The retail giant has appointed Interpublic's The Martin Agency and Publicis Groupe's MediaVest to handle its account, replacing Interpublic Group's DraftFCB for creative duties and Carat, which was employed for media planning and buying.
The news pushed shares in Interpublic up 4% after it had been feared that it would lose the account after the debacle involving DraftFCB. The agency lost the business in December after the retailer parted company with senior vice-president of marketing communications Julie Roehm in November 2006. It was Roehm who had been responible for appointing DraftFCB.
Roehm spent less than a year at the company after joining from DaimlerChrysler. She had been a key decision maker in the appointment of DraftFCB alongside media agency Aegis-owned Carat USA in October.
The Martin Agency won the business after a pitch against WPP Group's Ogilvy & Mather. Wal-Mart roster agency GSD&M declined an invitation to participate in the second pitch for the retailer's account. Consultancy Select Review International handled both account reviews.
John Fleming, chief marketing officer at Wal-Mart, said: "We've assembled a top-tier group of marketing partners that have deep retail experience, recognised creativity and an understanding of our customers."
John Adams, chief executive of Martin, added: "We have an unusual opportunity to work with some super talented people to do something really important for Wal-Mart. We're going to be talking with them early next week about details and what needs to be done. But I don't have any of those details now."
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