The other day I wondered about Dell’s mixed marketing message. Now it’s Wal-Mart’s turn.

Traditionally the low price leader, Wal-Mart has been trying to swim upstream — I mean, move upscale. They want to hold on to their marketing base while attracting upscale consumers shopping for higher-quality goods.

But a confidential report based on interviews with scores of consumers concludes that being the cheapest store in town — gasp! — somehow conflicts with what upscale consumers are looking for. The chain’s low prices suggest they sell low quality goods, which turns off upscale consumers.

… (T)he report says the chain “is not seen as a smart choice” for clothing, home décor, electronics, prescriptions and groceries, categories the retailer has identified as priorities as it tries to turn around its slipping store sales, a decline likely to be emphasized Friday during Wal-Mart’s shareholder meeting. via NY Times

“The Wal-Mart brand,” says the report, “was not built to inspire people while they shop, hold their hand while they make a high-risk decision or show them how to pull things together.”

On the other hand, Target, with its designer-inspired clothing and furniture, is perceived as the ‘new and improved,’ while Wal-Mart often feels like the ‘old and outdated.’

Who’s your perfect customer? You don’t need to be an FBI profiler to pin down the kind of customer you want.

Now consider: What kind does your marketing actually attract? If there’s a disconnect between the two, you have a serious marketing problem. As Seth put it:

“Many of the products and services we use are now about our identity. Many small businesses, for example, won’t hire a coach or a consultant because, ‘that’s not the kind of organization we are.’ Wineries understand that the pricing of a bottle of wine is more important than its label or the wine inside. Price is the first thing that most people consider when they order or shop for wine. Not because of perceived value, but because of identity.”

One of the most fundamental jobs of your marketing communications is to identify and attract the right kind of customers, i.e., the ones who can relate and identify with what you offer.

If your marketing consistently attracts the “wrong” kind of customers, it’s past time for a marketing makeover.

What’s happening to Dell? Do they know who their customers are? Their marketing is shattering into a mish-mash of competing messages and brands.

On the one hand Dell is peddling low-end PCs in Wal-Mart stores. On the other hand, they’re now selling PCs preloaded with Ubuntu, a flavor of Linux, the open source darling OS.

Can you say incongruency?

So you can show how much better your product is. Saturn is launching a bold marketing initiative this summer. Dealers are bringing in a Toyota Camry and a Honda Accord, so car shoppers can test-drive the competition — right at the Saturn dealership.

“In that side-by-side comparison, we come out really well,” said GM’s Mark LaNeve.

Later this year, Chevrolet dealers will be doing the same thing. As those characters in the Guinness TV ads say, “Brilliant!” Reminds me of the old Pepsi Challenge.

Does your product or service flatten the competition in head-to-head competition? Could you set up an on-site comparison test of your own?

Burt’s Bees is a great example of a small, homegrown Maine company that has grown into a giant by keeping things simple: simple products, simple packaging, even a simple marketing message. Founded by a Maine beekeeper and a graphic artist in 1984, the company has become legendary for quality and a down-home image. As the New York Times put it:

“It makes simple products using plain ingredients like milk, honey, beeswax and almond oil, selling them in cheerful, tongue-in-cheek retro packages. It appeals to a diverse audience using a retail distribution system that includes national (drugstore) chains, college bookstores and village gift stores. And it employs seemingly low-key marketing… without preaching a green gospel. This laissez-faire approach inspires word-of-mouth promotion.”

Viral marketing: a marketer’s dream. And bioy has it worked for Burt’s. In the last five years, the company has doubled the number of sales outlets (to 20,000) and quadrupled retail sales (now $250 million). Not bad for a company founded by a couple of hippies.

I’ll bet poor Burt, whose bearded face still graces the packages, wishes he still had a piece of the company. But he sold his share in ‘93, a year before his partner sold the company for $173 million.