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Wal-Mart sells out its marketing exec
Posted on December 11, 2006 1:56 PM
For such a boring company, Wal-Mart picked a head of marketing in a matchup that makes about as much sense as Charlotte and Bob in Lost in Translation. If you're still wondering what Bob whispered to Charlotte at the end of the movie, he said this:
"Do you think this POS gets greenlit if Sofia's dad isn't Francis Ford Coppola?"
Another mismatch came to an end that, if there were whispered words at the end, probably contained a few F-bombs. Wal-Mart hired Julie Roehm to be their marketing savior, but she proved much more fun than they anticipated in Arkansas...
But a year later, that executive, Julie Roehm, is out of a top job at Wal-Mart amid allegations, which she denies, that she accepted gifts from ad agencies, maintained a personal relationship with a subordinate and showed favoritism toward potential vendors.Woops. More? Why not...
While some of the details are in dispute, several people briefed on the matter said that Wal-Mart dismissed Ms. Roehm and a lower-ranking marketing colleague, Sean Womack, after deciding that the pair had a personal relationship that violated the company’s strict ethics policy, which forbids fraternizing with subordinates."Fraternizing" in corp-speak means freak dancing without all the clothes. Or in Julie's case, without her husband's presence (again, woops.) Naturally, both Julie and Sean deny any Astroglide-laden activities took place. All that probably means is they were smart enough not to take pictures.
More shockers for the bunch in Bentonville took place...
She was spotted taking a ride in an Aston Martin owned by the chief executive of one agency, Draft FCB. At another time, she was seen riding in a BMW convertible with the president of another, GSD&M, according to people familiar with the matter.That's when the fabulously wealthy Walton clan gave Julie an upper hand. It pointed to the exit. Maybe she should have taken a ride in a Ford F-150 instead?
And she attended a September dinner given by Draft FCB at the Manhattan hot spot Nobu, during which she lavishly praised the ad agency and appeared to suggest it had the upper hand in the contest more than a month before an official announcement of the winner was due.
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