2022

STRATEGIC
MARKETING
REPORT
 EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

Marks & Spencer being one of the players in the very

competitive UK retail market, has been through many ups and
downs during its lifetime. It has seen its fair share of
controversies and enjoyed its share of brand equity.
Recently though, Marks and Spencer’s market share is going
down gradually each year, its food and wine business only
captures around 3% of the whole food retail market. They have
been facing these issues due to many factors which the
company officials have neglected to acknowledge. In this
report, I try to find out the core, pressing problems which M&S
is facing and try to offer some solutions and suggestions for the
same.

The root cause of mostly all the problems M&S is facing is the
fact that they do not have their target market clear. Their
annual reports mentions that their primary customers are
females over 45 years of age, but their product range in the
stores state something else. They are still very confused
between dealing with high fashion or daily wear. Other factor
that is dragging M&S down is their resistance to adopt new
technologies early on and integrating those in their operations.
Their online business is very slow because the loading time of
their website is high.
EXECUTIVE
S U M M A R Y cont.

Where its competitors like NEXT, Asos, Zara etc. are very active
in updating their style and inventory, M&S is stuck behind on
the trend race. By sculpting a clear target market and
demographic they could focus on their core business while
reducing or closing the businesses that cost more than what
they earn. Updating their online platforms weather, it be their
website or social media is of utmost importance. Engagement
rate of NEXT and Asos are through the roof, while M&S gets
around half of the rave online. Introducing innovative products
like exclusive merch, vegan, dairy-free food range could also
help spark up the excitement. Taking a leap from traditional
marketing towards social and experiential marketing will also
work in their favor. I believe focusing on sustainable, ethical
sourcing and packaging of their products can also give them an
edge against the competitors.
Marks and Spencer have lost their core identity somewhere
along the way trying to be something for everyone, I believe it’s
time for M&S to go back to their roots and position itself as the
go-to brand for its demographic in the market it operates in by
using some of the suggestions made in this report.
 BACKGROUND
AND PROBLEM
IDENTIFICATION

Marks and Spencer is a brand that has been here for around
138 years now. Starting as a small business in Leeds, England, it
has now become a global brand. When looked broadly, it is a
global brand, but when looking into its operations more
minutely, its not performing well within many markets due to its
short- sightedness, along with many other factors.

Marks and Spencer in the UK market is a very common name,

although only being known doesn’t generate profits. They are
often more than not talked about in a negative context
nowadays which thus diminishes the word-of-mouth promotion
benefits which they could have enjoyed.

The biggest problem that Marks and Spencer is facing is that of

Brand Identity. They are not able to create an image which is
cohesive among all the markets they operate in. They are not
clear who their primary customer is, and that is where every
further strategy they come up with goes downhill.
According to the data from ComScore, Marks and Spencer’s
current customer base consists majorly of females who are
over 35 in age. Even though this demographic has huge
spending power, M&S still don’t earn much and have enough
profits to sustain them. In the financial year 2021, they
suffered a huge overall loss of 201.2 million euros.
Marks and Spencer is stuck on its historical ways of dealing with
the market, which was slow gradual changes in their operations,
marketing, etc. this strategy is not working out for them
anymore though. With the retail market changing so rapidly,
Marks and Spencer need to up their game and come about with
some innovative strategies to retain their customer base and to
attract a new segment of consumers.

Some issues which requires M&S’s immediate attention are:

PROBLEM ONE:
No clear target audience

The biggest hurdle that M&S is facing right now is that of not
having a clear target demographic. Their product range, in
the clothing context, is so diverse and unrelated that it is not
able to attract and retain any one demographic. Their
current customer base consists of around 72% females and
28% males. Even though their customer population is
relatively older (with around 30%, 45 and above), their
product range sometimes offers hideous designs and very
bold colors which does not attract its primary customers.
Out of the 72% female customers around 25% of those
females are 55+ and with M&S primarily focusing on their
needs for functionality, it is losing out on 47% of younger
population.
The price range for their different businesses is also not
cohesive, making the customer more confused. M&S is trying to
do something for every demographic which is making them not
able to excel in any of them. By sculpting out a more focused
and detailed market segment, they could increase their profits
relatively.

PROBLEM TWO:
Technological Resistance

M&S’s biggest drawback against its competitors is the fact

they are very slow to adopt new technology. Being in this
dynamic world of retail, customer’s loyalties are now shifted
based on minute details, due to them taking their own time
in introducing technologies as basic as using one’s credit
card, they lost a big chunk of their customers back then. In
recent times, their slow loading website, with clunky and
bad UI, and their faulty mobile application is leading them
down the same path again.

