Johan van der Zanden - Albert Heijn

With more than seven million customers per week and 125,000 employees across its stores, Albert Heijn operates at a scale few retailers can match. But scale alone does not guarantee growth. In a category where consumers can switch supermarkets every single week, growth must be earned continuously. For Johan van der Zanden, Chief Marketing Officer and member of the executive board at Albert Heijn, brand growth is not about a single lever. It is about orchestrating a system and executing it relentlessly.

Growth as an Integrated System

At Albert Heijn, growth is measured in hard numbers: number of customers, revenue per transaction, total turnover and market share.  Albert Heijn has shown huge growth over the past few years, and behind those KPIs lies something more structural. “It always starts with mission and strategy. If that is clear, it gives direction and helps you make choices.”

Daily steering focuses on customers and turnover. Weekly, the organisation monitors market share, including broader definitions that account for online players and alternative food channels. But Johan is clear: growth is not a marketing-only exercise.

Brand, logistics, physical availability, digital convenience, motivated employees and assortment quality all interact. When Johan joined seven years ago, the ambition was alignment across the system. “We said: one Albert Heijn, one team, one plan.” That mindset ensures campaigns, private label, retail media and store execution reinforce each other rather than operate in silos. Growth, in his view, is systemic.

“Growth always starts with mission and strategy. If that is clear, it gives direction and helps you make choices.”

Relevance, Consistency and Renewal

If there is one conceptual framework that defines Johan’s philosophy, it is his triangle: relevance, consistency and renewal. “Relevance, consistency and renewal; that triangle is very important to me.” Relevance begins with understanding how customers behave in a category where loyalty is fragile. In grocery retail, the consumer can decide weekly where to shop. That reality forces sharp insight into motivations, price sensitivity and contextual behaviour.

Consistency, meanwhile, builds mental availability. “I think brands that are very consistent generally grow. That is really a deep belief of mine,” Johan states.  At Albert Heijn, consistency lives in the recognisable blue, the signal orange of promotions, the hamster mascot and a stable tone of voice. These distinctive brand properties ensure that even when campaigns change weekly, the brand remains unmistakable.

Yet consistency alone risks stagnation. Renewal keeps the brand dynamic. That may mean introducing new product lines, expanding into personal care, refreshing campaigns or entering non-food categories. “Within that consistency, you must continue to surprise and innovate, so that you don’t become boring.”

Growth emerges from this balance: familiar enough to trust, fresh enough to excite. “But growth is never only brand. It is integral. Product availability, logistics, the proximity of stores, motivated employees, product quality and assortment are all very important for AH. And around that, of course, touching customers with campaigns and such.”

“Relevance, consistency and renewal; that triangle is very important to me. I think very consistent brands generally grow, but you also need to renew within that consistency.”

The Weekly Reality of Retail

Unlike categories with long purchase cycles, grocery retail is a weekly battleground. Albert Heijn operates with a commercial calendar that introduces new promotions almost every week. “There is a lot of short-term steering in our communication because people, unlike at a bank or telecom provider, can decide every single week where they do their groceries. We need to give customers a reason to shop with us every week.”

Johan distinguishes between primary customers (loyal), secondary customers (switchers) and tertiary customers (occasion-driven). The weekly activation cycle primarily aims to attract and convert the latter two groups. Personalisation increasingly sharpens this effort. Not only does Albert Heijn have different commercials on different media channels, but also app banners and Bonus Box offers are adapted to the individual. “When you open the app, you and I might see a different banner as the first message. We try to make it as personally relevant as possible.”

Even context matters. Weather influences recipe activation. Weekend shopping differs from weekday patterns. Yet through all these shifts, brand identity remains stable. “It is very short-cycle, but always consistent.” This ability to combine tactical flexibility with strategic consistency defines Albert Heijn’s retail discipline.

“There is a lot of short-term steering in our communication because people can decide weekly where they do their groceries. We need to give customers a reason to shop with us every week.”

Innovation, Scale and Capital

In a mature category, innovation is not optional. “I think every brand, if you do not innovate, you literally stand still and you will not grow,” Johan says. At Albert Heijn, innovation spans multiple layers: digital tools, AI integration, assortment development and operational infrastructure. E-commerce has become a structural growth engine, growing double digits annually. But this growth requires serious investment.

“Our industry is becoming more capital-intensive. Where it used to be labour-intensive, it is now becoming more capital-intensive.” Automated home shopping centres, robotics and advanced logistics demand scale. Not every competitor can fund such investments. Scale increasingly becomes a competitive advantage.

“If you do not innovate, you literally stand still, and you will not grow,”

Innovation also strengthens partnerships. For A-brands launching new products, Albert Heijn offers unmatched exposure. “If you want to successfully introduce something new, Albert Heijn is attractive.” With seven million weekly customers, the retailer acts as a launch platform, reinforcing its central role in the market ecosystem.

Internally at Albert Heijn, innovation and creativity are not confined to one department. Instead, ideas emerge from many different directions: research, international inspiration, customer feedback, scientific advisory boards and even individual employees. And digital transformation, including AI, accelerates both creative and operational workflows.

AI in particular has become a catalyst rather than a replacement for creativity. “If you let AI do everything, are you still original? Do you still have empathy and real creativity?” Johan questions. He believes in a hybrid model. Creativity thrives when teams remain curious, not just within marketing, but beyond it. “Don’t stay in the bubble,” Johan says. “Inspiration does not only come from marketing books.”

“Don’t stay in the bubble. Inspiration does not only come from marketing books.”

Final Growth Advice for Other Industries

When asked what advice he would give companies outside grocery retail, Johan returns to his triangle of relevance, consistency and renewal, but with an important addition. “Relevance, consistency and renewal are important. But execution is decisive.”

Strategy matters. Frameworks matter. But growth is ultimately determined by how well an organisation translates ambition into everyday practice. Details compound. Stability strengthens performance. Talent and discipline matter more than fashionable models. “You can have a great strategy. But the difference is rarely in the big words. It is in the details.”

For industries facing rapid digitalisation, shifting consumer expectations and increasing capital requirements, his message is clear: build systems, invest in scale where it counts, stay curious and execute relentlessly. Because growth, whether in retail or beyond, is not an event. It is a habit.

“You can have a great strategy. But the difference is rarely in the big words. It is in the details.”