Wal-Mart Marketing head Stephen Quinn to retire, says WSJ

The longtime Marketing Chief Officer of Wal-Mart Store's Inc., Stephen Quinn, plans to step down by the end of January.

Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that, Stephen Quinn who led and invigorated global marketing efforts of Wal-Mart since 2007, will retire at the end of the retailer's fiscal year.

According to the Reuters, Quinn, 56 years old, joined Wal-Mart as senior vice president of marketing in 2005. He led the company's rebranding effort in the year 2008. He was responsible for the tagline: 'Save Money. Live Better.'

Wal-Mart announced that after his retirement, it will hire Michael Francis, who is the former Target Corp. Marketing Chief. Francis will initiate a broad revamp of Wal-Mart's marketing department and likely to work closely with Mr. Quinn's eventual successor. To attract high income shoppers, Wal-Mart is emphasizing more pressure on marketing.

In a statement to WSJ, Francis said that, "I'm committed to building on the strength of that brand, and I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity." Michael Francis was an architect of Target's cheap-chic image as a marketing consultant and has been in Target over three decades. He also helped Target's well-known designer partnerships like Missoni, which is a fashion house that runs limited luxury items.

According to CNBC, Deisha Narnett who is a Wal-Mart spokesperson said, "Stephen has always advocated on behalf of our customers. He has built a strong team that delivers our message to them in compelling ways." Adding to her statement, she said, "With responsibility for all aspects of our marketing efforts, including customer research, strategy, program development, branding and customer communication, he and his team have represented the voice of the customer."

The exit of Mr. Quinn will result in changes to the company's advertising message. Previously, in the month of October, Wal-Mart said that, longtime CFO Charles Holley would retire this year end. Post this, Steve Bratspies would become the chief merchant for Wal-Mart.