Marks in Time
Marks&Spencer is a successful British retailer founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in 1884, it recently celebrated 125 years of successful retailing using five core principles of Quality, Value, Service, Innovation and trust. The growth of the company is evident between what used to be sold and what now is, it begun as a small stall selling household needs valued at 99p and through the years evolved targeting the needs of people as technology developed around them. Cleverly M&S has managed to remain current throughout the decades by achnologing the trends and needs of its target audiences. The campaign's in particular were targeted to ensure that audiences believe that M&S understands its needs so the campaigns would use specific tones of voice and imagery to guarantee this.The first M&S advertisement campaign I am looking at is from the 1940's-50's, it was a time of rationing as the war was taking place in these years. The rationing meant that clothing companies were only permitted to use 5 buttons, 2 pockets and 4 metres of stitching for every item, therefore clothing designs were very limited and were aimed more for practicality then to fashion. A lot of the clothes designed would use false fixtures such as fake collars and trick pockets. This decade was also a time where paper adverts began to be used for promotion which could recognise the power of advertising as M&S was the best selling shop for war time clothing. This was also due to the practicality of the clothing and the target audience, because of the war and rationing of fabrics clothing needed to be quality made to last, which is one of M&S core principles.
The second ad campaign I am looking at is from the 2012 Jubilee celebration, it is very different from the first campaign as it is a celebration of Britain and its success and growth where people feel comfortable to be proud there british. Which contrasts strongly to the 40's where it was a time of fear and fighting for the country yet also shows strong patriotism to Britain. Both ad campaigns differ strongly but share this connection which is why I choose these two campaigns, as I feel they represent the message of M&S best. The Jubilee campaign consisted of union jack influenced food and fashion. They also released limited appliances with a jubilee decor. The whole point of the campaign was to reinforce the british message, the campaign resulted in an increase in sales for M&S as people seemed to respond well to the patriotism and purity to the british culture.
The 2007 autumn campaign continued to use the same concept as it had from its previous adverts of using "supermodels from earlier decades with current models", however this advert used a slightly different tone using the song "Look a there aint she pretty" by the Charloteers. The music and the setting of the orient express gives a luxurious and vintage feeling to the advert and suggests that the target audience is for a middle class women who can afford to do activities such as travel on the orient express. The target audience will be reflected in the price tag of the clothing as it will probably more expensive as the fabrics used are likely to be of a finer quality. The women in the advert look in control and well put together including hair styles and accessories such as leather gloves and bags, this suggests that business women are amongst the category for the target audience. The colour scheme of autumn, with the duller and coldness of the season are recognised in the advert in the camera footage and in the outfits. The orient express is a fitting setting aswell to launch into the autumn campaign as it is like leaving summer behind and arriving in summer. The ad also led to a national increase in sales for hot chocolate puddings.
M&S to me is there food section, it is priced higher than the usual supermarkets, however there food always tastes far nicer so you feel comfortable to pay the premium. It is where I would go to treat myself if i could afford to and the food adverts are always captivating and enjoyable to watch. They have a luxury to them and the quote "its not any food, its M&S Food" has become somewhat a household name. The advert from 2007 in particular boosted 3000% sales in the food section for M&S and customers have remained with them since which reflects the reliability on good quality produce.
