Asda chief resigns as agency review enters final stages

Asda chief customer officer David Hills is to leave the supermarket giant after just 18 months in the role, as the company enters the final stages of its advertising and media agency review.

Hills, who is leaving to join airline company Jet2, joined from Aldi in September 2023, where he worked as a buying director before becoming group director of marketing and communications in 2012.

He had spent his early career at Kellogg’s across a variety of sales, category management and customer marketing leadership roles before joining Aldi in 2007.

Hills recently led the return of Asda’s “Rollback” campaign, starring Joe Wicks (pictured). It is seen as a key part of the supermarket’s plans to revive its fortunes, led by former group marketing director and CEO Allan Leighton, who returned in November last year to take up the role of executive chairman.

Although it is understood Hill is not leaving Asda until later this year, his decision does raise huge questions about the supermarket’s agency review, which Hills initiated last September.

Both the advertising and media accounts for the main brand, as well as for clothing arm George, are up for grabs. The review is being handled by Ingenuity.

Earlier this month, incumbent Havas London pulled out of the creative pitch, leaving AMV BBDO, which has handled the account in the past, and Lucky Generals to battle it out.

It is understood that the media account shortlist comprises incumbent Spark Foundry, Hearts & Science, and T&Pm.

It is not known whether Leighton is taking a keen interest in the review, although any new agency will have to fall in line with his no-nonsense approach; he is a firm believer in a price-focused, value-led advertising strategy and he views “Rollback” not as a temporary promotion, but as a consistent programme that is the way Asda does business, aiming to attract customers with lower prices.

In fact, Leighton recently laid out his four point plan for turning around the retailer and “regaining customers’ trust,” with his strategy focusing on price, product ranges, people and the store experience.

Last week, the supermarket slashed the cost of 1,500 items by as much as 45%, meaning the group has cut prices on almost 10,000 products – a third of its range – since the end of January.

Leighton said he planned to “continue to invest in lowering prices across the rest of the year and beyond”.