How Walmart is looking to redefine itself to high-income e-commerce shoppers
This year, Walmart has been on a marketing blitz to change what people think of its brand, both in subtle and more obvious ways.
At the start of 2025, Walmart took a subdued approach to redefining its image, updating its brand identity with a thicker, bolder logo and spark icon, as well as slightly different shades of blue and yellow — meant to modernize and refresh the brand’s visuals while acknowledging its long history in retail. In June, Walmart took a louder approach to telling people things have changed as it launched a new ad campaign called “Who knew?” The campaign includes a TV ad that opens with actor Walton Goggins from HBO’s “The White Lotus” sitting in a sauna, saying it’s a secret that it came from Walmart, but that soon everyone will know it. The same secret applied to other items shown in the ad, like dancing shoes, an accordion and even a megaphone, all of which are available on Walmart’s website and app, if not its stores.
Walmart, in a press release last month alongside the new brand campaign, admitted that while it has been known for decades as a big-box store or a budget player, it has changed a lot. The company pointed to a few key evolutions: It said it has grown its online marketplace to more than half a billion items, added same-day deliveries that arrive as quickly as one hour, created a paid membership program in Walmart+ and created a digital experience that is better than people may realize. “Our new campaign is built around that exact moment — the double take, the eyebrow raise, the whoa, wait Walmart energy,” the company said in the release. “The biggest surprise isn’t what’s changed, it’s how many people don’t know it’s already here.”
Former retail executives and industry analysts told Modern Retail that they believe this messaging communicates to customers that Walmart has gotten better at e-commerce and improved its stores. They said these moves show the company is now focused on catering to higher-income individuals — a demographic the company has seen large gains with over the last few years — without sacrificing its roots in delivering low prices. Messaging to that audience more squarely pits Walmart against Amazon and Target, they added.
“They basically, with this campaign, just came out and said, ‘Amazon, we can take you head on now,'” said Anne Mezzenga, co-CEO of Omni Talk and a former marketing leader at Target. She added that the campaign highlights the investment Walmart has made in its marketplace, in-store pickup and delivery services. “For the average consumer who is not a retail nerd like me who studies this and sees the potential, there’s still an awareness problem and a stigma associated with Walmart and what Walmart used to be. … If they can get people over that hurdle to forget some of the stigma of Walmart in the past, they are really going to have some strong and lasting momentum.”
Mezzenga noted that the selection of Goggins for its ad especially shows how Walmart wants to continue growing with higher-income people.
“They have been very explicit about who they’re choosing to bring this message to the masses,” Mezzenga said, noting how the ad features products, like a sauna, that the average shopper wouldn’t purchase. She added that, to also appeal to higher-income shoppers and go after a historical strength of Target, Walmart has also worked to improve its presence in fashion and apparel, offering more clothing in the $15-$40 range and hosting a pop-up during New York Fashion Week last year. “That’s an area that Walmart, admittedly, had been lacking in, and they’re totally pushing the gas on it.”
Scott Benedict of Benedict Enterprises, a retail consultant and former director at Walmart, said that while the company has been successful in growing its digital capabilities, it often hasn’t put the energy into widely communicating them as it is now doing with the “Who knew?” campaign.
“They really had a need to reintroduce themselves, particularly since they’ve now got in place a number of capabilities that they did not have in the past that only further who they are and what value they can add to a customer’s life,” Benedict said. “It makes sense to pause for a moment and really reintroduce yourself to consumers.”
Walmart, for its part, said during its first quarter earnings call in May that the fact that more people are coming to Walmart and taking advantage of its digital offerings was a key factor in helping its e-commerce division turn profitable for the first time.
Benedict also said this could be a key moment for Walmart in taking market share from Target while that company has faced sales declines and reputational damage from pulling back from some diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“Walmart sees that and is not letting off the gas. They’re continuing to try and bolster their reputation — maybe with customers who were loyal to Target or others — and trying to get consumers to give Walmart a second look and view them through a new lens,” he said.