Elvis of retail. The Man fro m Missouri Sam Walton grew up modestly in Columbia, Missouri, where he, like Gene Simmons, was a paper carrier and learned quickly

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in- stant status of a diploma from a prestigious Ivy League institution. Walton pursued his career working in none other than a Ben Franklin store. Although he was effective as a small-town retail man- ager, he had ideas for innovating and improving the firm. When management rejected his ideas, he took the entrepreneurial plunge, opening his own store in 1963, in Rogers, Arkansas, at the ripe age of 45. Armed with minimal capital but loads of energy, an array of retail ideas, and a definite vision, Walton opened his first store around the same time that Kmart and Target were launched. Kmart, backed by billions of dollars from Kresge, and Target, backed by the fashion experience and resources of Dayton Hudson, had the resources, experienced managers, and locations that Walton didnt have. But the unpretentious man from Missouri would soon dispel the popu- lar notion that small firms cant compete successfully against large ones. His organization would go on to influence the ultimate bank- ruptcy of Kmart and to limit the growth of Target by executing, with precision, simple strategies reminiscent to those KISS used to build its dominant brand: S Gain a foothold in markets others dont serve and attack big markets later. S Create a culture and a message to explain to fans and employees who you are and what you stand for. S Create a product and an experience that customers value and prefer over others. S Addalittlemagictothevalueofyourproductexperience. k is s: k e ep i t s i m pl e, s t up i d | S Listentoandobserve customers and change accordingly. S Changeyoursystemtofitthewantsandneedsofcustomers. Fro m Rural Roots to Urban Expansion Wal-Marts strategy, stated simply, was to enter neglected markets with a store that gave customers a better retail experience than cur- rently existed in those towns. Those who understand the military concept of flanking strategy realize that its usually fatal to launch a frontal attack at the core of a superior force. Marketers often make this mistake when crafting new branding strategies-they overlook niches and go for the masses in an attempt to attract large numbers of consumers faster. Like KISS, which had decided that starting out as a whale in a pond was better than starting out as a minnow in an ocean, Wal-Mart chose to build its brand and fan base in rural Amer- ica, segment by segment, foregoing mass markets where it had rela- tively few differential advantages. By staying away from cities and

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