Asda agency shake-up to boost customer engagement

Asda trials 'clickable ad' shoppingAsda’s chief customer officer Andy Murray has pledged to improve the way the retailer engages “with customers across channels, both physical and digital” after taking the unusual step of revealing it is reviewing its entire roster of marketing agencies.
Such reviews are normally highly secretive, until leaked to the media, but Murray – who was appointed in 2016 from parent group Walmart – has been upfront on the reasons for the overhaul.
He said: “We have been fortunate to have world class partners over this past year help us make great adverts, digital content, press and point of sale. We couldn’t have achieved the turnabout in results in 2017 without their help. But we need to fundamentally change the way our ecosystem works to reach and engage customers differently than we do today.”
Publicis Group would appear to have most to lose; Murray – who previously worked at the shopper marketing agency Saatchi & Saatchi X – shifted the estimated £95m  business into Saatchi & Saatchi from VCCP and Blue 449 from Carat last year.
However, the CRM account is also a major chunk of business. It has been handled by Creston-owned Prophecy Unlimited – formed by the merger of The Real Adventure and EMO last year – since March 2015.

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