Stephen Quinn reveals how Walmart accelerated growth by tugging on consumers’ heartstrings

In 2005, when Stephen Quinn joined Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. as executive vice president and chief marketing officer, he saw a company that had clearly lost its way. Not only did the world’s largest retailer have a fragmented view of its brand, but it had also become an out-of-control, entrepreneurial environment.

“Previous [marketing regimes] at Walmart had done a good job, but we mistook being entrepreneurial and decentralized as a virtue in and of itself,” said Quinn during his keynote speech at the Masters of Marketing Conference. “We lost our focus on the customer and the brand. We didn’t have the fundamentals of the brand inside the company.”

Quinn set out to change that by first reminding the organization of what was most remarkable about founder Sam Walton: his focus on the customer. Walton never wavered in his conviction to place the customer above all else, even as the company grew by leaps and bounds. “We love to show our ads,” Quinn said, “but marketing is so much more. The role of marketing is to solve our customers’ needs. That is what we do. We need to bring our customers into the discussions at our companies.”

Under Quinn’s leadership, Walmart put a framework in place to return to its roots, to re-focus its efforts on providing customers with real, tangible solutions and enriching their daily lives. In part, that meant presenting a single-minded voice to the customer, partnering with forward-thinking companies like Hasbro, tapping into the do-it-yourself market, and, of course, creating much more compelling ads — without the smiley face cartoon character and the sight of falling prices.

To help get everyone in the company on board, Walmart created an internal video showing a number of associates beating the same drum: “We’re all in this together.” “There’s only one boss: the customer.” “High expectations are the key to everything.” “Ignore conventional wisdom.”

More important, the company rallied around a new brand-building strategy with the tagline: “Save money. Live better.” It’s short, sweet, and on point. Walmart’s current TV campaign, inspired by real people telling real human stories, emphasizes the impact low prices can have on consumers’ lives. In fact, one spot claims that Walmart saves the average family $3,100 a year. The ads immediately struck a chord with consumers because they’re relevant for the times.

“We’re trying to provide value in the communications to customers,” said Quinn, a member of the ANA Board of Directors. “The TV spots show some of the ways we’re trying to be helpful to people. Quality is really important to our customers. Quality is critical to us.

“We want to be really helpful to people at a time when they really need it,” he added. “Our customer is price sensitive. They’re looking for value. We have a sense of urgency to deliver that value our customers want.”

Walmart has also invested billions this year on improving the in-store experience, Quinn said. Most notably, the stores are cleaner and customers have more room to roam. What’s more, Walmart is making a concerted effort to rid itself of the one-size-fits-all mentality as it relates to its 7,200-store global empire. “We need our stores to feel more personal, more local, more relevant to what’s going on in people’s lives,” he said. “If it’s raining, we want to be talking about rubber boots and umbrellas, not sunscreen. We have to be more adaptable to what is going on in the local market and the resources that market needs.”

The changes in its attitude and brand promise appear to be working for the $406 billion-a-year retail giant: Walmart is winning new customers, forging stronger relationships with existing ones, and fueling substantial revenue and profit, despite the weak economy. Smart marketing, Quinn acknowledged, plays a critical role in any turnaround effort or growth strategy.

“Marketers need to realize how important marketing is,” Quinn said. “Lack of growth is, in a lot of ways, a failure of imagination. Marketing is critical work. It’s important for society. It can change lives and change the world. Our job [as marketers] is to get our companies to provide true value for our customers. It’s so important that we get this right — for our economy, our country, and our companies.

“We’re all going to be known by who we are,” he concluded. “We need to stand for something truly good in people’s lives. We found out that we had to use our size for something good. And we benefit from having some great competitors. The future is about who you serve and what she hires you to do.”

Tom Haas, chief marketing officer at Siemens Corp., said Quinn’s speech had value for all marketers. “What they’ve done to revitalize the Walmart brand is just fantastic,” he noted. “The emphasis on sticking with the basics, always keeping close to the customer and what the customer needs is something everyone can benefit from.”

Added David Buxbaum, director of brand marketing at LEGO Systems, Inc.: “It reinforced respect for the unrelenting consumer and customer focus that Walmart has. That single-minded approach to how they do business is, in my mind, one of the biggest reasons they’ve been so successful for so long.”