M&S unveils exuberant fashion campaign, first for spring under new tagline

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 3, 2022

M&S may have reduced the number of stores that sell its fashion offer in recent years, but with its website sales growing, it’s still heavily committed to the super-category. And it has just launched its first spring campaign under the successful ‘Anything but Ordinary’ brand platform.

It showcases “quality and style, as the retailer reshapes to offer more relevant product all-year-round — with perfect product whatever the weather”.

The marketing push comes as holidays and special occasions are back on the agenda post-pandemic and swimwear is a top search on M&S.com.

The ad first aired on Friday, tagged Anything but Ordinary, Spring Style. 

The Anything but Ordinary concept was first used for AW21 and continued into Christmas 2021. 

The new campaign “demonstrates M&S’s focus on being the destination for shoppers all year round with stylish products that are made with care”. And it helps emphasise that despite many of the categories it’s associated with in consumers' minds (coats, knitwear, boots) being winter products, it’s also got plenty to offer year-round.

That means denim, T-shirts, shackets, overshirts, casual dresses and more.

The company said it “wants to be more relevant, more often to its 22m customers’ spring wardrobes, where there’s opportunities to grow in key categories such as casual dresses. The new campaign curates and puts a spotlight on the style and value on offer”.

It also highlights value pricing at a time of high inflation and how it has something for anything the British weather can throw at it from sunny days to showers.

The company added that this year, 65% of its customers are planning a holiday before August with nearly 80% planning to buy clothes for it and over 40% already attending a special occasion (such as a wedding) with 70% planning to buy a new outfit. 

As Easter gets closer, customer searches for holidays are higher than pre-pandemic levels and since January, swimwear has been the third most searched term on M&S.com.

It has therefore launched its ‘holiday shop’ in stores and on the website much earlier than it used to pre-pandemic and the new campaign takes in the holiday offer.

The  campaign is running across all customer channels from print press ads to Instagram reels, with TV ads also a key part of it. The 30 second commercial features models dancing to Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) and was created by ODD. The agency has been creating lively ads for M&S Clothing & Home over the past few months. 

Anna Braithwaite, M&S’s Clothing & Home Marketing Director said: “We’re reshaping the future of M&S Clothing with relevant product for how our customers are living and working in 2022. This spring our new products are all about offering our customers the very best everyday style, quality and value for a season of socialising – whatever the weather - and all made with quality at the heart of their design – from fabric to fit. Our campaign aims to show this off with a confident, playful, and fun campaign set to an incredibly iconic and feel-good track.”