According to the Tennesean 11/11/06
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Saturday, 11/11/06
Wal-Mart puts 'Christmas' back into big sales season
'Happy holidays' made many unmerry
By RYAN UNDERWOOD
Staff Writer
Christmas is coming early to Wal-Mart this year in more ways than one.
Beyond the continued push to start the holiday shopping season just as Halloween displays are being taken down, Wal-Mart is rolling out a marketing campaign that more fully embraces the religious themes of Christmas.
"This year, more than ever, Christmas will dominate our programming," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Marisa Bluestone said.
Starting next week, the company will unveil its "Be Bright" series of TV commercials featuring conspicuous shots of Christmas trees and nativity scenes. Already in many stores, a special shopping area that last year was called "Holiday Shop" has been renamed the "Christmas Shop." And Christmas carols will be played all season long.
Chris Woodruff, 32, a marketing analyst for a financial services firm in Brentwood and a resident of Bellevue, said he is happy retailers like Wal-Mart are recognizing that the religious aspect of Christmas is important to customers.
"I think that over the past 10 or 15 years retailers had gotten away from that message. And as a Christian that upset me," Woodruff said. "I think customers will appreciate the fact that a place like Wal-Mart is making this change."
The shift comes a year after Wal-Mart drew intense fire from conservative and Christian groups for playing up the secular "Holidays" theme. Wal-Mart at one point issued a statement denying that it prohibited associates from greeting customers with "Merry Christmas."
Bishop David Choby of the Nashville Catholic Diocese said Wal-Mart's about-face signals that merchants are beginning to understand how deeply Christmas touches their customers' values.
"That's something that they have to acknowledge," Choby said. "And they are acknowledging it."
Last year the national Catholic League called for a boycott of Wal-Mart over its "Happy Holidays" message.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sees such views as exclusionary. He told the Los Angeles Times that when places like Wal-Mart "cave into these demands, they are really making a statement that non-Christians should probably go elsewhere this holiday season."
The holidays-vs.-Christmas marketing conundrum is one that other retailers in the area also are facing as they prepare for a busy shopping season.
Colin Sands, book manager for bookstore Davis-Kidd, said the store tends to go with "Happy Holidays," though it has plenty of Christmas-specific displays.
"It's something that comes up every year. Everybody on staff gets at least one person mentioning it," Sands said. "But it's nothing we've heard about from a critical mass of people."
At Goodlettsville-based Dollar General, spokeswoman Tawn Earnest said the company does not have a specific policy.
"We have used both Happy Holidays and Christmas in our advertising," Earnest said, adding that it tends to vary from year-to-year or by specific marketing campaigns.
As far as its guidelines to employees, they are instructed to wish customers well in words of their own choosing, Earnest said.
It's not clear whether Wal-Mart's marketing move will affect other retailers. Companies such as Kohl's Corp. and Walgreen Co. have announced that they will get into the Christmas spirit, while Best Buy Co. plans to stay with Happy Holidays.
Jennifer Escalas, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University's Owen School of Management, said it's always hard to determine the source of marketing trends like these.
"There's a lot of debate in academic circles about whether marketing simply reflects culture or influences it," Escalas said. "But it's something we'll never really know, sort of like nature-versus-nurture or the-chicken-and-the-egg."
Home ›› News
Saturday, 11/11/06
Wal-Mart puts 'Christmas' back into big sales season
'Happy holidays' made many unmerry
By RYAN UNDERWOOD
Staff Writer
Christmas is coming early to Wal-Mart this year in more ways than one.
Beyond the continued push to start the holiday shopping season just as Halloween displays are being taken down, Wal-Mart is rolling out a marketing campaign that more fully embraces the religious themes of Christmas.
"This year, more than ever, Christmas will dominate our programming," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Marisa Bluestone said.
Starting next week, the company will unveil its "Be Bright" series of TV commercials featuring conspicuous shots of Christmas trees and nativity scenes. Already in many stores, a special shopping area that last year was called "Holiday Shop" has been renamed the "Christmas Shop." And Christmas carols will be played all season long.
Chris Woodruff, 32, a marketing analyst for a financial services firm in Brentwood and a resident of Bellevue, said he is happy retailers like Wal-Mart are recognizing that the religious aspect of Christmas is important to customers.
"I think that over the past 10 or 15 years retailers had gotten away from that message. And as a Christian that upset me," Woodruff said. "I think customers will appreciate the fact that a place like Wal-Mart is making this change."
The shift comes a year after Wal-Mart drew intense fire from conservative and Christian groups for playing up the secular "Holidays" theme. Wal-Mart at one point issued a statement denying that it prohibited associates from greeting customers with "Merry Christmas."
Bishop David Choby of the Nashville Catholic Diocese said Wal-Mart's about-face signals that merchants are beginning to understand how deeply Christmas touches their customers' values.
"That's something that they have to acknowledge," Choby said. "And they are acknowledging it."
Last year the national Catholic League called for a boycott of Wal-Mart over its "Happy Holidays" message.
The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sees such views as exclusionary. He told the Los Angeles Times that when places like Wal-Mart "cave into these demands, they are really making a statement that non-Christians should probably go elsewhere this holiday season."
The holidays-vs.-Christmas marketing conundrum is one that other retailers in the area also are facing as they prepare for a busy shopping season.
Colin Sands, book manager for bookstore Davis-Kidd, said the store tends to go with "Happy Holidays," though it has plenty of Christmas-specific displays.
"It's something that comes up every year. Everybody on staff gets at least one person mentioning it," Sands said. "But it's nothing we've heard about from a critical mass of people."
At Goodlettsville-based Dollar General, spokeswoman Tawn Earnest said the company does not have a specific policy.
"We have used both Happy Holidays and Christmas in our advertising," Earnest said, adding that it tends to vary from year-to-year or by specific marketing campaigns.
As far as its guidelines to employees, they are instructed to wish customers well in words of their own choosing, Earnest said.
It's not clear whether Wal-Mart's marketing move will affect other retailers. Companies such as Kohl's Corp. and Walgreen Co. have announced that they will get into the Christmas spirit, while Best Buy Co. plans to stay with Happy Holidays.
Jennifer Escalas, an associate professor at Vanderbilt University's Owen School of Management, said it's always hard to determine the source of marketing trends like these.
"There's a lot of debate in academic circles about whether marketing simply reflects culture or influences it," Escalas said. "But it's something we'll never really know, sort of like nature-versus-nurture or the-chicken-and-the-egg."
