In a stylish programme collaboration with ITV, the M&S brand stepped beyond ‘brilliant basics’ and into the world of premium fashion, supercharging its style credentials and accelerating its revival.

A little background

On the back of the huge success of M&S Food’s Cooking With The Stars on ITV (the UK’s most successful AFE), M&S wanted to continue using entertainment to change the nation's perceptions of their offering. But this time we’d move the focus away from food and onto fashion.

Throughout 2022/23, M&S Home & Clothing’s recovery was taking off, by reminding British shoppers of their ‘brilliant basics’.

Whilst it was making headway with higher-value style and desirability, they wanted to go further, by reaching a new, younger audience, and showcasing the range and availability of products both in store and online. From ‘athleisure’ to lingerie, and everything in between.

Our Insight

Desirability has SCALE.

One way to show to the public the value of the M&S brand was to show what it means to other people – namely, the designers who put in the effort to make M&S’s clothes.

M&S will always be accessible and ‘for everyone’, but to shift perceptions around style, we needed a show where M&S wasn’t just the clothing provider – it was the PRIZE!

If designers competed to work with the brand, viewers would see its true value.

The Big Idea

Through M&S: Dress The Nation, we’d launch a nationwide search for the best up-and-coming designer, exploring a range of styles and trends, guided by talent, critiqued by judges, with the top prize of winning a job as M&S’s next designer.

Making It Happen

M&S: Dress The Nation aired on ITV1 primetime and streamed on ITVX, from Tuesday 17th September 2024, at 8 pm. The series ran for a total of six hour-long episodes.

The show was hosted by two of the nation’s favourite TV presenters, the chic AJ Odudu and the dashing Vernon Kay.

M&S: Dress The Nation documented the search process from start to finish. Across the 6-week series, 10 candidates worked alongside some of the best designers in the industry, including Bella Freud and Vogue Williams.

Each week a judging panel - made up of senior leaders at M&S alongside a rotation of celebrity guests and designers - selected which budding designers would progress to the next round, based on their design’s wearability and saleability.

Celebrity guests included:

• Mel B

• Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

• Alex Scott

• Ian Wright

David Olaniyi, a 37-year-old former professional dancer from London, won the series. For his final challenge, David crafted a ‘capsule partywear collection’ and earned design placements in selected M&S stores and online.

Off-screen, M&S extended the Dress The Nation brand online and instore with extra content including what the judges wore, website features and instore themed merchandise.

Results

Across the series 7 million viewers enjoyed the competition, with audience engagement evidenced by the sustained viewing figures across the series.

But the real result was felt by the brand. M&S: Dress The Nation helped improve brand perception across all key audience measures, including a 10% increase in consideration to shop at M&S (moving up two spots in the rank of retailers who “help viewers keep up with the latest fashion trends”), cementing M&S as the UK’s No.1 seller of quality clothing.

Client Quote

Best Advertiser-Funded Programme or Entertainment