Wal-Mart Marketing Chief to Step Down

Quinn, 56, has been Wal-Mart’s marketing chief since 2007.

Former Target chief marketing officer Michael Francis will reportedly serve as a marketing consultant at Walmart when the retailer’s current CMO steps down.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Arkansas, said Quinn will be leaving the company January 31, 2016. A Wal-Mart spokesman said Mr. Francis will start January 1 but declined to provide details of his role. But the marketing executive is best known for helping to craft Target’s image over a almost 27-year career at the retailer.

Wal-Mart is struggling to pull out of a USA sales slump, putting more pressure on marketing to attract customers, especially higher-income shoppers. After joining Wal-Mart in 2005, Quinn helped develop Wal-Mart’s well-known “Save money”. And in October, Wal-Mart’s USA division named Steve Bratspies as chief merchandising officer for US stores.

Francis has previously worked as consultant for Target and DreamWorks.

The exit of a marketing chief often results in changes to a company’s advertising message or the agencies the company employs. Mr. Johnson replaced Mr. Francis after less than a year on a job, concluding that he himself could do a better job of communicating Penney’s new everyday low price strategy to consumers.

The retailer is now in the middle of a turnaround effort spearheaded by CEO Doug McMillon.