The Ritual of Retail: Ocado with Carol Feeley, Head of Creative

In partnership with Tracksuit. Data provided by Tracksuit; interview and analysis led independently by THE GOODS

LONDON — An Ocado basket can escalate quickly. What begins as olive oil and dishwasher tablets has a habit of turning into Wildfarmed barista oat milk, forced rhubarb kombucha, cold-pressed M&S collagen shots and a Hariyali tikka marinade, somewhere between “just browsing” and mild financial recklessness. 

A basket intended for pantry staples can quickly become a tour of the UK’s most interesting challenger food brands. For those who enjoy discovery, preferably without visiting six different shops, it’s a small luxury of modern grocery.

Inside Ocado, that pipeline is surprisingly direct. On certain days of the week, small challenger brand suppliers arrive at the office with samples in hand; electrolyte drinks, experimental snacks, pitching their ideas and hoping to land on the platform’s shelves. (If one of them happens to bring a fully organic, grass-fed whey chocolate protein powder without sugar, I’ll be first in line.)

For nearly two decades, shopping on Ocado meant shopping at Waitrose. When the company launched in 2000, the arrangement was simple: Ocado would handle the technology and logistics, while Waitrose supplied the food. The result was effectively Britain’s first digital supermarket.

Somewhere between building robotic fulfilment centres and licensing its warehouse technology globally, Ocado began operating more like the plumbing of modern grocery.

Ocado’s long-standing supply agreement with Waitrose was due to expire in September 2020. In 2019, Marks & Spencer paid £750 million for a 50% stake in Ocado’s retail business, replacing Waitrose as its grocery partner. When the switch finally happened, thousands of Waitrose products disappeared overnight and were replaced with M&S equivalents. It was to be one of the largest catalogue swaps British grocery had attempted.

According to Tracksuit’s brand perception data, Ocado is most strongly associated with convenience, reliability and efficiency, with quality also emerging as a strong perception. Operationally, the platform has grown into a significant retail business. Ocado Retail now serves around 1.16 million active customers, offering up to 50,000 products. One of the largest assortments in UK grocery.

Demographically, 31% of those aware of Ocado are aged 65+, compared with 23% across supermarkets overall. Gender splits remain broadly balanced, with women slightly more likely to consider Ocado (55%) than men (45%).

For a platform built around robotics and digital infrastructure, the proposition resolves into something far simpler for customers: a convenient, premium way to get groceries delivered.

Which brings us to Carol Feeley, Head of Creative at Ocado Retail, whose team sits at the intersection of brand, retail and the thousands of products moving through the platform every day.

You’ve worked across agency, CPG and retail. How has that multi-lens perspective shaped the way you approach your role today?

It’s a good point. I started agency-side, specifically working with entertainment brands (Disney, MTV, Nickelodeon) all with a consumer products focus. I was partnering with their in-house teams as an agency. That was one dynamic.

Then I moved to Innocent Drinks, which was fully in-house. The product is king there. I was Creative Director, but a big part of that role is being a brand guardian, protecting what makes the brand so special.

Then moving into retail, where the brand is the online supermarket, Ocado, you’re working alongside lots of other brands.

We’ve got one of the largest ranges of any supermarkets — up to 50,000 products. And one of the things I really love about this job is that on Tuesdays and Thursdays we get small suppliers coming in with samples. You get to meet founders who might have their own craft beer, or we had an amazing company come in with their own electrolytes, literally just had one before this call to perk myself up.

They’ve usually been right in the weeds, doing the packaging themselves, thinking about brand strategy, running social, because they’re small startups. One of the unique things about Ocado that people don’t realise is that we really champion those small suppliers. It’s honestly one of the best parts of the job.

What has changed most about how creativity operates inside large organisations over the past decade?

One of the most obvious answers is the rise and power of in-house teams. I’ve experienced both sides, agency-side partnering with in-house, and now being in-house partnering with agencies. I see the benefits of both, and the frustrations. It’s like any relationship, it can be a challenge.

When I started at Innocent, my first in-house role, there were 11 of us. When I left, there were about 21 plus freelancers. Now I’ve got a team of 34, with ambition to grow.

There’s definitely been a shift. A lot of brands are moving in-house. In the past, it was framed as cost saving. That is one aspect. But there’s a real benefit to having a team so close to the brand and the everyday workings of the business. You’re in it. You understand the business strategy. You have an amazing in-depth knowledge of the customer.

Another benefit is that if you’ve got an idea for something that hasn’t been handed to you as a brief, you can make it happen yourself. We do that quite a lot. We’ll spot a business problem, write our own brief, put a sprint team on it, and crack on. I love that about being in-house.

The counterpoint, and this isn’t unique, is that appetite for risk has diminished. Budgets are tighter. People are more fearful. So you get blander work, less experimentation, less play, less fun. That’s a real shame.

No one else is going to inspire you. If you’re the creative team, you have to do that job yourself.

