Positive Spin At Kmart Forever
With Kmart's planned de-listing from the NYSE on Thursday, we recall a recent Wall Street Journal article about a Web site called "Kmart Forever." The site -- advertised internally but not among the general public -- is part of Kmart's larger internal communication effort to boost employee morale and improve the chain's public standing. Here's the interesting part: the site promotes only positive stories and information, which includes the practice of filtering negative bulletin board posts. It's this focus on positive "spin" that prompted the following from the Journal:
"[Kmart Forever] shamelessly begs its employees and customers to give it compliments ... the director of corporate communications at Kmart has created the Disneyland of corporate Web sites. He has taken history's most freewheeling marketplace of ideas -- the Internet message board -- and turned it into a totally antiseptic environment. He zaps all negative comments and workplace rumors before they see the light of day."Abuse of editorial privilege or a smart way to rally Kmart's strongest supporters? Click here to visit Kmart Forever and draw your own conclusion.