M&S by Bethany Stone
1. Starting in 1884, Micheal Marks was a Jewish immigrant who worked hard to earn his shop in Kirkgate Market, Leeds. Offering affordable clothes made of good quality materials for the price of a penny. (This lead to the first advertising slogan of M&S; "Don't ask the price, it's a penny"). Micheal Marks later met Thomas Spencer who provided his business with the campaign needed to increase the amount of shops located around Britain.
Between 1920 - 1940, the first world war caused the chain to go from being the affordable 1p store to a maximum of 5 shillings. However, in order to maintain costumers interests, Marks & Spencer decided to sell products aimed at the whole family (such as toys and illustrative books for children) in order to be safe throughout the economic crisis caused by war and rationing.
During the war years, M&S also played a large role in helping the government create utility clothing, gaining the most from limited resources.
Once the first world war was over, M&S launched the 'New Look' dress, reflecting the view of the after-war society that good quality clothing was not just for affordable to the rich but was affordable for everyone.
M&S began to grow technologically across the years of 1960 up to the 1990's by using synthetic materials in clothing, such as Orlon and Terylene, over natural fibres. This continued when M&S became the first British retailer to sell ready meals and American-style clothing (such as the panty girdles of the 1970's).
To this day, M&S continues to develop economically and socially by creating sub-chains to create new designs etc. such as Per Una (2001) and Limited Collection (2004) and was one of the first major UK retailers to stock Fairtrade cotton in their clothes providing evidence of their five core principles.
2. The five core principles for the M&S brand include: Quality, value, service, innovation and trust.
3. 'Quality Worth Every Penny' ad campaign of 2009 by Paul Angus, Ted Heath & Mark Roalfe, art director Stuart Elkins and copywriter Graeme Cook*, was created mainly for M&S' 125th anniversary. Relating back to it's penny bazaar beginnings of 1884, the slogan 'Quality worth every penny' (placed across the separate high-quality photographs of both food and clothing), is a an effective way of tying the campaign back to its foundations and suggesting to the audience that the quality of M&S' products have not declined over the years. It was also useful given the economical crisis of 2009 - demonstrating the idea that the buyer doesn't have to spend a lot in order to get the best. One specific example from this campaign that appeared at the Marks In Time exhibition was a close-up shot of toast being dipped into an egg. This particular advert is incredibly effective by taking a well known, and well loved, "childhood favourite" meal and making it look highly desirable. The toast is perfectly browned, the egg is perfectly runny and it is contained within another eggshell on top of another eggshell (their just so good, you can't have one), they are, literally, quality worth every penny. By doing this, it is playing with the audiences emotions and everyone's fond memories of this classic British 'treat'. Although an egg and bread may not cost much anyway, M&S' are simple saying that that doesn't mean it can't be of the best quality.
4. M&S' 2007 Autumn campaign is set on a train/gondola in Venice, Italy. At first, I thought the clothes resembled that of the fashion in the 1920's (the model Erin O'Connor has the bob hair-cut of this time). However, when researching into Italy's fashion history, it was not until the 1950's that Italy itself was becoming well known for it's clothing lines and designers. When researching the clothes of the 50's, similarities between then and M&S' Autumn 2007 collection became more obvious (such as the buttoned coats, large hats and gloves). Therefore, it may have been used as a trigger for the audience to be reminded of how iconic both Venice and M&S clothing is and how highly rated the location and the chain are for fashion. With Venice's setting also changing very little over the years, M&S may be bringing a new 'twist' to an old city (this relates to the clothes as well - they resemble a previous older fashion style but are made for a more modern women).
5. According to the 'Only M&S' press release, the 2013 'leading ladies' campaign "...sees a reassertion of M&S' style credentials...underpinned by a commitment to quality, innovation and leading ethical standards". It aims to do this by using powerful, hard working women to target its audience, claiming that these women are much like the M&S brand in which they have all "broken boundaries" and represent a new and exciting time for both women in general and the company itself. Creating a bond between the products, the brand and their audience. They continue this even down to the photographer, Annie Leibovitz, who is well known in the fashion photography industry. Claiming that she "has become synonymous with defining key moments in the history of brands over the years" it reinstates how, although M&S is moving forward, the history of the brand and it's core principles still apply firmly to this day.
6. The target audience for the 'leading ladies' campaign is evidently aimed at women rather than men. By using so many women as the face of the advertisement (there are 12 women in total) it is harder to narrow the target audience much more. The women used come from different careers and backgrounds, such as a nurse, boxer, singer, actress and artist. Once again, reiterating the theory that it is aimed at a wide target audience ranging over the separate social and economic classes and backgrounds. However, when researching into the ages of Ellie Goulding and Helen Mirren, for example, the ages of the women targeted can be narrowed down between 20-70 years of age. (Ellie Goulding is 26, whereas Helen Mirren is 68 years old).
