Not such a Merry Christmas? M&S in the middle of a Christmas race row

Far be it for The Brand Avenger to chime into an issue that can be as controversial as religion however I think it would be fair to say M&S will face a tricky challenge to their brand reputation following the recent news that Muslim staff have the right to refuse sales of meat and alcoholic products at till.

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1225674/m-s-faces-revolt-muslim-staff-exemption-rules

Regardless of whether you believe it is right or wrong for religious concessions to conflict with customer service it is clear M&S are in the middle of a controversy they wouldn’t want their brand associated with. At this time of year where retail sales flourish and meat and alcohol purchases spike, no retailer wants to be at the center of a storm that leads to such polar opposite views on the rights and wrongs. 

M&S have moved quickly to issue an apology for the stance taken by the staff member, citing that as an all-inclusive business all religious concessions are tolerated and accepted. In many ways they have done everything they can to demonstrate a caring and considerate view towards the issue however will this be enough to calm the issue?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25488259

The media won’t certainly let the retailer nor the public forget about the recent news anytime soon. As long as the media continue to cover the story over the coming days M&S will spend Christmas in controversy. The exact time when the controversy will end will depend on how much of a stir is created on Twitter and how far the issue progresses. Let’s hope for the sake of the M&S brand the incident on Saturday is treated as a storm in a teacup as opposed to anything more major.

And Merry Christmas to all those who have followed The Brand Avenger this year.

Why have Marks & Spencer's sales declined?

For over 100 years Marks and Spencer has been an institution on the UK High Street. This isn't a brand that has popped up over night as part of the digital revolution or developed as part of a multi-national strategy. M&S is as British as tennis, Eastenders and Sunday Dinners. Should we therefore be worried that the brand has experienced a recent decline in brand perception?

http://www.brandindex.com/article/ms-brand-perception-matches-fall-sales

M&S has recently experienced a tempestuous time when it comes to its trade and sales figures. 2010 was a particularly challenging time that led to a complete overhaul of the leadership team. Since that point M&S worked hard to turn the tide with particular emphasis on addressing the negative public perception and improving the reputation of the company. Initially the turnaround was a success for M&S and going into 2012 this led to improved sales and a steady growth for the company. However, the recent decline in brand perception is inline with a decline in sales of the M&S clothing range. Does this lead us to believe that the British public has fallen out of love with M&S fashion?

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/apr/19/why-marks-spencer-lose-edge

As a jack of all trades M&S run the risk of positioning themselves as a master of none, and this maybe particularly prevalent in the fast pace world of fashion. Primark are clearly positioned at the price sensitive end of the market with strong competition from Tesco and Asda and I won’t even try to list the amount of brands that position themselves towards the mid to upmarket end. I struggle to try and determine where M&S sees itself and its clothing product offering in the UK market. Taking this into consideration I’m not too surprised that clothing is bringing the rest of Marks & Spencer’s estate down.

You have to question if life would be made easier for M&S if there were clear insight decisions driving the ranging of clothing within its stores. You would struggle to find Tesco ranging clothing within its Express format. Now of course M&S don’t have the luxury of smaller size formats on the UK High Street so essentially have to offer all ‘under one roof’. One-size fits all may have worked fine in the past but the UK consumer in today’s world have a plethora of choice, particularly when you consider the growing number of multi-channel savvy consumer who will shop around before making a choice. It may therefore be little surprise that M&S continue to experience decline in an area of the store with no clear direction or targeting of a segment of the market.

Alarm bells won’t be ringing yet but M&S have a clear decision they need to make when it comes to the product offering. How long will the decision makers continue to support a clothing range if it isn’t fit for purpose in today’s age? Growth is essential for long-term stability and there are clear differences in the performance of categories within the chain. They can stick or twist with the clothing range but if they continue to support it The Brand Avenger would like to see a clear mission statement and a focus on one segment of customer as opposed to continuing to be a lost cause in the multi-channel world of fashion.