“From a humble beginning under a tree in a remote village in Rwanda, my sister and I founded Gahaya Links after the devastating 1994 Rwanda Genocide that left over 1 million dead,” said Joy Ndungutse. “We organized about 20 women with a vision of empowering them to enhance their weaving skills, to be able to earn an income, and live adequately by community standards. Today we are a growing network of over 4,000 women, the majority of whom are genocide survivors and are organized in cooperatives throughout Rwanda. Through our partnership with Full Circle Exchange and opportunities such as Empowering Women Together, this platform gives hope to many families in Rwanda and we are so grateful.”This is right now, the only story revealed in full, a story that puts people first, and inspires shoppers to browse the small Empowering Women Together collection today. But if we learned anything about marketing in recent months, from Procter & Gamble to many other other champion brands, the art of story telling is the most compelling marketing strategy in the world. No doubt, Walmart will continue its Empowering Women Together efforts, with more stories, and a comprehensive social media strategy to attract positive reactions from its target public. Yet, as altruistic as Walmart's initiative appears at the first sight, there is one small detail the company's PR department shouldn't ignore. There is already a Facebook group called Empowering Women Together, a group formed by Thirty-One, an organization with ten years of tradition behind it, founded by Cindy Monroe, who had the same goal as Walmart: to help women by giving them an opportunity to own their own business. [caption id="attachment_41380" align="aligncenter" width="585"]
Empowering Women Together, the original Thirty-One Facebook Group[/caption]
No doubt, when Walmart named its new initiative, there was little to no naming research involved in the process. We can only imagine how Cindy Monroe feels now: a bit of pride, to see that her initiative resonates with power players like Walmart, but then again, a bitter feeling, as her little Facebook group, counting 199 women, will slowly lose its brand identity, suffocated by media mentions favoring Walmart.
And fitting with the theme of women owned businesses, APCO Worldwide, which is owned by Margery Kraus represents Walmart in China.
