M&S - Expectations, Environment and Experience

Marks and Spencer (M&S), along with most ‘legacy’ retailers, has had a tumultuous decade. A combination of changing tastes, fragmentation of choice and eCommerce. I’m sure there are many under 35 year olds who, beyond the grocery only stores (‘Simply Food’), have never set foot in a branch.

And that’s a pity.

Overcome the stigma and perceived lack of lifestyle relevance and a consumer will find choice and value.

But that’s not going to happen because M&S is a retailer that caters for a very wide range of customer which ultimately ends up excluding a younger and more fashion driven shopper.

Now, I’ll admit (see the use of the word ‘admit’) to buying menswear from M&S on a regular basis but these visits are like dawn raiding parties - in and out - bright lights, unimaginative displays and fellow customers who range from 8 months to 88 years just don’t add up to a retail experience which fosters deeper loyalty and more engagement.

But on Saturday something blew my mind.

It started with a perfectly served sponsored post on Instagram.

And then a bit more info;

I then did what the manager behind the Instagram media buy had hoped for and changed my plans so that I could go to Soho later that day and check it out.

The motivation was mainly professional interest, ‘pop-ups’ have gone from being a truly innovative environment to create a bit of buzz to a cynical effort to sell, I wanted to see for myself.

The outside did not prepare me for the inside;

The magic happened inside, contemporary and spare with relaxed and informal assistants the focus was very much on the edited selection of new menswear (all available in a normal M&S store, incidentally) entirely unremarkable in the context of a fashion pop-up in Soho.

So what made “Mike and Tom’s” Pop Up so special ? Simply put it wasn’t Marks & Spencer !

It WAS Marks & Spencer clothing, it WAS Marks & Spencer prices and it WAS Marks & Spencer staff.

But it was clearly NOT a Marks & Spencer environment which meant the clothing did not come with ‘baggage’. This curated offering was not compromised by ‘t-shirts for toddlers’ or ‘vests for grandad’ it felt like Hugo Boss clothing for M&S prices.

As a relatively loyal current customer who is used to wading through the store to the appropriate sections this was a mind-blowing experience.

But it was also a sobering one.

It sharply highlighted the significant challenge facing the brand - if someone like me was surprised how would someone who had previously shunned the brand react.

So what next ?

It would be tempting to recreate an environment which recreated the pop-up inside existing large stores but that would not solve the ‘threshold’ issue, actually getting someone through the door.

Over the weekend I thought what would I do ?

(1) Identify key cities with a significant proportion of target demographic.

(2) Repeat the ‘pop-up’ environment but in short lease stores (12 months max) - let’s be honest malls and high streets are awash with property inventory.

(3) Have two prices on every item - a ‘purchase there and then’ price and, for a few pounds less an ‘online’ price. Minimal stock levels now required and a digitally savvy consumer who is used to buying online can.

(4) Use the data on these new customers to constantly get the offering right and reward them in the store environment with events and thought leadership and some solid mentoring.

The problem with Marks & Spencer is that it is a retail behemoth (although getting smaller and smaller as it loses share) and that successive CEOs look for the magic bullet. It’s not one bullet but many.

By deconflicting contemporary menswear from the rest of the Marks & Spencer brand not only can a profitable sub-business be created but a new generation of consumer will have their views changed on the master brand.

Repeating this with other parts of the business could work.

It’s time the company turned the old maxim ‘the whole is greater than the sum of parts’ on its head - focus on the parts !

About The Author

The author is a brand consultant and founder of Mission Critical, a highly focused and curated weekly briefing for time poor and information hungry decision makers and THE FIRST, a monthly briefing containing 31 inspirational insights.