C&A launches final ad campaign to boost sales and attract buyers

C&A will launch a final ad campaign in a last ditch attempt to boost sales and attract buyers for its stores, while members of its 28-strong marketing department face redundancy.

The above-the-line campaign is worth more than £1m. It will focus on press ads concentrating on merchandise rather than the C&A brand. It is thought the campaign will run until the end of the retailer’s closure programme and will contain a farewell message to the British public. Most stores will be closed by January, but some stores could still be trading next summer.

C&A is to retain incumbent creative agency the Handley Partnership and will cancel a pitch with one other undisclosed agency. Media Campaign Services will retain the media account.

A spokesman for C&A says the publicity generated by news of the retailer’s departure has already seen sales rocket. He claims that sales last Friday at C&A’s Birmingham and Coventry stores were up by more than 110 per cent. “We are refusing to go out with a whimper. People are taking one last look at C&A and are realising that some of our ranges are actually good,” he says.

“If someone sees how popular our stores are they might buy the company and keep our staff. It is sensible for us to consider anything.”

Mike Handley, director of the Handley Partnership, says: “We would be delighted to help C&A go out with a bang.”