WAL-MART'S '06 MARKETING PLAN AIMS TO DRIVE SALES.(Brief Article)

HFN: The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network, July, 2005 by Thau, Barbara

Byline: Barbara Thau

NEW YORK-Next year, Wal-Mart will implement a marketing plan "that will have a direct impact on driving growth," John Fleming, the company's new executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said during CIBC World Markets' fifth annual consumer growth conference in Boston last week.

Fleming, who was named to that post in May, has set out to enhance the brand with more lifestyle-oriented advertising and by playing up Wal-Mart as a destination for high-quality, trend-right goods.

"In the next six months, there will be changes in how advertising looks, as well as [store] signage and visual merchandising," he said.

Fleming previously served as chief executive officer of walmart.com.

Wal-Mart...