Wal-Mart's New Ad Campaign A Yawn (WMT, COST, TGT)

Wal-Mart’s (NYSE:WMT) new ad campaign is starting today.  The company is ditching its "Always Low Prices" in favor of a new slogan:  "Save Money. Live Better."  Wal-Mart probably just got tired of 24/7 Wall St. saying "Always Low Prices Shouldn’t Apply To Wal-Mart Share Prices."

The company now claims that American families save $2,500.00 each year by shopping at Wal-Mart, up from the $2,329.00 figure from 2004.  Until they change their shopping experience, my own family will get its savings at Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) as the products are far better and the overall experience is exponentially better. 

If you are a Wal-Mart loyalist, don’t worry.  They’ll still have cheap products that look cheap at cheap prices.  The company says in its release that it will still maintain price leadership, $4 prescriptions, and money center services.  If you want to read more you can find it at the http://www.SaveMoneyLiveBetter.com domain.

This new campaign was probably better sounding to board than "Target is eating our lunch," although the ad agencies were probably thinking that.  Shares are down another 0.4% at $42.76 today, less than 2% above 52-week lows.  No one seems impressed.

Jon C. Ogg
September 12, 2007