Case Study

Marks & Spencer lifts brand metrics by bringing its Christmas campaign to Twitter

Key results

11pp
increase in association

12%
increase in favourability

11–37%
increase in recall

The opportunity

Marks & Spencer (@marksandspencer) faced tough conditions in 2016 having lost relevance with women aged 45-plus. It spotted an opportunity to emotionally reconnect with its core audience of female shoppers when discovering that almost half of British women consider there to be a lack of strong female role models today. @marksandspencer built its Christmas campaign around a new, relatable character of Mrs Claus; representing the values and personality of women across the UK. M&S wanted to build anticipation around the upcoming launch of its #LoveMrsClaus campaign, and once itsTV ad had premiered, the retailer used social media platforms including Twitter as a way to encourage its lost audience to emotionally engage with the campaign, and share their Christmas wishes.

The strategy

Twenty-four hours before #LoveMrsClaus premiered on TV, @marksandspencer ran a video teaser on Twitter to drive curiosity and tune-in. The next day, the ad was shared on Twitter at the same time it aired on TV. Using TV targeting, @marksandspencer aimed to reach and engage people who were watching as the ad premiered. Moreover, to reach more audiences interested in Christmas shopping, @marksandspencer also used competitor and event targeting.

The day after the ad launched, #LoveMrsClaus topped the trending topics list for 24 hours as a Promoted Trend. A custom #LoveMrsClaus gave people an extra incentive to join the conversation.

Creators, who shared engaging content with M&S’s target audience, were brought on to develop content reflecting what its customers would be going through during the build up to Christmas. Working with three lifestyle creators (@F_of_Daughters, @dollybowbow, @katelavie) and two animators (@Katy_Beveridge, @dylan_blau), the excitement of Christmas was brought to life with M&S at the heart of each piece. Content was whitelisted, with the animations also being uploaded on M&S channels.

Tags
  • Retail
  • Create Engagement
  • Case Study
  • Audience Targeting

01

Create pre-launch anticipation.

Running its video teaser with details of when to watch for the new ad created buzz and drove tune-in for the #LoveMrsClaus premiere.

 

02

Extend your TV ad onto more screens.

By using its TV ad as a Promoted Video on Twitter, @marksandspencer reached audiences who had missed the ad the on air, whilst giving people who had already seen #LoveMrsClaus on TV the opportunity to share and engage with the ad on Twitter. The ad was supported by a Promoted Trend; allowing @marksandspencer to ensure that Twitter users across the UK were exposed to #LoveMrsClaus across the weekend of its launch.

03

Encourage hashtag use with a custom emoji.

A special Mrs Claus custom emoji was designed to appear when people Tweeted #LoveMrsClaus, @marksandspencer. This meant that Mrs Claus could converse directly with the thousands of Twitter users talking about her; helping to gain organic reach for the campaign.

 

04

Amplify campaign messaging by partnering with creators.


Partnering with creators who shared authentic and bespoke content featuring M&S products helped to position M&S as the place to shop at Christmas. The strategy enabled M&S to profit from the creators’ followers; connecting with new, highly engaged audiences.

 

The success

@marksandspencer reported that its #LoveMrsClaus campaign on Twitter succeeded in lifting brand metrics across the board. The brand found an 11 percentage point increase in people’s association of M&S with #LoveMrsClaus after four exposures to the Twitter campaign.

Among people who engaged with #LoveMrsClaus content on Twitter, M&S saw a 12% increase in brand favourability. People who saw #LoveMrsClaus Tweets had an 11% uplift in brand recall compared to those who hadn’t. Recall increased to 37% among people who engaged with the Tweets. Creator posts for this campaign earned 86k organic engagements, with an engagement rate of 4.34%.

Twitter allowed us to open conversations in which a real-time response team created a human experience of Mrs. Claus among our target audience. Furthermore, the use of the trend generated strong results, allowing #LoveMrsClaus to have continuity across the weekend of launch.

Daniel Torres, Paid Social Manager, Mindshare UK.

Solutions used

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