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Marks and Spencer Group plc Annual report and financial statements 2010 Directors’ report 12
Our brand
by Steven Sharp
Quality worth every penny
In 2009 we looked back over our 125 year
history and the core values M&S has always
stood for. ‘Quality Worth Every Penny’
is a simple message that demonstrated
the continued relevance of our founding
principles of Quality, Value, Service,
Innovation and Trust.
The campaign launched with a TV ad
to celebrate our 125th anniversary, taking
customers back to where M&S began
at Leeds Kirkgate market. In the midst of
a recession, the campaign resonated
particularly well, reassuring our customers
that M&S is a brand they can trust to deliver
quality and value.
We believe ‘Quality
Worth Every Penny’ has
ongoing relevance,
reinforcing the value for
money M&S offers and
this message continues
to underpin our
2010 campaigns.
New directions
In recent years our advertising has achieved
iconic status – however, though our core
values remain the same, M&S has not stood
still. As the economic situation slowly
improved in the latter part of the year, we felt
the time was right to refresh our marketing
activity and invest in a new look across our
advertising to better reflect our customers’
growing confidence.
This year we decided to take M&S Food
back into the heart of family life, with a
lighter, brighter campaign, fronted by
actress Caroline Quentin. The campaign
wraps up all of our core values in a single
story, capturing all the reasons why
customers turn to M&S – quality, innovative
products, provenance or simply good value
– in our new strap line – ‘Just because’.
As consumers showed greater willingness
to invest in their wardrobes, our clothing
campaign demonstrated the versatility
of the M&S range, encouraging customers
to ‘make your wardrobe earn its keep’.
Delivering
Our brand communications extend beyond
advertising – from our in-store promotions
through to our website they help us show
customers that we are in tune with their
changing needs. Investment in our marketing
activity delivers tangible benefits across the
business, with our internal measures pointing
to a direct correlation between improved
consumer perception of the M&S brand and
positive sales and profit growth.
Trust
M&S occupies a special place with the
British public and is repeatedly voted as one
of the UK’s most trusted brands. This is
demonstrated in the success of M&S Money
– which is celebrating 25 years. It continues
to perform strongly as consumers turn to
trusted brands like M&S for their financial
services. This year we launched our
Premium Club, which offers shopping and
travel benefits to M&S credit card holders.
Looking ahead
The strength of the M&S brand has enabled
us to weather the recession and as we move
into 2010/11 we will continue to communicate
with our customers, delivering engaging,
relevant campaigns that bring our core
values to life.
Steven Sharp Executive Director, Marketing
Our marketing campaigns remain a visible – and important way –
of communicating with our customers. Over the last 12 months we have
responded to the difficult market conditions by refocusing and increasing
our marketing activity, keeping the M&S brand fresh and relevant to our
customers’ changing needs. We are already seeing returns on this
investment, with improving sales across the business.
Steven Sharp Executive Director, Marketing
SERVICE
Above: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas
Our ‘Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without…’
campaign appealed to those customers – both
regular and occasional shoppers – who find it
impossible to imagine Christmas without M&S.
The result was our highest ever customer
recognition for an advertisment.
In Summer 2009 we
reflected our status as one
of Britain’s most trusted
brands through our Plan A
campaign – ‘Doing the right
thing’. Launched with a
‘manifesto’ setting out our
commitment to the highest
ethical credentials, the
campaign included a series of ads displaying
no nonsense user friendly expressions of why
we do what we do.
PLAN A: DOING THE RIGHT THING
For more information about Plan A see
p36 or visitmarksandspencer.com/plana