Walmart.
An exploratory innovation project to envision long-term solutions for one of the world's most recognized but underloved brands. The question wasn't how to make Walmart bigger. It was how to make it matter.
WALMART / 2022
Walmart was valued for affordability but not affection. Necessity drove people through the doors, not choice.
Brand trust doesn't start with customers. It starts with employees. When people have a real stake in where they work, customers feel it.
How does Walmart shift from saving people money to genuinely improving their lives, from the inside out?
Three pillars. Bring the Walton back to Walmart.
A renewed commitment to Sam Walton's people-first philosophy, expressed through three coordinated pillars: a better employer, a better store, and a better brand. We weren't redesigning a retail experience. We were redesigning what it meant to work there.
Three pillars, one philosophy.
Become a better employer.
Better employee experience leads to better customer experience and deeper brand trust. Four interventions designed to give associates a real stake in the company, not just a paycheck.
01UWork. Flexible scheduling.
Retail turns over roughly 60 percent of its workforce every year, and rigid scheduling is the primary driver. UWork flips the model. Associates pick up shifts on their terms, trade with coworkers, and get paid faster. Less friction for the associate, lower churn cost for Walmart.
02Walmart Village. Affordable housing.
Hourly wages don't solve housing insecurity, and the communities hosting Walmart stores are pricing their own workforce out. Village turns Walmart's real estate footprint into the solution. Subsidized apartments on company-owned land, within walking distance of the store that employs them.
03Stablecoin. A currency for associates.
A Walmart-backed digital currency for associate wages and customer purchases, with reward incentives that hold value inside the ecosystem. Get paid instantly, spend in-store at a bonus rate, skip the predatory fees hourly workers bleed out to check-cashing and overdraft.
04Shuttle. Free associate transit.
Rural associates lose hours and meaningful car costs just getting to work, and most Walmart stores sit in exactly those communities. A self-driving electric fleet closes the commute gap. Free to use, routed to associate homes, quiet on the gas and time a fifteen-dollar job can't absorb.
Become a better store.
Refreshed house brand identity transforms Great Value from a budget option into a quality-focused line. Modern American utility and confidence, aligned with Walmart's "Live Better, Always" strategy. Better, faster, easier, always.
Become a better brand.
A national campaign, Put the Extra in the Ordinary, puts Walmart associates at the center of the story. Not corporate spokespeople. The actual people working in the actual stores.
