How M&S Marketing Has Successfully ‘Moved with the Times’

What is that infamous “M&S difference”?

If its last years of astonishing growth and modernisation are anything to go off, it’s not quality and price. No, the M&S difference is diversified media marketing and employee-generated content. 

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Just a few years ago, it seemed the legend that is M&S was ready for the grave. The brand was deemed too old for the modern era, and it had all but lost relevance with young consumers. Fast-forward to today, and M&S marketing is being championed as some of the best in the industry. 

How did M&S crawl its way out of its early grave? Read on to find out. 

THE ORIGINS OF M&S MARKETING: QUALITY AND PRICE

M&S’s roots lay in a small market stall in Leeds, founded by Michael Marks in 1884. Marks’ stall rose to fame through its simple concept—everything was a penny, no matter what. 

This initial passion for quality products at reasonable prices has stayed at the heart of everything M&S does, inspiring the business’s ethos and actions some two hundred years later. 

Yet, it has not always been smooth sailing for the retail giant. Whilst M&S was the epitome of British commerce in the 1970s, by the 1990s it was struggling. 

Consumers’ tastes were evolving rapidly with the start of the 21st century. Fast-fashion houses like Zara and H&M were churning out thousands of products faster than ever before, permanently changing the way consumers think about price and quality. Consumers want cheap products of a reasonable quality, and they want plenty of them.

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The food industry was experiencing its own shakeup, too. The introduction of brands such as Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl meant consumers were no longer content paying higher prices for M&S’s goods. Why would they, when they could get the same thing down the road for half the price?

For M&S, this caused serious issues. The brand’s fashion sector all but came to a halt, with many believing the brand would close its clothing offerings. In 2019, it officially lost its place in the FTSE 100, a spot it had confidently held since the City share index came into existence in 1984. 

This delivered a massive blow to M&S’s previously squeaky clean reputation, seemingly cementing it as a grandma brand on the way out. 

Fast forward to today, a mere six years on, and its sales are performing better than ever. Young consumers are flocking to M&S stores, and it has a significant share of voice online and on social media. 

So, what changed? 

MODERN M&S MARKETING 

Between 2018 and 2021, M&S hired a whole host of new faces to help bring the brand out of the past and into the present. 

The new team included Sharry Cramond and Anna Braithwaite as a two-person marketing team, who started the brand on a completely new trajectory. At the core of this new M&S marketing strategy is diverse media and employee-generated content. 

In 2025, simply having a few TV ads and some billboards is not enough. Consumers want to be fully immersed in the story of a brand—they want out of home pop-ups, amazing TikTok accounts, and classic TV ads all in one. They want to be able to touch a brand no matter where they are. Anything less feels less than authentic, and half formed. 

M&S marketing recognised this and began to diversify its approach to media. The brand worked with ITV to create “Cooking with the Stars”, which ultimately went on to become the most successful ad-funded show in TV history. Seeing the popularity of this, it then launched Dawn French’s Christmas extravaganza, also to much success. 

In doing so, M&S marketing continues to target its more traditional TV consumers, who still look to their screens to find out about the latest deals. To reach its younger audience, the brand took to social media. 

This is where their employee-generated content approach comes into play. Rather than simply creating one large M&S social media account, the brand decided to do things a little differently. 

Initially created as a way to help spread information about local stores during the COVID-19 pandemic, M&S had each of its branches create its own TikTok account. Run by the employees themselves, each of these accounts has its distinct vibe and tone, reflecting the real people who work there. 

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For consumers, nothing is more refreshing than a brand that not only recognises its employees but also champions them. The accounts quickly rose to fame, inspiring M&S to keep them running long after their initial need wore off. Nowadays, the accounts rack in millions of views a month, filled with trends, challenges, and the real-life stories of those who pack your shopping. 

This two-pronged approach to M&S marketing, focusing on diversifying its media approach and activating employee-generated content, allowed it to re-ignite passion in its traditional audience whilst also gaining relevancy with Gen-Z and Gen-A consumers.

When coupled with diversifying its supply chain, speeding up the release of items, and focusing on more timeless, androgenous fashion pieces, M&S quickly found itself back on the map. 

THE GOLDEN ERA OF M&S MARKETING

Ultimately, M&S is one of the most successful brands of the year.

In an age filled with tacky rebrands and tactless marketing, it is refreshing to see a brand find a way to modernise itself without losing sight of its identity. Whats more, M&S isn’t stopping its innovation merely because it has gotten back on top. The brand continues to find new ways to revolutionise its model, such as expandiong its online shopping platform to includ major brands like Calvin Klein. It’s clear the M&S marketing team have no intentions of slowing down any time soon. 

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M&S isn’t the only retail giant finding ways to freshen itself up. John Lewis is quickly becoming a go-to for younger consumers, due to its own online shopping capabilities and successful social media marketing strategy. 

It seems old-school British retail houses are on the up. Who would’ve thought?

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