After seven years leading marketing for rival Target and a prior tenure at Coca-Cola, William White joined Walmart in May 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. It would be a baptism of fire for any professional, but the veteran marketer mined his CPG and retail experience to help his new company navigate unknown territory.
Because Walmart is an essential retailer, its stores remained open throughout lockdowns, but online sales became a bigger priority, too. In White’s first year, ecommerce sales shot up 79%, buoyed by the launch of Walmart+, the retailer’s Amazon Prime competitor.
Considering that 37 million people shop in Walmart daily and 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a chain, White has ensured the brand stays relevant while driving meaningful connections with the people who come to its tills or fill up their baskets online. His efforts have helped increase company revenue to $572.8 billion in 2022, a 9% increase from when he arrived in 2020.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a Brand Genius, but I think maybe the genius is, navigating my career, I’ve worked at three really amazing brands and companies, in Coca-Cola, Target and now Walmart,” White said at Adweek’s Brand Genius luncheon in June. “And having the honor and privilege to work on those brands and try to put them into a better place, but also to learn from really great leaders. I think all of those companies have unbelievable talent and leadership, and so I’ve learned a lot along the way from them.”
White has continued to evolve his marketing to keep up with the ever-changing needs of a mass customer base who want to shop both online and in-store. He’s taken a personalized, data-driven approach to creative campaigns and is focused on forging connections with the 4,700 communities Walmart serves locally on social media.
This means his role encompasses the entire customer experience. Each week, he gathers with senior executives from across the business to evaluate sales, delve into the in-store experience and measure the speed of delivery initiatives. These insights into the customer experience inform his marketing decisions.
Since starting his current role, White has had to walk the tightrope between preserving the company’s heritage and driving it into the future.
Maybe the real genius is in hiring a great team.
William White
This has been done through initiatives such as the Walmart Creator Platform, which was launched in 2022 as a one-stop portal that makes it easy for creators to monetize shoppable products from the retailer.
“We know our customers are inspired by the content and stories they see from their favorite influencers in their social feeds every day,” said White at the platform’s launch. “This next step in our strategy will help fuel inspiration for our customers by connecting their favorite creators directly with our brand and the brands they love at Walmart.”
White is also on a mission to advance racial equity across the business. In 2021, he announced Walmart was committed to spending a minimum of 4% with Black-owned media businesses. He also created a DE&I Review Board to ensure diversity and inclusion is front and center of Walmart’s creative team.
Fostering diversity behind the camera has been important too. In 2021, White pledged that 40% of all production directors and photographers would be women or underrepresented minorities, and 40% of the crew would also be women or underrepresented minorities.
Value Add
Since 2018, Walmart’s brand value—the present value of earnings specifically related to the brand—increased 85% to $113.8 billion, according to Brand Finance. Walmart’s brand value represents almost 38% of the company’s enterprise value, up from about 30% in 2018, showcasing how White and his team have grown the importance of brand within the company.
“We’ve always believed that we have a responsibility to be a force for good in the communities we serve. We know that responsibility has never been more important than it is today,” he said at the time.
And White sees even more innovation moving forward. “I’m excited about many of the capabilities that we’ve been building,” he told Adweek. “In particular, what we’ve built around social commerce and really moving the customer from inspiration to purchase.”
Reflecting on his honor, White noted that “maybe the real genius is in hiring a great team.” He added, “The thing I try to do is set a culture where people are curious and really strive to be agile and innovative, learn from our customers, learn from our associates and put great things out into the world that resonates with our customers and with our workforce as well.”
This story is part of Adweek’s Brand Genius 2023 honors, recognizing the top marketers who have delivered long-term success for some of the world’s leading brands.
This story first appeared in the July 2023 issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.
