Why Walmart Is Getting Serious About Marketing†

Giant Attributes Success to Segmentation, Market Research and Advertising

Advertising Age, June 8, 2009 — It's marketing's time at Walmart.

It's easy to become complacent when you are a $401 billion company whose shareholder meeting gets teen idol Miley Cyrus out of bed before 8 a.m. to perform for more than 15,000 employees as a warm-up act for American Idol Kris Allen. But Walmart executives know that if the recession abates, they will face a challenge holding onto shoppers who've been introduced, or reintroduced, to the retailer as they've traded down to save money.