M&S hopes for #magicandsparkle as Christmas campaign debuts
The M&S Christmas ad gets its first airing on mainstream television during Coronation Street in the UK tonight. The campaign made an online and social media debut on YouTube on Monday.
M&S announced its ninth consecutive quarter of falling sales yesterday.
Food sales are up but clothing continues to fall against high street competition. This is where M&S needs to be investing. Wander around a M&S store and you'll see for yourself.
Attention is on the crucial Christmas trading period.
Investors need to see a turnaround in the company’s fortunes to have continued faith in CEO Marc Bolland’s long term transformation of the business. Let’s not forget he’s not the new CEO anymore. He’s been in role since 2010.
The two minute ad uses fairy stories including Alice in Wonderland, Arabian Nights, Little Red Riding Hood and The Wizard of Oz as a narrative asking viewers to believe in magic.
M&S has kickstarted engagement with customers on Twitter using a hashtag #magicandsparkle in a bid to drive sales. It has been pushing links on its website to products from the ad for the past 48 hours.
You've seen the ad - now recreate your own Hatter's Tea Party with our festive homeware! > http://t.co/PmTy9gV3j5 #MagicandSparkle
— M&S (@marksandspencer) November 5, 2013
There are also images from the ad on Instagram and a behind the scenes video on YouTube.
The ad is firmly targeted at a grown-up audience. Despite the fairy tale theme there is little to appeal to children. That probably doesn’t matter as its parents that have the spending power.
The M&S ad is a beautiful piece of creative with exceptional production standards staring Brits Helena Bonham Carter, David Gandy, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.
The question is whether the #magicandsparkle Christmas campaign is enough to provide some magic and sparkle for M&S.
Undoubtedly it is a great campaign that will get attention. But M&S needs to address issues with its core product. A sprinkle of magic and sparkle is all very well but it won't necessarily translate directly to income.