If Innocent launched in 2026, would it be built the same way?

I don’t think it would, because there’s more awareness of risk.

The founding story of Innocent is amazing. Three guys at a festival with two bins: “Should we give up our day jobs to make these smoothies?” Put your bottle in yes or no. They had more bottles in the yes bucket. Apparently the only bottles in the no bucket were from their mums, saying don’t do that, go be lawyers or doctors.

I’m not clear on what funding they had behind the scenes, but opportunities like that feel rare now. There are so few brands able to do things differently.

Someone in the team last week had some Innocent smoothies in a meeting and we were looking at the packaging. They’re famous for “wackaging” It’s an awful term, but that’s what it was. The tone of voice was based on how one person in the marketing team naturally spoke. He was funny, witty, a nice guy, and was given ownership and power to just crack on and do it.

I don’t think that happens in the same way now. Everyone’s got a bit more grown up, a bit more serious. There are lots of copycats of that tone of voice. Some do it well- Oatly, for example. But Innocent at that time was the only player in that category doing something genuinely different.

Liquid Death is a great example of another brand doing something completely different. Totally outrageous. 

So no, I think it’s unlikely.

What are three practical steps CEOs and CMOs can take to encourage more creativity without increasing risk?

‍The first thing to fix is culture. You can’t do disruptive, interesting creative work without psychological safety. We have an hour-long brainstorm every other week. It’s a brief we set ourselves. Sometimes I set it, sometimes the strategist does, sometimes it comes from the team. For that hour, all we do is come up with ideas. Anyone can carve out an hour. They’re really fun. Snacks, get together, solve a one-sentence problem.

Second: social is a brilliant test bed. If you’ve got something you’re unsure about, and it’s not illegal, give social a chance. See how it performs. It’s still one of the best ways to test ideas.

Third: if there’s budget, use a quick-testing tool. We used something called The Loops, which gives you feedback within 24 hours from a small pool of people, backed by AI. Test lines, visuals, concepts. You can ask it questions and quickly understand what’s working.

And honestly, the riskiest thing you can do is make bland work. It’s a waste of money.

For someone in the middle of their career, what helps them move from good to great?

Find cheerleaders. I’ve been very fortunate in my career to have people who backed me. It doesn’t take many. 

Build your network. Get comfortable asking for candid feedback and really take it on board. I’ve had some brutal feedback in my time. That’s the stuff that shapes you. Sometimes you really do need to hear it.

Be proactive. I love it when someone on my team, junior or midweight, drops ten minutes in my diary and says, “I’ve got an idea.” Anyone can spare ten minutes. Sometimes that sparks something we hadn’t thought about.

And overdeliver. If you’ve answered the brief, think about what else you could add. Could there be an event? A thought starter? Something a bit more creative that catches attention?

What’s the toughest feedback you’ve received in your career?

I’ve had a lot of feedback on how direct I am. And, this is probably worth mentioning, because I think it’s a female thing, I’ve also had feedback about my face. I’ve got a bit of a poker face. When I’m listening, I’m quite straight-faced. Combine that with asking difficult questions and people sometimes interpret it as being too direct or rude. I’ve been very aware of it. I’ve been on calls thinking, make sure you’re nodding, smiling. But that’s not really me.

In my 30s I took it to heart. Now I’m 40 and I don’t worry about it as much. I also don’t think people would say that about a man.

I once had someone ask me how old I was mid-pitch when I was in my 20s. I didn’t know how to respond, so I just told them. If I could go back, I’d say, “That’s an interesting question. Why do you ask?” That’s my favourite way to respond to awful questions. It puts it straight back on them.

What does retail demand creatively that agencies often underestimate?

The pace. Agencies work at pace, but there’s no pace like Ocado. The volume is massive, and the turnaround and reactivity are on another level. You either love that or you hate it. I love it. It’s motivating because you get loads of work out the door quickly.

Sometimes agencies are surprised by how fast we operate. Someone in my team once said, “They’re not very quick, are they?” I said, “No, they are quick. We’re just supersonic.”

We’re supercharged to respond.

Outside of work, what does life look like for you?

I’ve got three sisters. I’m the youngest. I just spent the weekend with them, which was lovely.

I’ve got a dog who’s 13 and a half. She’s getting a bit old now. A lot of my time is trying to motivate her to go for a walk. It used to be four-hour walks. Now it’s persuading her out the house.

I do quite a bit of trail running. I also love doing things outside my core interests. This summer I’m going on a fishing trip with my dad. I don’t know how to fish. Last year my fiancé and I took up rock climbing. I’m absolutely useless at it, which is good. I like doing things that are hard because you have to concentrate so much that it switches your brain off from work.

I read a lot, too. I subscribe to Stack Magazines, so I get a different independent magazine every month. In spring you’ll usually find me in the garden reading something completely bizarre.

I also try to get to exhibitions whenever I can.