Walmart is my largest retail partner, so this article from Ad Age didn't surprise me. It did however make think about how important marketing is to the success of every business, even one of the world's largest.
"... is forcing Walmart to become a better marketer and merchandiser, said Chief Marketing Officer Stephen Quinn in an interview the day prior to the company's June 5 shareholder extravaganza. "While it's very exciting to be opening new stores and building your base out that way, it clearly is the kind of game where there has to be some natural plateauing," Mr. Quinn said. Walmart's new reality means "you're going to have to work a lot harder in an existing neighborhood to get them to consider other categories or to build that emotional bond with them."
The economy has made Walmart the secret store for many people. I am delighted to see that they are not sitting back and collecting the dollars.
Marketing clearly has assumed a more important role at Walmart under Mr. Quinn, a veteran of PepsiCo's Frito-Lay. "Certainly it's not a marketing-led company in the way a lot of package-goods companies would consider themselves to be," he said. "So I have to be careful not to overstep what it really is. But I do think marketing has a seat at the table. ... This company had a strong merchant and operations culture, and now we've added this third leg of the stool."
Even better Walmart is really trying to understand the customer.
Walmart really doesn't need to attract a different customer to succeed, Mr. Quinn said -- just do a better job of selling to and maintaining the loyalty of its existing customers.
I look forward to more from Walmart, the marketer.
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