Not that they do; they clearly know their demo. But I never thought their attempt to become Target would ring true. It's either for people on a budget who want ‘value’ or it’s where people shop who won't admit they shop there—when they can't find it cheaper elsewhere.

Anyone can be paid to review stuff, but people who use and love something will just tend to push it more, and it shows. I don't think you’re forcing an experience on a blogger if they just don’t believe in it.

As for store quality, the ones I've been to here are not like you’re describing. My only neg is the color scheme. Black and blue feels office supply-ish, not warm and inviting.

Comment by Bob Knorpp on April 26, 2009 at 8:59am

Ben, to your point then, if a brand doesn't reach this "white, affluent blogger" type in the first place, does a social media effort make any sense? Wouldn't the feedback you get be skewed by the opinions of people who would never be brand loyalists? Or should every brand court every audience?

I think my main point in writing this is that the most important element of social marketing is to have a brand worth talking about. Whether this happens online or offline, this has to be goal number one. I think we lose sight of this in our effort to be cutting edge and connected in social web efforts.

And Ben, I realize I was a bit hard on Walmart and perhaps unfairly. I was using it to prove a point. And yes, the experience at Walmart is much different in rural Illinois than it is at the Wendover location in Greensboro where people shop with their toddlers at 3am and fights break out in the parking lot. But the criticism is that Walmart is still perceived as nothing more than a place to save money. At one time is was about friendly savings (the nice greeter at the door and the friendly smiles by the workers) but they had to abandon that largely because the customer experience never matched the image they projected. Which tells me that more than a re-branding, they need to put most of their effort toward fixing the obvious work-culture problems within their stores.

Thanks for the comments, guys! This really extends the discussion.

Comment by Michael Islip on April 27, 2009 at 4:56am

Good post Bob (and comments) and one that for me is interesting for two reasons:
- I agree with Ben to a certain extent about the demographic profile of bloggers, but I think this is more about where we are with the rate of adoption rather than the nature of social conversations as a whole. Class doesn't define whether you will be vocal about a brand or not, but may well define the brands you choose to talk about. But we have only just started the whole online journey of social conversations and I can see that the profile of people who join in these conversations changing over the next few years as technology becomes even more accessible and integrated into people's everyday life.
- As someone who lives in the UK, I don't have a direct relationship with either Walmart or Costco so the only experiences I have with the brands are second hand, online experiences. And I have a negative view of Walmart just from all negative buzz that was created by the Blogging across America...

And I agree completely that you need to have a brand worth talking about (wherever that happens).

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