Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), which continues to wrestle with the notion of re-inventing itself under former Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) marketing chief John Fleming, has given the old heave-ho to Omnicom, one of the world's largest ad agencies and a longtime Wal-Mart partner. As Wal-Mart continues to try and brand itself as a low-cost good provider with a trendy image -- I'll believe it when I see it -- the world's largest retailer will be dumping a division of Omnicom, much like it did with Bernstein-Rein Co. from Chicago earlier this summer -- and after 32 years together.

What is Wal-Mart trying to do? Make radical moves in its marketing strategy, which are no doubt spearheaded by Fleming. Fleming re-invigorated Target and imbued that retailer with what I consider to be an impeccable sense of style and savvy marketing that filled in a niche that Wal-Mart did little to attract. Wal Mart wants to go for those shoppers who still prefer shopping in a discount environment but want an upscale overall experience.

Ever been into a Target? The aisles are wider, the colors (mostly red) are more vibrant, the stores much (much) cleaner than any Wal-Mart I've seen and the selection of merchandise -- higher-margin merchandise among the standard discount fare -- is not there by accident. Can Wal-Mart try and duplicate this experience by changing ad agencies? Or will ad agencies just re-brand the image of the retailer and create campaigns for different media (television, Internet, newspaper)? The proof is in the pudding -- the stores themselves are the brand, not the image that can become a false portrayal with "creative" marketing.

Wal-Mart closed the trading day today up to $44.43, an increase of $0.71 or 1.62% for the day, a nice lift from Friday's close, as WMT shares followed a rising market today. With a former Clinton adviser and Edelman executive now in the Wal-Mart inner circle, reporting directly to Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, perhaps Wal-Mart has finally, finally discovered that managing its communications with the world takes a unique and well-oiled handshaker.

With Wal-Mart's hiring of a former nun to run the PR machine at the Bentonville campus, it's gearing up to ensure communications are all in order. I've been harping on this issue since late April when the BloggingStocks site launched, and it's great to see Wal-Mart get some real talent in the communications wing. In addition to greasing the cookie sheets of communications, Wal-Mart has some work to do in its marketing for fashions and clothes, as the BusinessWeek article referenced in this post points out.

Smiley's going away. No, that's not a new Red Hot Chili Peppers album, but it's one of Wal-Mart's most recent marketing moves as it makes fundamental changes in its marketing strategy. Dumping the Smiley logo was just the start. The scuttlebutt is that it is going to replace that icon with images of regular folks entrenched in the Wal-Mart shopping experience -- no doubt with smiles on their faces and a low price total on their receipts.

Is this enough to make the connection to customers? Don't you need a central branding icon to make your company sticky in the mind of the consumer? Let's see -- here's a pop quiz:

• Do you hear me now? Good... (Verizon guy)
• Come to Lowe's ... (unmistakeably Gene Hackman)
• Make 7... Up yours (a little dated, but you catch the drift)
• A bouncing smiley face, popping all over the store with scissors, slicing away at prices (Wal-Mart...but no longer)

A brand image and icon (be it a face, concept or jingle) can be one of the most important sub-conscious branding strategies companies can plant in a consumer's mind. With that said, Smiley was a great example of this. It may be dated, and it may need a refresh, but something as slick as this would be a good move for Wal-Mart as it makes major marketing changes.

In this vein, Wal-Mart has notified some of its top marketing and ad agencies that it will be putting them under review soon -- and that's never a good letter to get in the mail. With John Fleming at the helm of Wal-Mart's marketing efforts (Fleming is formerly of Target Stores), you can bet that he's in it for the messaging that will attract more affluent shoppers to purchase higher-margin goods -- something that Wal-Mart is definitely not known for. What will Fleming and his team settle on? Who knows, but if Target's recent re-invention is any clue, you can bet the loss of Smiley will be replaced with an equally-satisfactory marketing message.