Wal-Mart is not a company that readily comes to mind in connection with the phrase “social media savvy organization.” But according to Forrester’s Josh Bernoff, the conventional wisdom is 100% wrong. In a post on his Groundswell blog titled “Why Wal-Mart Will Succeed in Social Applications,” he makes his case.

Included are the presence of transparent product reviews on Walmart.com, which include negative comments and feedback; the retailer’s Checkout blog, whose authors include merchandise managers, buyers and even a senior director in charge of sustainability, and whose comments section encourages give and take conversations with customers (as an example, Bernoff cites this post and ensuing comments milk and rbST); and elevenmoms.com, a successful outreach effort to a group of mommybloggers, which results in their content being linked from within a Wal-Mart microsite, under topic categories such as “Save and live green” and “Moms know how.”

But Bernoff’s most compelling evidence is found in the attitudes of the executives themselves. This is not a group where one would expect to find a willingness to consider social media tactics, let alone devise innovative social applications. Yet Bernoff finds otherwise:

What happened next amazed me. When I kicked off the workshop, I mentioned that they might be feeling a little hesitant about these new ideas, since they involve a loss of control. Lee Scott actually interrupted me to say “You’re wrong, we’re not hesitant, we’re ready to embrace this stuff.” And they were. What followed was some of the most rapid ideation I’ve ever seen. I can’t tell you in detail the strategies they came up with – they deserve the chance to develop and announce them when they’re ready – but every single one was a viable, customer-centered idea around concepts like customers saving money or sustainability (that is, green) ideas for Wal-Mart. Even the lawyers came up with a decent application.

Given the amount of negative press generated around Wal-Mart, it may seem counterintuitive that its execs could wholeheartedly take the plunge into social media. Bernoff explains why in fact, it’s entirely logical:

Think about the situation Wal-Mart is in. It has plenty of detractors, hundreds of people who feel the company’s labor practices, effects on small-town America, purchases of products from China, and general ways of doing business are a threat. These Wal-Mart haters have gathered in sites like Walmartwatch.com, tend to be socially savvy, and are ready to pounce on any Wal-Mart news or rumors and spread them using social technologies.

But on the other side of the ledger are hundreds of millions of customers. When these customers think about Wal-Mart, their most likely thought is “they sell the stuff I need at really low prices.” If you don’t believe me, see what they’re saying right now on Twitter – it’s mostly about saving money. Wal-Mart wants to turn these millions of voices to their advantage, to use them as a counterweight to their detractors. And with more and more Americans participating in social technologies, they can do it.

Wal-Mart’s current social media strategy appears all the more on target because it is primarily focused on building advocacy. Its leadership has placed its focus on cultivating long-term relationships with customers and shoppers, as well as the bloggers who advise them and others online whom they see as potential influencers. Wal-Mart knows its detractors are already online in force, so rather than shying away from social media as a hostile environment, they are using it to identify advocates and advance their own story on themes such as sustainability.

Most significantly, they are out to win people over, not by trying to control the social media conversation, but instead to listen to it, learn from it and be responsive. That can certainly be done offline as well as online, but it’s a dynamic that social media naturally enables, and it’s to Wal-Mart’s credit for recognizing that.