All the big retailers’ Christmas ads are out now and one big name more than most will hope that its seasonal marketing push results in a sack-full of spend is Marks & Spencer.

This year’s clothing ad from Marks & Spencer is a departure from the past, when it seemed sometimes that it and rival John Lewis & Partners were competing for an Oscar with their cinematic prowess, as well as their share of the purse.

The change evident in M&S’ ‘Go jumpers for Christmas!’ campaign is refreshing.

The ad feels energetic, fun and contemporary. And, as marketing expert and BrandCap co-founder Rita Clifton pointed out, it is “packaged around a range” that customers can walk into shops, or click online, and buy.

Purchases of fashion lines are desperately needed at M&S, as was painfully clear from the retailer’s interims earlier this month.

While the food division has been able to pique and satisfy shopper appetite, with like-for-like sales up 0.9%, the apparel arm was more of a sob story reminiscent of the tearjerker adverts in years gone by.

“M&S has been here before. Rowe’s predecessor Marc Bolland battled throughout his tenure to revive the clothing business, but it never came off”

Clothing and home sales slumped an unfashionable 5.5% in the first half as problems ranging from availability and speed to market to relevance to customers took a toll.

As far as fashion is concerned, M&S chief executive Steve Rowe said, the business is 18 months behind in its transformation programme.

Rowe took personal charge of clothing as various members of the senior team were shown the door, and there are, he says, signs of progress.

New recruits to the fashion business, such as menswear boss Wes Taylor, are “making up for lost time”, while the Per Una brand has been relaunched under womenswear director Jill Stanton – another recent hire.

M&S has been here before. Rowe’s predecessor Marc Bolland battled throughout his tenure to revive the clothing business, but it never came off and ultimately cost Bolland his job.

Restoring success in clothing is vital. It is key to M&S’ profitability because due to it offering higher margins than food, while the shared infrastructure and services between the two arms make chair Archie Norman sceptical about arguments that the retailer should be split.

In-store resonance

Reflection of the ethos of M&S’ Christmas clothing ad in stores would be one step forward.

The in-store fashion offer should resonate with the modernity, liveliness and simplicity of the campaign. The product storytelling should be just the same, but it often has not been. A new clothing format in development at present might offer some hope.

It’s quite easy to imagine that M&S’ Christmas ad could have been run by Primark – although of course, the value giant chooses not to, and doesn’t need to, spend at all on conventional advertising. But the comparison is not a criticism.

That’s because, for more than a decade, Primark has been usurping M&S’ former role as the nation’s dresser. Primark successfully competes on fashionability while appealing to the ‘family customer’ M&S is seeking to rekindle its relationship with.

“The more M&S’ clothing proposition can move in tandem with the latest advertising stance, the better”

M&S, the original penny bazaar, was built on value. But it needn’t quite go all the way down the Primark route today if it can re-establish its credentials on keener prices and sharp product.

To do that requires a change in mindset. Norman has complained frequently about the business silos and conservatism he has come up against at M&S.

Perhaps the Christmas ad sets a tone. If everyone at M&S had the same mindset as the ad reflects, it would also be more in tune with shoppers.

Efforts are being made to change the worldview at M&S, which, unsurprisingly given the years of underperformance in fashion, can be defensively minded.

But the improving fortunes of the food arm, in a market driven by value even more than clothing, shows the trajectory need not always be downwards when energy and executional prowess are applied.

Something as simple as putting food prices on adverts, recently initiated, shows confidence in the value-for-money proposition without losing sight of the accompanying product quality story.

The more M&S’ clothing proposition can move in tandem with the latest advertising stance, the better.

Because it’s not about Oscars for films that never make it to the local Odeon, it’s about resonance with shoppers that leads to profitable sales.