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Roehm Out at Wal-Mart, Womack Goes with Her

Wal-Mart has lost two top executives hired to help overhaul the retailer’s marketing efforts, just months after the retailer’s chief executive told analysts that the retailer had gone too far in pushing trendy merchandise.

Julie Roehm, senior vp for marketing communications, and Sean Womack, vp for communications architecture, left their posts on Monday, writes The New York Times. A spokesperson wouldn’t say why they left or whether or not they would be replaced. They had worked for Wal-Mart for less than a year.
The two were hired to help Wal-Mart change its image from that of a discount retailer to a more stylish image on the order of Target. Under John Fleming’s leadership, Wal-Mart’s CMO and the executive who hired Roehm, the company began emphasizing more expensive items and flashier apparel in its ads.

However, as holiday sales slipped, the company has returned to a message focusing on discounted prices.

Wal-Mart’s chief executive Lee Scott told analysts in October that the retailer had gone too far in pushing trendier merchandise. He reported the retailer would refocus on promoting low prices, writes BusinessWeek. The retailer spent close to a billion dollars on advertising last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
Roehm was key in conducting an agency review that resulted in the severance of the retailer’s ties with its two longtime agencies, Omnicom Group Inc.‘s GSD&M and independent Bernstein-Rein Advertising Inc. The company brought on DraftFCB and Carat USA to handle creative and media buying.

Roehm, in a statement, said that one of her first orders of business was to help spearhead a comprehensive agency review. Now that that has been completed, and that she has “established the marketing communications organization,” she is ready to move onto the next challenge.

Womack declined to comment.

Roehm is leading a charge to implement a new way to buy and sell ads. She and other marketers at other big companies including Microsoft formed a task force that hired eBay to develop an online auction system that automates ad sales.