Changes in Advertising in Marks and Spencer - Essay Example

Marks and Spencer Introduction: At the beginning of the 21st century, the selling label on all M&S products was St Michael, and it sold mostly women’s clothes and children’s school uniforms under this logo (Chislett, 2009). The company initially placed most of its reliance on quality, but also developed the reputation of offering good value for money. Later, the Company branched into sales of food items, notably Christmas cakes and puddings. The company logo was changed to Marks and Spencer and then later in 2004, when Steve Sharp became the Marketing Director, it was changed again to M&S (Martinson, 2006). The Company has also revamped its advertising campaigns in other ways to contribute to enhanced productivity. Changes in advertising in Marks and Spencer: The conversion to the M&S logo spelt the dawn of a new era in marketing for the company. The Marketing Director, Steve Sharp, initiated several innovative advertising campaigns, such as using Twiggy to sell chocolate pudding; a campaign which was so successful that it increased sales of the pudding by 3500%.(www.guardian.co.uk). Another successful campaign was M&S’s advertising campaign to sell white granny knickers. Additionally, many M&S stores have been completely refurnished as a part of the new look of the retail outlet; the internal walls have been stripped down and glass barriers have been out up, black floors, chrome cabinets and skilful lighting have further refined the atmosphere of the stores so that the customer experience is enhanced and sales have improved. Sales have risen from $16,896.2 million to $17,990.8 million in 2008, although the recent recession has meant a sharp drop in sales revenues to $12,876.3 million (http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2112). Ethical initiatives: The latest developments in the advertising campaign of the Company are a focus on ethics. This is part of a five year plan titled Plan A, budgeted at 200 million pounds and is based on ethical trading initiatives.(Sweeney, 2009). This campaign is intended to highlight eco and green issues and the Company takes pride in its adherence to ethical initiatives even during a time of recession. As a part of this integrity focus, M&S has become one of the first Companies to clearly spell out the exact source for its entire diary and other produce on its labels (Mendick, 2009). This is an era where outsourcing has been increasingly favoured by most Companies as a means to cope with the rising costs of employing British workers and where globalization has produced an intensely competitive atmosphere in which cost effectiveness is vital. Marks and Spencer is however, profiting from directing its thrust towards sustainability and not opting for cheap labour and suspect ingredients (Martinson, 2006). M&S rather, advertises itself as a Company that does not resort to unethical practices like under-paying labour to gain a cost advantage, even in a recession. Future prospects for advertising and sales: In order to combat the losses in costs however, M&S has revised its advertising campaign yet again and opted to look into online retail sales. It has entered into a partnership with the Internet retailer Amazon, in order to create a new website that will become functional next year. (www.guardian.co.uk). Additionally, the new business strategy of the Company to ride out the recession is to strengthen its operations and stores in countries such as China, Central and Eastern Europe as well as India, where it plans to open about 50 stores. Recommendations for data collection programme: On the basis of the above, it may be seen that M&S has changed its public image as a quality retailer of clothing that is also good value for money and moved into a stage where its stores are stocked with a range of products. It has changed its logo over the years and sharpened its advertising campaigns and tactics in order to promote itself as a Company promoting sustainability and ethical practices. The benefits of this policy have not yet been demonstrated through an increase in sales; however it appears likely that it would improve M&S reputation among members of the public and lead to an increase in sales over the long term. In order to achieve increases in profits and weather the recession, M&S may need to focus upon (a) improving its operations overseas in countries such as China and India, in order to benefit from their better performing economies (b) increase its retail sales over the Internet (c) create and improve upon an interactive website. In order to improve profitability at M&S, recommendations for a primary data collection programme would include customer assessment reports carried out through survey questionnaires. A wide range study could be taken up, with Likert style questionnaires circulated among customers in M&S outlets across the U.K. In addition, questionnaires could also be circulated online to members of the general public and these questionnaires could seek to ascertain customer attitudes about M&S sustainability and ethics policies, new store layouts and product designs on numerical scales of 1 to 5, with 1 being “Strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”. Convenience sampling would therefore be the method used with questions being posed through the survey questionnaire and this could help to provide information about how the aspects being examined in the questionnaires could contribute to increased customer sales. It could also help determine customer attitudes and responses to the changes M&S has been bringing about over the years. References: Chislett, Helen, 2009. “Marks in time: 125 years of Marks and Spencer”, Weidenfield and Nicholson. Marks and Spencer: Basic Financial Information. Retrieved December 16, 2009 from: http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2112/subscribe/co/fin/factsheet.xhtml?ID=ffffcrrsstttyxxjyc&ticker=MAKSY Martinson, Jane, 2006. “Steve Sharp: Shy marketing whiz creating sparks at Marks”, The Guardian, June 23, 2006; Retrieved December 17, 2009 