Wal-Mart Watch Using Creative New Tactics to Talk to Workers

This week, Wal-Mart Watch - one of Blue State Digital's longest clients -- relaunched its website. The new-look site more prominently features the campaign's award-winning blog and compelling employee-generated content that better conveys the current mission of the campaign.

In recent months, Wal-Mart Watch has focused its campaign on telling the stories of real Wal-Mart workers and working to pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Targeting employees of a specific company is no simple task - but BSD has helped Wal-Mart Watch create unique content and messaging that successfully reaches this online community.

Last fall, Wal-Mart Watch launched the microsite Walmartspeakout.com -- to create a central online hub where workers could come together to share their experiences. A microtargeted online advertising campaign helped the website bring in thousands of email sign-ups from workers and well over 1,000 story submissions.

Some workers who have written in, like Aubretia Edick of upstate New York, have enthusiastically told their story. First the BSD video team traveled to Aubretia to film a web ad featuring Aubretia. She also personally drafted emails thate encouraged people to watch her video and become an activist for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Recently, Wal-Mart Watch asked its supporters to take pictures of themselves holding signs that read: "I support CHANGE for Wal-Mart workers". A slideshow of the pictures was sent to the list of workers -- in order to better meld the communities of Wal-Mart workers and non-workers. The response from workers was strong, and has helped build the Wal-Mart Watch community of Wal-Mart workers even further.

BSD looks forward to continue finding innovative ways to build an online community of workers and their supporters, and subsequently empowering them to take action.