Implications of Julie Roehm exit from Wal-Mart

March 20th, 2007 Update: See new post “Roehm Wal-Mart scandal – court filings update“

Dec 11 Update: I’ve added a new post “Unruly Julie and Wal-Mart joined force to rock and change the Ad World (Lessons learned)”

Dec 9 Update: I’ve added a new post “Ms. Julie Roehm’s cultural clash with Wal-Mart“.

Dec 8 Update: I’ve added two new posts “Wal-Mart and its $580m messed up account review” and “Wal-Mart should “really pay” Ad Agencies for bidding twice“.

Dec 7 Update #2: If you have any insights/behind the scene stories that you can share, please add your comment in the post “Wal-Mart reopen $580m ad account review for fun?“. And I have added two new posts “Wal-Mart and its $580m messed up account review” and “Wal-Mart should “really pay” Ad Agencies for bidding twice“.

Dec 7 Update: With Wal-Mart dropping DraftFCB from its $580m deal but keeping Aegis Group’s Carat, this thing is getting really “interesting” now. If one of the commentor of this blog is right, then we are seeing “full blown scandal” indeed and the “feeding frenzy” has started already.

It does look like this coming Xmas may be a working Xmas for some in the ad industry. I will post some more of my 2 cents later.

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I am still a bit shocked after reading the AdAge story that “Julie Roehm, who spearheaded the recent $580 million Wal-Mart Stores agency review, has left the company“. The thing is that both Roehm (senior VP-marketing communications) and Steve [K: sorry for the typo] Sean Womack (vice president of marketing communications) have left the company together, at the same time. Two senior execs in a multi-billion dollars company leaving abruptly at the same time is “interesting” to say the least.

There are very little information at the moment (AdAge, Brandweek, iMedia, and Reuters). Until there are more facts, this post is just my initial two cents and my gut feeling only. And I can be very very wrong.

There are two data points that are very interesting and may be telling. One is Roehm’s email to AdAge at the end of the AdAge article, [K: emphasis mine]

Roehm statement
“I was hired by Wal-Mart as a change agent a little less than a year ago,” Ms. Roehm said in an e-mail to Advertising Age. “One of my first orders of business was to help spearhead a comprehensive agency review. Now that I have established the Marketing Communications organization and completed the agency review, it’s time to tackle my next challenge. I have enjoyed my time at Wal-Mart and I wish my many friends and colleagues there much future success.”

Another one is the fact that Wal-Mart hasn’t been performing well lately,

The departures comes as the mega-retailer reported a same-store sales decrease of 0.5% in November and has warned that holiday sales will disappoint, due in part to “continued challenges in the apparel and home business,” said Tom Schoewe, evp and CFO, in guidance to investors.

Now, here are my wild guesses/observations/comments,

1. A change agent’s job, as I see it, is not done when the policy is set or an agency is picked. It is a much longer term thing (years, not 11 10 months). So, I am willing to guess that Ms. Roehm was probably asked to find a new challenge. (Of course, it is possible but not that many people are like Christopher Eccleston who played Dr. Who for only 13 episodes by choice and by design. That was a shocker. (smile))
2. If Wal-Mart is blaming Ms. Roehm for its poor financial performance, I am seriously wondering if Ms. Roehm’s decision to pick DraftFCB will stick. Can Wal-Mart back out from the DraftFCB deal now? I don’t know if all the contracts and agreements with DraftFCB have been signed but DraftFCB or Wal-Mart probably should come out real soon to confirm that their marriage is still stable and happy. Otherwise, DraftFCB and its investors should be a little bit nervous to say the least. Of course, I am just guessing here. [K Update: From this quote, looks like the DraftFCB deal may be in trouble, " People familiar with Wal-Mart's multicultural agency review, which was being run by Ms. Roehm, said an expected decision has been delayed, but didn't know or declined to comment on why."]
3. Again, the fact that Wal-Mart is not commenting much and Ms. Roehm’s next challenge is not known really confuses everything.
4. Is the Wal-Mart account in play again? Does it mean the Ad execs will have a wonderful Xmas holiday working overtime to get the Wal-Mart account (if it comes in play again). Well, only time will tell.

Fortunately, with wild guesses and gut feelings like these, I may be proved wrong very quickly. If and when that happen, I will just make a new post and correct myself. After all, I do aspire to make mistakes faster. (smile)

Please add your comments if you have any insights to share. Thanks in advance.

P.S. I hate to say this, but it looks like the losers in the last round (GSD&M, Ogilvy & Mather, the Martin Agency) may be doubly happy to see Ms. Roehm leave based on the gossips in this Nov. New York Post article (thanks to this commentator for the link).