Wal-Mart places ad accounts under review
Published:04-May-2006
By BR staff writer
After reshuffling its marketing leadership and ditching its iconic 'Smiley' logo, Wal-Mart Stores is now understood to have started a review of its creative and media business, which is valued at more than $550 million.
According to US trade publications, the world's largest retailer has notified its longtime advertising incumbents GSD&M of Omnicom Group in Austin, Texas, and Bernstein-Rein of Kansas City, Missouri, have been informed of the review.
The move has been long anticipated since former Target Corporation executive John Fleming became Wal-Mart's chief marketing officer last summer. Mr Fleming began a sweeping shake-up of the discount retailer's advertising strategy in an effort to draw in more affluent shoppers who were willing to buy higher-margin products.
"The aspect that's most important to us is we want to make sure that we're working with partners who can help us with fully integrated communications across all of the media we use," a Wal-Mart spokesperson told Advertising Age. "We want to make sure we are best equipped [to have] messaging that is consistent across all media."