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/jun/23/marketingandpr.marksspencer Mendick, Robert, 2009. “Marks and Spender changes its labels in victory for “honest food” campaign”, The Telegraph, November 28, 2009; Retrieved December 17, 2009 from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/6677891/Marks-and-Spencer-changes-its-labels-in-victory-for-honest-food-campaign.html Sweeney, Mark, 2009. “Marks and Spencer trumpets ethical initiatives in ad campaign”, The Guardian, June 12, 2009; Retrieved December 17, 2009 from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/12/marks-spencer-advertising-ethical-plan Travel Lodge Introduction: Travelodge is well known across the U.K., because it has nearly 400 budget hotels across the U.K., Ireland and Spain where it is possible to get a room for £19 a night (http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:2112). The net income of the Company in 2008 was $12.6 million, while annual sales up to December were £415.4 million, registering a one year sales growth of 18.8%.(www.travelodge.co.uk). This has helped the Company to increase its profits and also to draw customers away from its competitors. Advertising strategy: There are three elements that go to make up a successful advertising campaign, i.e., focus, flexibility and consistency. The target market must be identified and Travelodge has been able to accomplish this through its sleepy bear campaign (Poor, 2002). The sleepy bear is the Travelodge mascot and its sleepy bear themes rooms are specifically targeted at families travelling with children. The rooms offer sleepy bear drapes, shower curtains, children’s chairs and bedspreads. This campaign also demonstrates flexibility, because it can run alongside other promotions. Thirdly, the campaign has also been consistent, because it has been successful enough over the long term to be used by franchisees. In order to combat recent recessionary trends, Travelodge has embarked upon a campaign to target the revenues of its competitors. It is using an independent price monitoring company to maintain a check on competitor activity, so that it can expose “rip-off hotel practices” and highlight the price gap that exists between its prices and that of its competitors (www.travelodge.co.uk). This strategy also appears to have been very successful because it has brought about a significant increase in the number of new customers who have moved over to use Travelodge services after patronizing rival hotel chains. The Company has a clear strategy and focus, i.e., its low price which it uses to attract as many customers as possible and in the current recessionary environment, it seems to be successful. In 2006, the hotel chain launched an online initiative to encourage customers to book rooms at Travelodge online. This involved an aggressive advertising campaign that was titled “hotel revolution” which seeks to highlight the new pricing structure, including everyday room rates of £26 and also to show how easy it is for customers to make online bookings.(Solley, 2006). Travelodge has also been creative in its advertising; by placing them in strategic locations. For example, the Company locates its advertising on trucks, which is able to capture a considerable section of the travelling public. Price conscious customers especially, are exposed to these advertisements and are likely to use Travelodge over other hotels. As Parsons, the Chief Executive officer of Travelodge says, he cannot understand why people would want to spent £200 a night to stay in a room when they are likely to spend most of their time outside during the rest of the day. Recommendations for data collection approach: On the basis of the above, it may be noted that Travelodge’s marketing campaign appears to be working. Its advertising campaign has been successful on all three counts – focus, flexibility and consistency. It also appears that its strategy to target its competitors is successful as well. From the perspective of price, it appears that Travelodge has a clear advantage. However, it is likely to improve its productivity and profitability further if it is also able to project an image of quality at the same time. This may be possible through Travelodge advertising itself as a brand name that has endured for a long time. In assessing the success of its advertising campaign thus far and the measures that could be taken to improve Travelodge’s image and reputation, data can be collected through the use of a survey questionnaire in the initial stages, which could be followed up with detailed interviews. Guests at Travelodge hotels could be requested to complete the survey instrument, in order to determine what the factors were affecting their choice of Travelodge as the place to stay. This would provide a basis to determine which aspects of the advertising campaign have been helpful in achieving the desired objectives. Participants would be selected through convenience sampling, because this is likely to be more reliable than random sampling, where not all participants are likely to have been guests at Travelodge. The results from the survey are likely to provide an indication about which factors have been responsible for participants’ selection of Travelodge. It would provide an indication of what is working and what is not, as well as an indication about whether a focus on brand name and quality would substantially improve Travelodge’s already high market share. References: Poor, Nancy, 2002. “Ingredients of a successful advertising campaign: focus, flexibility and consistency”, Franchising World, November 1, 2002; Retrieved December 17, 2009 from: http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/352952-1.html Solley, Samuel, 2006. “Profile: here to stay – Guy Parsons, Chief Operating Officer – Travelodge”, retrieved December 17, 2009 from: http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/534970/ “Travelodge targets rivals’ rip-off pricing with new price check”, Retrieved December 17, 2009 from: http://www.travelodge.co.uk/press_releases/press_release.php?id=338 Read More