Mrs M&S

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Am I the only person who thinks the concept of Mrs M&S is bollocks and finds the whole idea crap?

When I heard this I thought "good, they've listened to MN", but as usual everyone's moaning. They can't win.

Traditionally women shopping at M&S were looking for classic clothes in standard colours of a good quality. They were always seen as slightly more expensive than similar stores but you paid for the quality of the cloth.

In recent years they've tried and failed miserably to appeal to a younger trendier customer and in doing so have lost their original customer base. Plus they are clearly cutting corners with the quality. I've always bought cotton pants at M&S. I've got some in my drawer from when I used to be a size 12 (a couple of decades ago now) and the new ones aren't a patch on them. The material is thinner and they seem to tear easily.

I see what they are doing now as trying to get back on track.

So are we saying the wardrobe staples of the fifty year old and the investment purchases of the thirty year old? Restrained classic chic cut to flatter the bodies of a middle aged woman? Everything will cost more than H&M or Uniqlo, but it will cost less than Cos etc.

Everyone's moaning - because they haven't actually listened. They could win if they did - instead of nodding, agreeing wholeheartedly and then going off and coming up with the horrors linked to above and a patronising mythical customer called Mrs M&S.

I don't think it's good business practice to tell a massive chunk of your potential customer base that they're not the target market of your store - simply by using the word Mrs, let alone any of the other patronising style bollocks. And the random swinging between 'our target market is... Alexa Chung!' and 'our target market is... the cast of Dinnerladies!' just makes their management look clueless.

No no no no no no no.

No.

And the random swinging between 'our target market is... Alexa Chung!' and 'our target market is... the cast of Dinnerladies!' just makes their management look clueless*

Many (retail) businesses profile and then name their core customer. And yes many of them are female as they are the majority shopper in that particular retailer. I think the mistake here is the surrounding terminology, not the fact they are targetting 'Mrs M&S'

I think M&S should ditch having to make an appointment for a bra fitting, ban polyester, make clothes with more of a shape, and get rid of the pointless Sparks Card.

But surely the profile of M&S's customer is just too broad to narrow down like this? There aren't many shops that have such a wide demographic.

M&S seem to want to be all things to all people - Twiggy ->Alexa Chung. It doesn't work. They don't seem to be satisfying anyone.

I don't think it's too wide. I think they are trying to make it too wide (Alexa Chung v Twiggy v that awful Jordan Dunn collection) rather than focusing on providing well cut basics to a certain demographic. Other brands manage it - they just don't try to be all things to all wo/men.

I'm sure brands like Uniqlo, Cos etc do have target customers, but they have the good sense to be discreet about them, to avoid putting off anyone who doesn't identify with the target group.

M&S has made a mistake by having celebs as the face of its brand, IMO. It's a lose-lose because it is not seen as authentic (does anyone believe that Twiggy would wear this in real life?) so it doesn't attract customers who might have an affinity for the celeb, but it also puts off customers who don't identify with her. Though I always think that Twiggy looks very stylish IRL, I wouldn't shop from her range because I'd assume it was aimed at women 20 odd years older than me. Equally, I think Alexa Chung is stylish but in a stick-thin fashionista way that's unsuited for those of us who aren't paid to attend club openings in Tribeca so I'm not interested in anything she's flogging either.

Having a face of a brand can work well for a brand with a small target audience, but that isn't M&S. When I hear "Mrs M&S", the woman who comes to mind is Mrs Bouquet

Praying M&S start to get it right because they're the only place that has the right shape clothes for me. They were the only place you could get on-waist jeans for a decade when low cut (muffin top) jeans were 'in'.

Agree please focus on basics like nice quality jumpers, jackets, jeans etc. With Boden and John Lewis as your example. Wearable colours and no frills/buttons/sequins. (Please god not Primark and H&M - their fabrics are tat. It's not a race to the bottom).

So shall we do a petition and write to this new chap then?

M&S may be going down the shitter but this thread has had me wheezing (thanks, chest infection). Still laughing like Muttley at 'Johnnie fears breasts' and 'apologetic cardigans'

SirChenjin Thu 26-May-16 14:34:28
Ahhhh - got you now

Sorry, wasn't able to come back earlier, but LunaLoveg00d is right.

Found under their what to wear to a wedding section...

I'd only wear this if I wanted to channel Marlon Brando.

M&s need to concentrate on good quality classics such as little black dresses, decent work suits. Quality basics such as thick cotton t-shirts, good thickness leggings. As well as in trend more seasonal stuff, so party season dresses, wedding outfits, holiday wear.

I think this last part is where they go wrong. They need to sack their designers and scrap Per Una. They need different stylists for their different ranges. So concentrating on younger women with
Indigo, more middle aged women with their Collection and then older women with Classic? They need to get rid of other ranges such as limited edition, twiggy, etc. It's too confusing. Three different ranges, sportswear and lingerie. It's too confusing at the minute.

Why do they even need different ranges? Just make some nice clothes and we'll decide for ourselves if they suit us. What they could do is show the same garment styled in different ways, a bit like that weekly feature in the Guardian. I don't want a shop to decide what I should be wearing based on my age.
What they could do is offer a range of cuts to suit different body shapes BUT I don't want to wear a specially branded PER NORKA range for the large of tit.

No no no - I am in my sixties and I would rather die than wear the Classic range. What do we want - not pastel embroidered cardigans. When do we want them - never!

Yuk ! I'm thinking twin set & pearls.....vom

Also don't understand shops that don't have a proper tall range - all my trousers are from Gap because they sell a 36" leg not a pathetic 31" like most high street stores. I'm not even that tall, only 5'9" - I know plenty of women who tower over me, and half the girls in DD's Y7 class are enviably willowy already. That's your future customer, M&S, and you're only offering plus size and petite.

I think I'm probably the type of customer they are aiming for too, but buy less there every year
My current pet hate is the attempt to cut costs buy making so many of their tops shirts and t shirts and even jackets on the short side (I'm 5'4") so no giant! Also so much collarless stuff, strange necklines that don't suit anyone with breasts - need I go on
I still buy knickers and jeggings, even the footwear feels frumpy apart from the odd item such as some indigo boots which I nearly wore out last winter
Stock levels are also strange, I went in to buy some relaxed skinnies last week and could not find a single pair!

Thanks to this thread, ads for the farrier trousers, cow print slacks and sleeveless pink monstrosity are now clogging up my screen

Today I went to M&S with dh. We bought some outdoor glasses (!) and a load of food.

The clothes... well, I think it's difficult to navigate your way around. Let's say you want some trousers. Am I a Limited person? Or an Autograph person? Or an Indigo person? Or a Per Una person?

Actually I think the Classic Collection is good. There are many mature people who want to shop in M&S and I think those clothes are indeed classic and hitting the spot.

In the spirit of research I went in the Per Una bit and it was horrid. But - it was quite busy. Those clothes seem to strike a chord with some people. I would say that those looking there were 60+.

The underwear is rank. Who wants all that brightly-coloured or patterned stuff? If I wanted a nylon pink spotty bra and matching nylon sweat-inducing knickers I'd go to Asda.

Agree with someone upthread who said NOOOO to sleeveless tops. The only woman over 50 who can wear sleeveless tops is Michelle Obama and she spends three hours a day in the gym.

They definitely need to pare down and go for plain quality pieces. If people want trendy clothes, then the average person does not want to pay an above average price for something that'll be out of style in a season.