Wal-Mart Appoints Julie Roehm, �95, as Senior Vice President

Julie Roehm, ’95, one of the country’s leading marketers, is stepping into a brand-new position at WalMart, the world’s largest company. Roehm, BrandWeek’s 2004 Marketer of the Year, is the former director of marketing communications at Chrysler. Named senior vice president of marketing communications at WalMart, Roehm is the first person to hold this position.

WalMart chief marketing officer, John Fleming, explained "by creating a single source of responsibility for our marketing communications, we will ensure the consistency of our message to our customer. We want our customers to know that whatever their shopping needs, WalMart provides products and services that are relevant to their lifestyle, at great value.”

In the new role, Roehm has charge of the overall development and execution of advertising strategies, creative services and special events needed to convey that message. She will draw on her experience at Chrysler where she controlled of the sixth-largest advertising budget in the country and promoted the use of online media.

According to Nielsen Monitor-Plus the company spent close to $580 million in measured media in 2004 and more than $400 million in the first 10 months of last year. They are set to launch a new ad campaign around the theme, "Save More, Smile More."