Adam Zavalis is now working for the third-largest supermarket company in the UK. Before this, he spent two years working for the challenger brand Aldi.
Asda called Adam Zavalis, who used to be Aldi’s marketing head, a “key strategic hire” when they hired him as vice-president of marketing. Adam Zavalis
Zavalis worked for the discount store for eight years, split into two stints. He was a key figure in the creation and growth of Aldi’s “Like Brands” campaign, its sponsorship of Team GB, and its long-running Kevin the Carrot Christmas promotion. Adam Zavalis Aldi was also named Brand of the Year at the 2022 Marketing Week Awards while he was in charge.
Adam Zavalis
At Asda, it’s his job to lead the company’s marketing team and agency partners in making campaigns that show off the brand’s goods and prices.
Following his time at Aldi, Zavalis will now work for Asda and answer to David Hills, who is the chief customer officer. Adam Zavalis Hills just joined Asda’s team in September to take over for Meghan Farren, who quit as chief customer officer after less than a year to become managing director of KFC in the UK. In the meantime, Sam Dickson, who was acting chief customer officer, took over the job.
When Hills was hired, it was thought that Asda was taking a defensive stance against Aldi, which had just passed Morrisons to become the fourth-largest supermarket company in the country.
Hills says, “Adam is a key strategic hire for the customer function. He comes to this job with a lot of experience in retail and grocery stores from his time at Aldi and Boots.”
“His creative intuition and history of delivering industry-leading creative campaigns will be a great asset to Asda as we continue our journey to offer UK customers the best products at the best prices.”
Zavalis worked at Boots for almost two years as the company’s VP of brand and marketing communications director. Adam Zavalis During that time, he led the creation of an in-house creative studio and made the company more focused on mass customization.
In May, Zavalis quit Aldi. He left after Sean McGinty, who was co-marketing director and quit in December of last year to become the head of marketing at Dunelm.
“Much-loved brand” is what Zavalis calls Asda. It’s “part of the fabric of many communities right across the UK.”
He also says, “I’m proud to be a part of a business that has a long history of being a consumer champion and an exciting future.”
Kantar data shows that Lidl has passed Asda to become the third-largest grocery chain in London. This news comes at the same time as Zavalis’s appointment. Because it spent £500 million building its brand in the capital and opened nine new shops in 2022, the discounter now has a 9.1% market share. Lidl was named the fastest-growing grocery chain in the whole of the UK, not just in London.
Asda has been putting a lot of money into its retail media and paying close attention to prices to fight off the growing competition from both traditional and online supermarkets.