PROBLEM THREE:
Product Innovation and wider variety

Compared to its competitors like Tesco and Sainsburys,

M&S is way behind new and innovative products in its food
category. After clothing, food and wine section is from
where majority of their profits come from. They are still
selling the same stuff and brands which they sold 10-20
years ago, while its competitors have brought in innovative
products like RTE categories, vegan, and dairy free ranges
etc. M&S’s private brand simply food is very good quality but
often lacks in varieties and trendy food.
PROBLEM FOUR
Brand Identity

With all the ups and downs M&S have been through, with its
clothing business in particular, they have lost their identity
of being the traditional British brand that they once use to
enjoy. After they cut ties with their British manufactures in
1991, the brand has been seen in the same light as the other
fast-fashion brands in the market. Even after some 20+
years, they’re still stuck in the same dilemma of high fashion
or trendy staples, young or old, which they were stuck in
before. By trying to do everything, they’ve lost their
creditability in the market and has given way to a very
confused customer base. People are confused weather they
sell high end clothes or daily wear cheap stuff, weather
they’ll find stuff for the mother or the children, M&S needs
to focus its attention on one thing and do it well. They need
to get their brand story correct and into people’s minds.
Strategic Pathways M&S could follow to solve the
aforementioned issues:

As mentioned above, the firm is trying to do something for

every demographic there is and it’s not working out for
them. They need to focus all their attention in a specific
direction and get results from there. As seen from the
comScore analysis, their majority of customers are females
and are aged 35 and above. By focusing solely on them and
removing the fringe products which this demographic
doesn’t have interest in, could not only reduce their costs
but would also increase profits. They are already popular
among this population and ditching them to start with a
younger demographic would cause a bunch of problems
with their brand image. This 35+ aged group also sits well
for M&S’s other departments like the food and wine
category, and M&S Home, which comes at a premium price
that the younger demographic would be hesitant to buy.
Keeping in mind their demographic, they should use and
simplify the technology accordingly. With majority of their
population being older, it does not make sense to invest
in AI, rather what they could work upon is strengthening
their online platforms and building trust around them.
Again, keeping in mind, the older demographic, updating
their website with a simpler UI which makes it easier to
browse, should be on their priority list. Adding big and
bold call to action buttons on each webpage could also
aid in the final purchase decision. Working with other big
e-commerce players like Amazon, along with their own
website, could also increase online sales and drive profits.

Diversity is at the heart of everything, if M&S want to

improve their market share and increase their profits,
they need to be more diverse in every category there is.
Their product catalogue needs serious updating, adding
new and innovative options to their shelves could attract
more customers in. For their clothing department, they
could add trendy, yet classy and stylish version of dresses
and business suits, keeping their demographic in mind.
Collaborations with other brands such as Van Heusen,
which deals in the same market of stylish chic garments,
to create an exclusive range could also spark in some
interest and differentiate them from their competitors
such as NEXT and Asos. In order to attract younger
demographic, they could also introduce business casuals
for young professionals, again keeping in tune with their
stylish chic brand persona.
For their food dimension, they could work upon adding
innovative and trendy foods, adding vegan, dairy-free,
health conscious, natural and organic range could also bring
back the spark that M&S used to have in the beginning. M&S
food being a premium priced brand, only allows the older
population with deep pockets to buy, introducing a cheaper
brand or a “budget range”, could also help attract the
younger demographic with limited and shallow pockets.

Tweaking their marketing efforts in a way that suits the

chosen demographic is yet another path they can choose to
walk. Including elements of experiential marketing, through
in-house activities like giving away free coffee at the M&S
café, at particular days, opening up separate areas like soft
playgrounds, gaming centers for mothers to drop off their
kids while shopping etc, could work well in their favour.
Right now, their store concept provides different areas for
food and clothing, combining them both (to an extent) into
the same space could make the customers feel more
relaxed and make shopping at an M&S store an experience,
instead of a chore.
They could put some snacks and bagged items with a
scanning device, near clothing stalls, so the customer can
munch on them while doing shopping. They could also start
loyalty points for their customers via the M&S credit cards.
As the older population is mostly active on Facebook and
Quora, including those platforms for their social media
marketing could help in creating awareness within the
demographic.

Another plan they could adopt is cutting down on brands

and other businesses that aren’t very profitable and focus
on its cash cows, i.e, the clothing and food business. M&S
has a wide array of business ranging to clothes to home
décor and furniture. Its majority of earnings comes from the
clothing business followed by food and home décor. M&S
furniture is a business that is costing more than it is earning.
Being a bulky product, they require huge physical spaces
which adds to the costs and leaves behind very minimal
profits.
Closing that down, could give M&S extra resources to focus
on its more profit generating businesses. Also, Home décor
business, being the third in earning capacity, could also
benefit from updated, new and ‘in’ products. There is a wave
of D-I-Y projects that is coming around in every category, the
home décor segment could benefit from incorporating that
into its products, which may result in attracting and engaging
customers more than before.

By updating their business model into a sustainable one

and focusing on their corporate social responsibility, M&S
could turn around the negative brand image narrative into
a clean and positive one. M&S being big in their food
business, could start there by providing sustainable
packaging, incorporating zero waste supply chains, organic
range etc. Food packaging being one of the biggest
contributors towards plastic waste, would create a lasting
impact if made biodegradable or recyclable.
 M&S is a big retail brand, which no doubt puts many
small retailers, local farmers, and small producers out
of business, helping them by sourcing and producing its
products through them, instead of big manufacturers
overseas, they could help the society while also meeting
their own demands. Sourcing their garments ethically
would also help in building back their lost brand image
and reputation.

CONCLUSION
Marks and Spencer being a well renowned brand enjoys
some benefits from loyal customers, but it is not to be
neglected that recently, sales are going down. There are
many factors which affect this, and M&S is doing what it can
to overcome those. I suggest some pathways that they can
follow to increase their market share and attract more
customers than before. By changing up their marketing
strategy to add elements of experiential and social marketing
into it, along with other operational changes, they could once
again capture the market slowly but surely.