Wal-Mart Fumbles Post-Julie, Loses GSD&M
Looks like the belle of the big-box ball is losing suitors. GSD&M President Roy Spence states, "I want to thank Wal-Mart for inviting us to re-pitch the business. I have decided to decline. We helped build Wal-Mart from $11 billion in sales to $312 billion. We declare victory [...] and we are moving on."
January marks the end of the 20-year relationship and GSD&M is apparently stoked "about the prospect of chasing retail accounts that Wal-Mart's business long kept the agency out of."
GSD&M remain mum on all that Julie bullshit but there's little doubt the issue is an unsavoury contributor to the slicing of the cord.
Finalists from the previous review still running for the red-hot $580 million account include Ogilvy & Mather and Interpublic's Martin Agency. Roy's image at left courtesy of AdAge. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
Comments
Roy Spence is the first person in this entire debacle to act with integrity.
Wal-Mart and any agency willing to swim in the pool of strict bullshit deserve to find each other.
Kudos to GSD&M for saying, "eh, no thanks."
WoW! Good for you Roy Spence!
While I earlier felt that Wal-Mart should forget the re-pitch and stick to GSD&M. But this is even better when it comes to doing the right thing!
Now that's what I call self-respect. Which in my book, is bigger than money any day!
Very generous and principled to say no to an $580 million account. Call me cynical, but that just doesn't happen in business. Either Spence knew there was no chance he would get Wal-Mart back or he has some other retailer client lined up.