Top black celebs perform free for Walmart
theGRIO REPORT - Walmart’s annual meetings always feature a lineup of A-list celebrities who host, perform and generally extol the virtues of the Arkansas-based company before thousands...
On a Friday in June 2013, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and John Legend performed before a crowd of 14,000 in a Fayetteville, Ark., college sports arena.
Hugh Jackman hosted the event, and Tom Cruise was on hand to give a speech. But this wasn’t a concert or award ceremony — it was a shareholders’ meeting and employee rally for retail giant Walmart.
Associates from around the world represented the multicultural face of the retail giant that employs 2.2 million people internationally. MCs with microphones asked for “shout outs” from Walmart sales associates from China, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Japan, India, Africa and Canada. The event was electric, video footage shows, as those in attendance appeared to illustrate through their enthusiasm that Walmart is a great place to work.
Walmart’s annual meetings always feature a lineup of A-list celebrities who host, perform and generally extol the virtues of the Arkansas-based company before thousands of cheering employees, shareholders and board members. Black performers at such events have included legends such as Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson and Patti LaBelle, beloved groups such as Take 6 and the Black Eyed Peas and current solo stars Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Jordin Sparks and the reigning R&B diva herself, Beyoncé.
Queen Latifah hosted the event in 2008, and Will Smith — who performed in 2005 — handled hosting duties in 2011. The meetings have even featured the comedy stylings of Sinbad and an inspirational speech from basketball great Michael Jordan.
That these celebrities perform for Walmart for free might surprise you.
Top celebrities gift appearances to Walmart
Walmart does not pay these stars to appear or perform. Walmart spokesperson Dianna Gee told MSNBC that the company covers hotel and travel expenses, but pays celebrities only in exposure for their latest projects.
“Every entertainer that is here has something to do with our business,” Gee said. “There’s some connection from the business, whether it’s CDs, books, or t-shirts.”
Gee said that film studios and record labels “really work with” Walmart to recruit the talent for the annual meetings.
“Most celebrities in this day and age consider themselves brands,” said Marvet Britto, president and CEO of The Britto Agency, a branding and talent representation firm. “When you consider yourself a brand, it is a smart partnership for you to align yourself with one of the biggest consumer retailers in the world, and that is Walmart. It is a smart alliance, and a smart exchange of services for any celebrity to make when you are asked to perform for a retailer as influential, powerful and economically strong as Walmart.”
Walmart: The world’s largest retailer
“Walmart is a symbol of where literally everybody in America shops,” Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, professor of black popular culture at Duke University, told theGrio. “It’s a big deal. If you’re a spokesperson for a brand or if you have a brand yourself, it’s important that people can buy your stuff in a Walmart in Kansas.”
Indeed, Walmart’s reach is staggering. The corporate behemoth is the world’s largest retailer, its biggest private employer and its third-largest public corporation. In fiscal year 2013, the company reported net sales of $466.1 billion, up five percent from the previous year.
According to its corporate web site, Walmart serves “245 million customers and members weekly worldwide.”
And Walmart is reportedly Hollywood’s biggest retail outlet, currently accounting for up to 50 percent of physical CD and DVD sales according to an industry source who spoke with theGrio. A 2003 New York Times report also states that Walmart sales, “often account for more than 50 percent of the sales of a best-selling album, more than 40 percent for a best-selling book, and more than 60 percent for a best-selling DVD.”
Experts agree on Walmart’s influence
Such clout does not go unnoticed by brand managers, talent agencies, celebrities and agents.
According to Britto, “it’s more dangerous for a celebrity to say ‘no’ to a retailer” in today’s climate, in which selling hard copies of media products is more difficult.
She also said celebrities’ free performances for a store like Walmart are “certainly not something that they would ever be compensated for,” because such celebrities will likely receive some form of “in-kind” compensation that benefits the sales of current or future products sold at Walmart stores.
“In any situation there is a limited amount of retail space,” Britto elaborated. “I’ve been in various meetings where it’s been positioned – by either the record company or [another entity] – that we need to ‘play nice’ with this retailer, because of the economic power that they can yield over the success or failure of our product. That product can be music, that product can be that artist’s or celebrity’s clothing line, or whatever products they’re selling.”
The key that makes this a win-win for artists and Walmart is that potential promise of retail space.
The promise of retail space to stars
“These celebrities act in their movies and record their music, and the most important retail outlet for what they do is Walmart,” Dr. Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, told theGrio. “Tickets get sold at theaters and music concerts and downloads happen, but as far as retail importance for this stuff, Walmart is this giant force.”
And that means that free appearances at annual shareholders’ meetings can ultimately pay dividends for celebrities if their merchandise ends up in prominent spaces on store shelves.
Pepper Miller, founder of The Hunter–Miller Group, a consumer research, trend analysis and marketing strategy company, has spent her career helping Fortune 500 companies market their products to African-American consumers. Miller previously worked at an ad agency that had Walmart as a client, and recalled attending a Walmart national store managers’ meeting where Colin Powell was scheduled to speak.
“Mr. Powell’s books were everywhere at Walmarts across the country,” Miller told theGrio via email. She said celebs are likely assured distribution of their products in exchange for their appearances.
