Shop Direct ramps up marketing to differentiate brands

A £6.4m campaign for Very.co.uk, its fashion brand for young women, is due to launch on Monday (8 October).

A television ad, starring brand ambassadors Fearne Cotton and Holly Willoughby, will position Very as a “style superhero” able to resolve customers’ fashion dilemmas and paves the way for the brand’s Christmas campaign which will highlight the convenience of its next day delivery service on orders made until 9pm.

A £3.7m campaign for over 50s women’s brand Isme starring Lynda Bellingham, launched on Monday (1 October), to highlight that its ranges are all cut specifically for older women’s body shapes – which it claims most of its competitors are not.

Mid-range women’s brand Littlewoods has also launched a campaign starring new brand ambassador Myleene Klass, who previously fronted campaigns for Marks & Spencer, as well as an augmented reality campaign for its kids ranges. A separate Christmas campaign will also launch later this year.

Planned marketing spend for Littlewoods, Very.co.uk and Isme has increased by 44 per cent, 41 per cent and 56 per cent respectively for the final three months of the year.

Head of marketing at Shop Direct Group Dan Rubel, says: “As a department store retailer, the peak period of October to December is our busiest of the year. After a record-breaking final quarter last year, we felt that 2012 represented a fantastic opportunity for us to capitalise on this and to drive real differentiation between our key brands in the minds of consumers by upping our marketing investment.”

The increase in marketing spend follows the overhaul its creative agency roster earlier this summer, which brought responsibility for all three brands under Contagious Content and St Luke’s with a view to creating greater differentiation between the brands.

Shop Direct Group registered sales of £1.7bn last year and delivered more than 25 million items.