Dive Brief:
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has named company veteran Tony Rogers to be its U.S. chief marketing officer.
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Rogers has been leading Wal-Mart’s marketing efforts in China, and replaces Stephen Quinn, who will retire in January, as U.S. CMO.
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Wal-Mart has also tapped Target Corp. veteran Michael Francis as a consultant to help with its marketing efforts.
Dive Insight:
The shuffle in Wal-Mart's U.S. marketing operations could mean a shift in marketing strategy, just one aspect of U.S. operations that appear to be ripe for change at the country's biggest retailer.
As it looks to boost its e-commerce and appeal to a wider U.S. customer base, Wal-Mart faces the challenge of deciding which aspects of its culture, business, and operations it should keep — and which it should change.
CEO Doug McMillon and U.S. CEO and president Greg Foran have both acknowledged many of Wal-Mart's challenges and have outlined steps the retailer is taking. The retailer is making improvements to its stores and product assortment in the effort to attract higher-income customers, including adding more organic produce and products to its stores' shelfs.
Wal-Mart in some ways has lost its grip on what was once the essential aspects of its business model—assortment and price—made possible by forcing down costs by, in turn, squeezing vendors and workers. The retailer's “always low prices” stance may be getting more difficult, at least without much other differentiation to compete with the kind of "cheap chic" of Target (which Francis helped implement), or the pure-play Prime appeal of Amazon.
This shuffle in Wal-Mart's U.S. marketing operations could mean a shift in marketing strategy, just one aspect of U.S. operations that appear to be ripe for change at the retailer.