• Advertising Age reports that Walmart CMO Stephen Quinn told the Association of National Advertisers Masters of Marketing conference last week that chief marketing officers should really be chief innovation officers, and to "protect the 'next' from the 'now'."
"You take people who are mavericks and innovators, and you put them on the things you think are going to be important," Quinn said. "A big part of my job is to protect those people, because the core of your business will try to kill them."
"You take people who are mavericks and innovators, and you put them on the things you think are going to be important," Quinn said. "A big part of my job is to protect those people, because the core of your business will try to kill them."
- KC's View:
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He's got that right ... especially when it comes to Walmart's online business, which the supercenter folks are going to want to kill simply because they think it threatens their livelihoods. Extinguishing that kind of cultural infighting may be one of the most important things Quinn can do.
