Marks & Spencer this week relaunched itself with an upbeat brand identity which the group hopes will help revive its fortunes. The new Marks & Spencer logo will represent the brand on packaging, labelling, promotional material and in stores. The St Michael tag becomes the St Michael Promise and will appear on packaging and promotional material as an endorsement of the retailer's quality message. A range of functional food products is also under review. Citing the success of the chain's Count on Us sub-brand, chairman Luc Vandevelde said he wanted more "solution-driven food products" to appear on the shelves of M&S stores. He made it clear that a new launch was imminent and told The Grocer: "We are looking at products that contain certain elements important for our diets." He would not be drawn further. Vandevelde added that M&S was prepared to sell other brands in its food department, saying nothing was sacred at M&S. "If we came to the conclusion we need brands, we will do that, but to date we haven't. "We don't want to be a full-scale supermarket, but what we do sell must be superior value," he said. He explained the company already sold cross-branded products such as Phillips' kettles. M&S has developed a hierarchical packaging for food products with three design categories: for generic products; benefit products ­ for example, speciality foods; and lifestyle products. The rebranding will start this summer in 297 stores and a national advertising campaign is expected to follow shortly afterwards. The roll out should be complete by spring 2001. M&S is also testing a new catalogue-style interior store design that highlights the products on offer. The trial will involve three stores and could be rolled out at the end of the year. {{NEWS }}

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