The runaway success of discounters may have caused headaches for other marketers in the retail sector but never for Arnd Pickhardt. “We managed to attract the attention of an entire nation and  changed misconceptions about our brand,” he says of his time with Lidl UK. Pickhardt began his career as a trainee in sales and operations at Lidl. Then as advertising and marketing director in the UK, he created campaigns with Michelin-starred chefs and formed communities to expand the supermarket’s reach. Such was his success, that he was moved over to Lidl’s German heartland, where he now oversees its advertising and marketing.