Asda drafts in ex-Aldi chief to head up marketing team

The UK supermarket marketing wars have taken another twist, with Asda bringing in Adam Zavalis – who has had two spells as Aldi’s marketing boss for a total of eight years – to head up its team and agency relationships.

Zavalis will join the German-owned discount retailer’s bitter rival next month, reporting to chief customer officer David Hills, who started at Asda in September.

Taking up the role of vice-president of marketing, Zavalis will lead Asda’s efforts to create and deliver campaigns; Havas London handles the supermarket’s advertising and marketing account.

He began his career at Nissan in 2001 as sales promotion manager before switching agency side to work at Tequila and MRM Singapore. Zavalis then spent over eight years as group account director at McCann Erickson, joining Aldi for the first time in 2013 as UK marketing director.

In 2019, he took up the role of vice-president of brand and marketing communications director at Boots, where, among other roles, he was responsible for launching an in-house content studio, driving greater efficiency and effectiveness and saving over $1m in external costs in its first year.

Some 18 months later, Zavalis returned to Aldi, first as global media director and then marketing director; however, he left in May.

David Hills said: “Adam is a key strategic hire for the customer function and brings a wealth of retail and grocery experience to this role from his time at Aldi and Boots. His creative instinct and track record of delivering industry-leading creative campaigns will be a great addition to Asda as we move forward on our journey to deliver outstanding quality products at incredible prices to UK customers.”

Zavalis added: “Asda is a much-loved brand which is part of the fabric of many communities right across the UK. It is a business with a rich history as a consumer champion and an exciting future, which I am delighted to be part of.”