Marketing Tactics

The five year old Green Works brand from Clorox is facing new competition on the natural products front following the launch of Walmart’s Great Value Naturals cleaning products.

Walmart said the introduction of Great Value Naturals furthers its commitment to making eco-friendly products more accessible and affordable and will be available in more than 2,000 stores and online.

Clorox introduced its Green Works brand in early 2008 and the line was prominently featured in Walmart promotional vehicles at the time.

Five new members were named to the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association this week, an organization focused on the interests of social media marketers.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association, or WOMMA, was founded in 2004 and the newest members of the group’s board include: Mark Bisard, vp and senior counsel of American Express; Christine Morrison, group Social media manager for Intuit; Kathy Baughman, president and co-founder of ComBlu; Patti Regan, president and CEO of The Regan Group and Emily Bader, EVP of strategic planning  Zocalo Group.

Beloit, Wis. – Online coupon provider FatWallet predicts a larger selection and assortment of lower-priced Black Friday deals in 2013 as compared to the previous year. Notable predictions include:

Hammer & Nails — The Nail Shop for Guys has opened its debut location in Los Angeles, on Melrose Avenue. The new concept offers men a handsome, more customized—and more comfortable— alternative to female-centric nail salons.

Richfield, Minn. – Best Buy is the latest major retail chain to prepare for an early start to Black Friday. More than 1,000 Best Buy stores in 47 states will open their doors at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving night and stay open till 10 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29.

Bentonville, Ark. – A glitch on the U.S. website of Wal-Mart reportedly provided consumers with enormous discounts for a short time on the morning of Nov. 6. According to Reuters, treadmills that normally cost hundreds of dollars were selling for $33.16 and widescreen computer monitors were selling for $9.

Wal-Mart has not said how many discounted items were sold before the glitch was discovered. The retailer has also said it will not honor any sales resulting from the glitch, but will give those consumers a $10 gift card.

New York – The average consumer will spend $825 on holiday purchases in 2013, a 5% drop from last year. According to the new Brand Keys annual holiday survey, only 19% of shoppers surveyed indicated that they started shopping for the holidays in October, 5% fewer than 2012.

A pricing glitch on Walmart.com this week generated enormous publicity and did more to promote the retailer’s e-commerce business in advance of the holiday season than any of its other marketing efforts.