The Wal-Mart brand is being reinvented. After decades of meteoric growth, the brand needed something to help it maintain and enhance its growth prospects in the highly competitive retail workspace. In directing their strategic platforms, Stephen Quinn, SVP, Marketing at Wal-Mart (and ANA Annual conference speaker and board member) altered their growth strategy. The changing brand and media landscapes were a significant influencer in altering their marketing choice and practices.
In an excellent article by Dave Evans at ClickZ, the author discusses another member of the Wal-Mart marketing team, Julie Roehm, who was brought to Wal-Mart to, among other things, direct these interactive strategies:
All of sudden, e-marketing is the focal point for many otherwise offline campaigns, boosting overall effectiveness of each individual channel. Wal-Mart's Julie Roehm noted marketers still pushing the default notion of TV as central are shortsighted. In an Association of National Advertisers (ANA) speech in 2005 she said, "The upfront doesn't recognize or integrate marketing and promotional relationships."
"Before we launched this growth initiative, marketing was the place washed-up salespeople went." Jeff Immelt talking about the organic growth initiative 
Lots of news in the print world about adjustments, layoffs and brand building.
ANA's Annual Conference -- The Masters of Marketing -- has grown over the last few years to a point where one media guru called it the "Congress of Kings." After attending my first one last year, I could clearly see why. The slate this year is just as powerful, with a rich line up of industry leaders and CMOs (and, of course, the rich social scene) The list of our esteemed presenters:
This statement was issued by JPC Chief Negotiator Doug Wood as the advertising industry and performer's union tentatively agreed on a two-year extension to the current Commercial Contracts.