BrandsAmongMany

I’m sure that just the title will spur thoughts of a few brands that fit the mold…McDonald’s and Starbucks come to mind quickly. And lets not forget the mother-ship, the one that’s putting all the mom-and-pops out of business (quite happily): Wal-Mart. In fact, the brand has become such a popular point of discussion - I remember reading case studies on Mr. Walton in *shiver* business school - that a number of visualizations are popping up around it’s growth.

Toby Segaran put together a great video on his blog Kiwitobes.com back in March. Can’t seem to borrow it, but its on his site and worth a watch. More recently, Nathan over at the Flowing Data blog mapped a similar visualization using modest maps.

Both tell a similar story, plotting a time lapse of Wal-Mart store openings from the 1960’s till 2007. My immediate reaction - as well as many other commenters - was that it looks like a foreign attack on the human body. A quick scan through the comments reveals terms like “virus”, “infection”, and “cancer”. Of course, those have to be balanced out with “Looks like a successful company expanding to meet consumer demand.”

So…which is it? Is it both? Can a viral, cancerous brand really be the ultimate measuring stick for success? One of the most interesting parts of this exercise, to me, is the fact that all these videos show is factual information. No opinion passed, no judgement made by the creators, and yet the reaction amongst viewers is so visceral and the terminology comparing the spread of Wal-Mart to things that attack us as people is so common.

Wal-Mart certainly can’t be much blamed for social responsibility. They can, however, be granted an incredible saavy at making money. Once again, we’re dancing that fine line between the two. Can’t say I’m a huge fan, but then I try to keep away from Starbucks as well.