M&S ramps up value message with price cuts and Status Quo TikTok push

M&S is doubling down on its ‘trusted value promise’ by cutting the price of 65 popular food lines and extending a separate price lock campaign.

The retailer has also enlisted veteran rockers Status Quo to update their 1977 hit Rockin’ All Over The World as a ‘value anthem’. The new version – Saving All Over The Store – will be played from today in all M&S stores and across the retailer’s social media channels.

The products dropped in price include ‘family favourites’ such as strawberries, bananas and tomato soup, and everyday staples in M&S’s Remarksable Value range. The 65 lines have come down in price by an average 6%. It builds on more than 200 price cuts in October, according to M&S.

Meanwhile, a price lock campaign has been extended until after Easter. The campaign first launched in 2022 and has been extended a number of times in three-month cycles. The price lock covers more than 100 products “from soups to shower gel”, though the exact line-up has been refreshed with each extension.

M&S’s recent quarter three trading update revealed the effectiveness of the campaign, reporting a 28% rise in sales of price-locked products.

M&S said its latest quarterly ‘Family Matters’ survey, to be published later this month, had found the proportion of respondents feeling optimistic about money over the next three months had dropped from 48% to 46% since October. Four in 10 said they would be consciously spending less and saving more in 2024, and value remained the top priority when deciding where to shop, above store location or range of products.

In light of the findings, M&S CEO Stuart Machin is this week set to write to customers promising “the best possible quality at the best possible price in the year ahead across food and clothing & home”, according to M&S.

M&S Food MD Alex Freudmann said: “Our customers are telling us value is still very much front of mind as we start off 2024. In response, we need to keep delivering on our trusted value promise – offering the best possible quality at the best possible price.

“Our value and quality perception are at their highest point in six years compared to the market, but we can’t be complacent. We need to keep our relentless focus on quality – making sure each and every product we offer has that M&S point of difference, from raising the bar on animal welfare to leading the way in responsible sourcing. All while, of course, offering that touch of M&S magic our 30 million customers know and love.”

“Turning up the volume on its commitment to unbeatable value” is also the aim of the Status Quo marketing push, according to an M&S spokeswoman. The collaboration marks one billion Remarksable Value product sales since M&S adopted the messaging in 2019.

The new lyrics refer to the Remarksable Value range, along with M&S’s popular Dine In meal deals and Dropped & Locked prices.

The idea came from the shop floor, when M&S retail sales manager Jack Norbury submitted a request directly to CEO Machin for a song store teams could use on their TikTok accounts. Norbury had previously racked up millions of views for the M&S Devizes TikTok account with his own value-themed videos.

Sharry Cramond, M&S director of food marketing and loyalty, said: “When we helped our stores launch their own social media accounts during lockdown, sharing vital information with local customers, I don’t think anyone could have predicted how much of a roaring success they’d still be – we now have over 1,000 store accounts and their videos receive 3.5 million views every week.

“It’s brilliant to see colleagues like Jack using their stores’ TikTok channels to shout about our incredible value. Thanks to them we’ve seen our value perception improve to its highest-ever level.

“Whether it’s our Remarksable Value ranges, our iconic Dine In deals, our Dropped & Locked prices, our bigger-pack better-value products, or our broad selection of Specials each month across fruit and veg, flowers, bakery and wine, we are truly challenging the status quo on value every day here at M&S Food.”

Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi said: “It’s not every day you get a call saying the marketing director at M&S Food has asked you to re-record one of your greatest hits for them. But sure, why not?

“Their new Purley Way store is my closest so the wife and I have been in there quite a bit – big fan of their Our Best Ever prawn sandwich, I must say.”

Some of M&S’s latest price cuts:

Price-locked products include:

• DNA Traceable Select Farms British extra-lean beef mince 5% fat (500g, £4.25)
• RSPCA Assured Select Farms British outdoor-bred pork unsmoked 10 back bacon rashers (300g, £2.80)
• British medium cheddar 10 slices, made at an award-winning creamery (250g, £2.80)
• Fruit & Fibre Flakes, fortified with vitamins and iron (500g, £1.25)
• Eat Well Select Farms easy peeler net (750g, £2)
• Eat Well Select Farms boston beans (200g, £2)
• Eat Well Super Sweet corn on the cob (two-pack, £1.40)
• Chunky vegetable & chicken soup (400g, £1.10)
• Eat Well minestrone soup (400g, £1.10)
• Sensitive shower gel (250ml, £1)