Marks & Spencer

1)  methodology of the company is based around 5 key principles; Trust, Innovation, Value, Service and Quality

2) The first television advert of the 1950’s showed many traits and similarities to that of Hollywood films. This is because during the 1950’s Britain and the rest of the world were experiencing a massive economic boom, allowing regular citizens to afford products, which once would have been unimaginable, such as a television. This marked a new era in advertising for the company, giving a direct form of exposure of new products in the home of the customers, revolutionising how they viewed products. The advert itself reflects aspirational values, showing and attractive man and women styling products, in a house, which has been furnished with M&S Products, and displaying the ease and comfort of all of the products involved.

The Marks And Spencer's Food Advert in 2005 created massive amounts of appeal for the Food side of the company, and boosted sales into it becoming a known national brand for food shopping. The advert  focuses on the quality of the food, portraying that it is indefinitely the best on the market. The use of extreme close up to get a good view of the product and maintain the audiences focus on the product only. The voiceover is in a very seductive voice which is unheard of for a food advert, and makes it much more appealing. It uses a number of different foods, from chicken, to wine, showing a variety of products. The slow motion camera shot makes the adverts again more appealing.

3) The 125 years advert uses a number of different methods to represents its core ideas, as well as reinforce it coherent brand identity. The celbreity used is none other than Twiggy, who has been the face of Marks & Spencer since 1967. This adds familiarity with the older generation, and adding a sense of heritage to the overall advert. The advert starts with Twiggy in front of a Penny Bazzar, which correlates to the history of Marks & Spencer itself, starting right from there. The shots are framed carefully and the transitions between each decade are very smooth and put emphasis on the nature of the business. It mentions times of empowerment, such as freeing housewife’s, which will correspond to the target audience well. At the end of the advert, Twiggy says, ‘Not bad for a Penny Bazzar” which brings the whole advert full circle, and finishes the advert on a positive. The advert is only 60 seconds in length, but as mentioned in the story board, any longer would have made the advert too long, and loose the impact of the key ‘125 Years’. The advert manages to encompass all of the products sold by Marks & Spencer, and mentioned key facts about innovations, such as Sell By Dates, and Tumble Dry Suits. In all the advert is very carefully constructed in order to capture the essence of the company, through its 125 years. 

4) The Autumn 2007 advert was filmed on the Orient Express, and in Venice, two very iconic locations. The train is a first class long distance passenger train, and is designed to imitate that of traveling in an old fashioned steam train. It is very luxurious, and adds to the nature of the M&S brand. There ending destination is Venice, which is a very upmarket area, and usually an area associated with fashion designers. This connotes a very fashionable brand, but relies on the audience to realise that the brand it very much closer to home.