How a switch to brand marketing is getting 20-year-olds through M&S’s doors

The clothing department of M&S has been on a three-year journey to overhaul its advertising and media strategy in order to be seen by younger Brits as a stylish place to shop. The strategy has paid off, with sales up, younger people coming into its stores and key pieces selling out within hours of hitting shelves. Braithwaite even shared that the average size of an M&S customer is coming down, with more size 6 and 8s selling out than ever before due to this younger shopper.

The Drum caught up with Braithwaite after the launch of the retailer’s Christmas campaign in order to reflect on this transformation. “If you think of the journey we’ve been on the last couple of years, we have had to drive style perceptions as a brand. Nothing else matters if we don’t drive style perceptions as a brand.”

The retailer has been on a winning streak for the past two years. Its most recent pre-tax profit from the six months to October hit £408m which is 17% up on the same period last year. The clothing and homeware department saw a 4.7% sales boost during this period.

M&S clothing historically has had an older demographic but has made multiple attempts over the years to appeal to younger shoppers, including a partnership with Alexa Chung and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

Braithwaite says that, in any attempt to win over younger demographics, M&S must be “mindful not to alienate the core customer.” With its latest strategy shift, the retailer is reassured it hasn’t ignored its older cohort. “If we ever did do that, then we would need to kind of change tactics a little bit any way.”

So, what has been going on behind the scenes?

Marks & Spencer’s clothing department has been testing its creative and media strategy. “We’ve got three years of learning now, so we’re in a good position and a couple of really good agencies behind us.”

All this testing has helped the retailer be “braver” when it comes to the creative and concepts, she says. Its summer campaign was the first time this came into play, the 30-second spot using Pump Up the Jam as the backtrack to slick shots of models on the beach and by the pool. “It probably pushed it quite far from an M&S perspective.”

Along with being braver, M&S has learned that its advertising has to prioritize product over anything else. This fed through into its Christmas campaign, which put product at the heart of the brief. The ad, which shows a family inside a snow globe, features a cast of well-dressed models and carefully curated home décor. “It’s about being surprising, but in a really positive way, capturing the feeling of our customers and putting product front and center.”

Perhaps more important than the creative has been the change M&S has made to its media strategy. “The big thing for us has also been looking at the media strategy and being really clear of the basics of the long and short of it.”

Brathwaite credits “switching more money from performance into brand” with shifting the perception of M&S clothing. “That has been a three-year journey of learning what’s working and now the brand marketing is working harder and better than ever.”

Brathwaite has moved more money into TV, VOD and paid social, which she says has done a great job at driving consideration and changing style perceptions. “I’m really confident that where we are at Christmas is probably the most effective media plan we could be at this time.”

M&S’s social and influencer strategy has been another huge transformation for the marketing department. Its ambassador program includes former Made in Chelsea stars Spencer Matthews and Binky Felstead, as well as fashion influencers such as the model Emma Connolly and Molly-Mae Hauge.

Brathwaite says the brief she gave her social insight agencies was uncharted waters in terms of testing and learning. “We’re trying to quantify what social is actually doing for M&S, asking what’s driving style perceptions more than anything else. Now, we actually know that our social media is driving star perceptions three-times harder than other channels.”

The success of this strategy shift is one of the few British retail success stories at the moment. “It’s good for the British high Street,” saysBrathwaite. “Nobody wants to see what happened to Debenhams and House of Fraser happen to other retailers.”