Wow, big news via the NYT on Wal-Mart. They fired their marketing chief and are re-opening their just concluded search for a new ad agency. It's front page business section news -- and it should be. Why? A few reasons:
1. As one of the largest advertisers around, Wal-Mart is a trend setter. When they hired a new CMO, axed their longtime agency and shifted to more provocative ads, it seemed to indicate this was a trend other companies should look at -- be hipper, be trendier, sell more.
2. The decision to hire Draft FCB, a combined ad/direct agency, was noted as another trend...marry the best of both agencies.
3. The CMO was fired primarily because she appeared to violate the very strict "no gifts" rule that Wal-Mart established. While this seems pretty straightforward, it's not -- the examples (dinner, a ride in a car with an agency president) are pretty standard fare in the wooing of new business. (as an aside, any clients are welcome to come for a ride in my Honda minivan, no strings attached :))
IMHO, what we really have here is a culture clash.
Ms. Roehm acknowledged that her style and ideas did raise eyebrows at Wal-Mart. “I think part of my persona is that I am an envelope pusher,” she said last night. “The idea of change in general can be uncomfortable for many people, and my persona as an agent of change can prompt that feeling.”
There is as much art as science in pushing change through a company, especially one with as established a culture as Wal-Mart. The ad industry loves rebels, corporations, not so much so.