Marks and Spencer 2008 Annual Report Download - page 16

Menswear
Menswear performed well in 2007/08,
despite the difficult second half. We grew
and protected volume market share from
11.1% last year to 13.1%, and value market
share from 10.3% to 10.5%, by competing
hard on price, quality and innovation.
Over the course of the year, we began
to see a change of mood in the market.
As we’ve seen in womenswear, some
customers became less concerned about
finding the lowest possible prices but
more interested in the value represented
by clothes of enduring style and quality.
A range of prices
Our strategy was to compete by having
a wider price span – ensuring customers
always have a broad choice of price points.
Tailoring is a good example. We now offer
suits in a wide range of styles, fabric and fit
– from a great value ‘first suit’ at £49.50 to
handmade suits at £799 that rival varieties
on Savile Row.
Making quality count
As 2008/09 gets underway, we’ve observed
a shift in priorities from some customers.
Lasting quality of the kind that M&S is
famous for, is appealing more to our
customers as they begin to trade up,
for example from a £15 linen/cotton shirt,
to a £29.50 100% ultimate linen option.
We’ve been doing all we can to respond
to this trend, by searching for the highest
quality materials, such as finer gauge
merino wool and silks spun in Italy.
Our menswear brands
In menswear, as in womenswear, our
sub-brands are important in helping customers
quickly find products that match their tastes
and needs. All of our three key menswear
brands – Autograph, Blue Harbour and
Collezione – made good progress over
the last year (see below):
14 MARKS AND SPENCER GROUP PLC
Autograph
Autograph has established its credentials
as offering sharper styles and contemporary
design, which helped it to achieve significant
growth in 2007/08. Footwear, knitwear and
tailoring are particular strengths, from
designers such as the Jeffery-West team
for shoes and Timothy Everest for suits.
As Autograph continues to grow, we’ll
have even more opportunity to bring in
guest designers and faces, like we did
with Take That, who featured in autumn’s
Autograph campaign.
Collezione
Inspired by Italian style, our luxury
Collezione brand continued to flourish
in 2007/08. We widened the choice of
‘better’ and ‘best’ options – introducing
new shoes at £75, as well as wool and
cashmere mix trousers at £49.50.
Blue Harbour
Our Blue Harbour brand
was reinvigorated in 2007/08.
We’ve taken it back to its
East Coast American roots,
and in doing so, have begun
to attract a younger 35 to 44
year-old customer.
Smart new ideas
More than a quarter
of our menswear sales
come from products
with ground-breaking
performance benefits.
From ultimate non-iron
shirts, and the high street’s
first machine washable
formal wool trousers, to
water repellent StormwearTM
jeans (see above) – the
M&S technical teams are
continuously looking for
the latest developments
in textiles.
New in 2007/08 were
‘climate control’ underwear,
featuring temperature-
regulating technology
developed by NASA, and
coin catcher pockets in
all of our chinos.