OPINION: Profile - Exploring Iceland - Alan Shepherd, Marketing director, Iceland

Alan Shepherd knows how to behave like a gentleman. As a man who

was, in his own words, ’invited to seek alternative employment’ by

Somerfield last year, he might have some interesting things to say about

the now ailing retailer. But Shepherd nobly refuses to be drawn on the

great Somerfield marketing massacre of last August, which saw him ousted

from the position of brand chief within hours of the exit of marketing

colleagues Phil Smith and Jonathan Smith, followed swiftly by an

acrimonious split with ad agency Leo Burnett.

Instead, he prefers to focus on the positive aspects of Iceland, where

he is now marketing chief. ’The thing about Iceland,’ he says

emphatically, ’is that it’s a company with a real sense of the team. And

it believes that brand-building is important. Other companies might

think marketing is a support activity to more important things. But then

you can see that reflected in the share price of those retailers,’ he

adds with a grin.

Compared with most retailers, Iceland must be a marketing director’s

dream. Run by the charismatic Malcolm Walker, it is known for taking a

pioneering approach to issues such as GM foods and online shopping - and

for capitalising on them in its marketing. Iceland is unafraid to be

innovative, and has spent the past year transforming its image from

downmarket freezer-food shops to mainstream supermarket. Last week, it

unveiled an pounds 8m corporate revamp, labelling its stores as

Iceland.co.uk, to promote itself as a ’clicks and mortar’ retailer.

Shepherd, 39, arrived midway through Iceland’s image overhaul, filling

the long-vacant post of marketing director last November. He brought

with him job experience in retail and in FMCG marketing.

In his time he has been an expert on ’yellow fats’, pet food, cheese,

coffee vending machines and toilet roll - and he has an amusing tale to

tell about all of them. Here is a man who has even eaten dog food in the

name of marketing - ’slimy, a bit like steak and kidney pudding. The dry

stuff was actually OK though’. Other career highlights include revamping

Golden Churn as Golden Crown in eight weeks because of EU legislation

over associating non-dairy products with dairies. The quick turnaround

saved the brand from the axe.

When he joined the downmarket Kwik Save retail chain as brand director,

to work alongside former Kraft colleague Phil Smith, Shepherd says:

’Everyone asked me what I was doing. I joined to be a hero, to turn

around something which people said could not be done. There were some

big issues, such as whether the Kwik Save discount format could

survive.’

That is a question Somerfield, which subsequently bought Kwik Save, is

still trying to answer six months after Shepherd’s departure. One gets

the feeling that the job of marketing Iceland won’t be quite such an

impossible task. Shepherd says his role is not to turn around the brand,

but to build on its foundations: ’Two years ago, Iceland wasn’t a brand.

Now it is. Everyone knows it has happened; my job is to make it a bit

more consistent.’

He sees the Iceland brand as having four key components: reassurance

about food quality and safety; accessibility, online and high street

access; helping customers with meal planning; and value. ’It’s also

about being extrovert, innovative, non-conformist,’ he adds. ’A breath

of fresh air in the stuffy world of British retail.’

Iceland’s ’Jack and Jill’ ad campaign has already begun this process,

and there is more to come. ’We are constructing a plan to put the right

resources behind the right aspect of the brand - for example, TV

advertising for line and price deals, PR for the ethical agenda. Malcolm

(Walker) has done a fantastic job of getting the brand on the agenda and

now it needs to become even more salient to people - the way a brand

such as Virgin is.’

More online developments, possibly involving travel and financial

services, are in the pipeline, as are more ethical stances. ’Malcolm

wants to do the right kind of things, but having done it, he doesn’t

mind exploiting the commercial hell out of them. I’m sure Anita Roddick

would agree,’ says Shepherd.

People who know Shepherd suggest he’s good at getting things done. ’A

safe pair of hands’, ’an able thinker’ and ’strategically sound’ are

comments that are raised by a mention of his name. Richard Huntington,

who plans the Iceland account at HHCL & Partners, says: ’He’s from a

very professional marketing background which is somewhat unusual at

Iceland. It has tended to be very instinctive.’

His friend and ex-colleague Phil Smith says: ’He’s saved my life on

several occasions - he’s very calm, clear-sighted and logical. He’s a

good people manager, with the ability to look at a problem

dispassionately. All of which makes you wonder why he supports Chester

City.’

Apart from the football, Shepherd is a family man who likes to spend

time with his six-year-old daughter, Lily. He also socialises regularly

with his ex-Somerfield colleagues - and you can bet that’s when the

conversation gets really interesting.

BIOGRAPHY

1985-1987

Brand manager, Holt Lloyd

1987-1996

Product manager to marketing manager, Kraft Jacobs Suchard

1996-1997

Director, European dogfood development, Spillers Petfoods

1997-Aug 1998

Brand director to marketing director, Kwik Save

1998-Aug 1999

Brand communications director, Somerfield Group

1999-present

Marketing director, Iceland

This article was first published on Marketing