Independent London agency St Luke’s is on a roll – it won the Daily Mail account a couple of weeks ago – and now it’s won Ocado, the UK’s biggest independent online grocer. Ocado starts a new partnership with Marks & Spencer displacing original partner Waitrose in September.
The account is worth around £10m. St Luke’s beat a number of agencies in a remote pitch.
The lockdown in the UK and elsewhere has certainly helped online grocery sales (for many people the only option) and Ocado is now valued at a dizzying £17bn even though it makes around £40m a year profit. Much of this valuation comes from its status as a tech stock as it sells its software and systems to retailers around the world. M&S paid £750m for the Occado deal.
Ocado head of brand marketing Lisa McDowell says: “Ocado Retail is growing at pace and we have undergone a seismic shift over the last 12 months. We are delighted to be partnering with St Luke’s whose agenda-setting purpose, and supporting creative is simply brilliant. We work hard every day to ensure our customers keep rating Ocado as having the best service and range in the industry, it’s time to share that brand love with everyone else.”
St Luke’s CEO Neil Henderson says: “As online grocery shopping takes an historic leap forward thanks to the lockdown, it is a privilege to be selected as Ocado’s brand and advertising partner. Very few brands have such a unique story to tell.”
