The holiday season has definitely begun. Not being a religious person and not having any kids to buy toys for, this is a particularly annoying season.

However, this is also the season of some of the best ads. I’m sure I’ll be discussing a few over the next few weeks.

Today, I’d like to talk about the Wal-Mart ads: “Christmas Costs Less at Wal-Mart.”

I think these ads are great. Why? Because they reinforce Wal-Mart’s brand promise – costing less.

What I also really liked was that Wal-Mart knows who it’s talking to, and how to talk to them.

Wal-Mart is definitely not talking to me. But that’s okay, because I’m not Wal-Mart’s target consumer.

If Wal-Mart was talking to me, Wal-Mart would have been worried about being politically correct. But, these ads do not care about being politically correct. Wal-Mart’s target consumers are probably already fed up of being politically correct. They WANT to enjoy “Christmas”. They don’t want to call it “Holidays”. Wal-Mart wants to speak the same language as its core consumers.

But, doesn’t Wal-Mart worry about annoying the crowd?

No. It doesn’t.

Why not?

Because that’s what marketing is all about. Remember my series on Primal Branding? One of the major lessons in that was to know you’re talking to and to know what you stand for. You are not going to please everyone. But, you will connect with those you care most. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters!

Photo Credit: I’m sure my grandma had these, originally uploaded by Jo Naylor ~the book is out!!~.

Related articles online

• Wal-Mart’s holiday toy program: 100 toys for $10 (ceoworld.biz)
• Wal-Mart Sees Late Christmas, Won’t Put Decorations Up Before October (shoppingblog.com)