Julie Roehm earned her MBA from Chicago Booth in 1995. Tapped for the newly-created position of senior vice president of marketing communications at Wal-Mart in 2006, she was charged with bringing a spark to all of the advertising campaigns, communications, creative services, and special events that convey the retail giant's message.
Roehm's early career in marketing has been filled with milestones, including Brandweek magazine's Automotive Marketer of the Year Award in 2004. She reinvigorated the Dodge brand by launching the "That Thang Got a Hemi?" ad campaign. At DaimlerChrysler, Roehm managed marketing for Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep Brands, and controlled the sixth largest advertising budget in the United States. At Ford, she successfully managed the rollout of the Focus, appealing to a much younger consumer base.
Roehm, who made extensive use of such technology as the Internet and digital TV, foresaw interactive marketing as the future of advertising. But, she noted, the key to making successful marketing decisions is intense data scrutiny.