The marketer leading the team behind Ocado's Soaring Sales: Eilidh MacAskill

Ocado Retail – the online supermarket run as a joint venture between Ocado Group and Marks & Spencer – increased active consumers by 5.9 per cent in the fourth quarter and reported a 7 per cent rise in its like-for-like sales over the Christmas period - its highest ever level of sales over the peak Christmas trading period. During its earnings calls, chief executive Hannah Gibson acknowledged the impact of its advertising - created by St Luke’s - and its marketing strategy for bringing in new customers. The marketer who will lead the strategy is Eilidh MacAskill, who joined the business in September last year and is taking the lead on the online retailer’s strategic initiatives alongside its creative agency of almost three years, St Luke’s.

Although the supermarket did not run a Christmas ad campaign last year, its 'Inspired Choices' ad campaign last summer marked the launch of a new brand platform communicating Ocado’s core proposition of more choice and the value of its delivery.

Most recently, St Luke's rolled out a New Year ad campaign, showcasing Ocado's revamped Price Promise value proposition. With the fresh tagline, "Get the price promise that really stacks up," the campaign spotlights coverage for over 10,000 products, encompassing Tesco.com prices and Clubcard promotions. Launched in early 2023, the initiative aims to illustrate how Ocado's price promise surpasses competitors, instilling confidence in customers seeking unbeatable value on their grocery purchases.

The 'Inspired Choice' campaign quickly followed the launch emphasising the providing more choice proposition. By portraying everyday scenarios where customers are inspired to add items to their Ocado shopping list, the campaign highlighted the unique and user-friendly shopping experience offered by Ocado. It positioned the online platform as a convenient and adaptable solution for customers who curate their orders over time.

MacAskill is well-versed in the online retail scene, having taken charge of the creative, design, and marketing teams at Asda in 2016. Her responsibilities included overseeing Asda, George, GHS, and george.com, and leading the establishment of an in-house studio, Studio 368. This studio managed TV production, print, and digital aspects, making use of Asda's internal SME talent and establishing a centre of excellence in the North. In 2020, she was part of the marketing team that revived Asda's signature pocket-tap motif in the latest iteration of the supermarket's 'Asda price' campaign.

Her journey into the marketing world followed years of experience in publishing. In 2007, MacAskill arrived in New York eight months pregnant to take on the role of deputy managing editor of InStyle US magazine - where she relaunched the title with a fresh design and content to boost newsstand/subscription sales and improve advertising. After her stint in the U.S., she travelled back across the pond to become the Editor-In-Chief of InStyle UK.

Most recently, she held the position of global CMO at Time Out Group, and prior to that, she served as the global marketing director for Monsoon Accessorize from 2014 to 2016.

Since landing her role five monmths ago at Ocado, MacAskill knew that the team had developed a really strong and trusting relationship with St Lukes.

"My Ocado team really do see their agencies as full bloodied colleagues with all the mutual respect, camaraderie and positive challenge that comes with that," she explains. "Wonderful to see.

"Partnerships like bodies, come in all shapes and sizes. But the red thread has to be earned trust and honesty. It's interesting because I have been in roles where agencies were moved instantly to our accounts minus pitches, and those that have gone through a pitch process. The latter relationship is always healthier - chosen family rather than forcibly adopted! St Luke’s….absolutely chosen family."

The St Luke's team have collaborated with Ocado since the middle of the pandemic, and CEO Neil Henderson explains that their experience with the brand highlights the company's commitment to forming a team that seamlessly combines client and agency individuals, aiming to develop outstanding end-to-end communications solutions.

"It has proved to be an incredibly exciting journey during a time with tremendous challenges," adds Henderson. "They are committed to creating a team that is a proper meshing of client and agency people to create brilliant end-to-end comms solutions. The result is that we are a true partnership, with trust and respect at its heart. Eilidh is at the core of this, and I think that you can see that in the confidence of work we create together - and the results! She brings an alluring mixture of openness, curiosity, humour and passion and I cant wait to see what we do next.

"Eilidh and the full Ocado team are in the agency one day a week (including drinks on our terrace at the end of the day!) which means everyone learns the pressures and challenges faced on both sides. It’s an open way of working that gives us all those serendipitous conversations which so often lead to new insights and ideas. Proof of its effectiveness is in the results!"