*http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2011/marks-spencer-quality-worth-every-penny/
Between 1920 - 1940, the first world war caused the chain to go from being the affordable 1p store to a maximum of 5 shillings. However, in order to maintain costumers interests, Marks & Spencer decided to sell products aimed at the whole family (such as toys and illustrative books for children) in order to be safe throughout the economic crisis caused by war and rationing.
During the war years, M&S also played a large role in helping the government create utility clothing, gaining the most from limited resources.
Once the first world war was over, M&S launched the 'New Look' dress, reflecting the view of the after-war society that good quality clothing was not just for affordable to the rich but was affordable for everyone.
M&S began to grow technologically across the years of 1960 up to the 1990's by using synthetic materials in clothing, such as Orlon and Terylene, over natural fibres. This continued when M&S became the first British retailer to sell ready meals and American-style clothing (such as the panty girdles of the 1970's).
To this day, M&S continues to develop economically and socially by creating sub-chains to create new designs etc. such as Per Una (2001) and Limited Collection (2004) and was one of the first major UK retailers to stock Fairtrade cotton in their clothes providing evidence of their five core principles.
2. The five core principles for the M&S brand include: Quality, value, service, innovation and trust.
3. 'Quality Worth Every Penny' ad campaign of 2009 by Paul Angus, Ted Heath & Mark Roalfe, art director Stuart Elkins and copywriter Graeme Cook*, was created mainly for M&S' 125th anniversary. Relating back to it's penny bazaar beginnings of 1884, the slogan 'Quality worth every penny' (placed across the separate high-quality photographs of both food and clothing), is a an effective way of tying the campaign back to its foundations and suggesting to the audience that the quality of M&S' products have not declined over the years. It was also useful given the economical crisis of 2009 - demonstrating the idea that the buyer doesn't have to spend a lot in order to get the best. One specific example from this campaign that appeared at the Marks In Time exhibition was a close-up shot of toast being dipped into an egg. This particular advert is incredibly effective by taking a well known, and well loved, "childhood favourite" meal and making it look highly desirable. The toast is perfectly browned, the egg is perfectly runny and it is contained within another eggshell on top of another eggshell (their just so good, you can't have one), they are, literally, quality worth every penny. By doing this, it is playing with the audiences emotions and everyone's fond memories of this classic British 'treat'. Although an egg and bread may not cost much anyway, M&S' are simple saying that that doesn't mean it can't be of the best quality.
4. M&S' 2007 Autumn campaign is set on a train/gondola in Venice, Italy. At first, I thought the clothes resembled that of the fashion in the 1920's (the model Erin O'Connor has the bob hair-cut of this time). However, when researching into Italy's fashion history, it was not until the 1950's that Italy itself was becoming well known for it's clothing lines and designers. When researching the clothes of the 50's, similarities between then and M&S' Autumn 2007 collection became more obvious (such as the buttoned coats, large hats and gloves). Therefore, it may have been used as a trigger for the audience to be reminded of how iconic both Venice and M&S clothing is and how highly rated the location and the chain are for fashion. With Venice's setting also changing very little over the years, M&S may be bringing a new 'twist' to an old city (this relates to the clothes as well - they resemble a previous older fashion style but are made for a more modern women).
5. According to the 'Only M&S' press release, the 2013 'leading ladies' campaign "...sees a reassertion of M&S' style credentials...underpinned by a commitment to quality, innovation and leading ethical standards". It aims to do this by using powerful, hard working women to target its audience, claiming that these women are much like the M&S brand in which they have all "broken boundaries" and represent a new and exciting time for both women in general and the company itself. Creating a bond between the products, the brand and their audience. They continue this even down to the photographer, Annie Leibovitz, who is well known in the fashion photography industry. Claiming that she "has become synonymous with defining key moments in the history of brands over the years" it reinstates how, although M&S is moving forward, the history of the brand and it's core principles still apply firmly to this day.
6. The target audience for the 'leading ladies' campaign is evidently aimed at women rather than men. By using so many women as the face of the advertisement (there are 12 women in total) it is harder to narrow the target audience much more. The women used come from different careers and backgrounds, such as a nurse, boxer, singer, actress and artist. Once again, reiterating the theory that it is aimed at a wide target audience ranging over the separate social and economic classes and backgrounds. However, when researching into the ages of Ellie Goulding and Helen Mirren, for example, the ages of the women targeted can be narrowed down between 20-70 years of age. (Ellie Goulding is 26, whereas Helen Mirren is 68 years old).
*http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2011/marks-spencer-quality-worth-every-penny/
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