Asda has announced the hire of Aldi’s Adam Zavails as its new vice president of marketing.

Zavalis joins from Aldi where he spent eight years as its marketing director. Prior to Aldi, he worked for Boots and before that worked for international marketing agencies in the UK and Singapore.

The executive will start at Asda in November, reporting to Asda’s chief customer officer David Hills who himself joined the company in September.

David Hills, chief customer officer at Asda, 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.”

Adam Zavalis, vice president of marketing, said: “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.”

One major challenge facing Zavalis and Asda is the emergence of budget grocers Aldi and Lidl, which have taken the UK by storm over the past several years. This week, Kantar revealed that Lidl has become the third largest supermarket in London with a market share high of 9.1 per cent – knocking Asda out of the top three.

Share Story: