M&S summer ad pumps to Technotronic hit

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 12, 2024

After its ‘Girls just want to have fun’ spring ads starring Sara Sampaio, M&S is plundering the 1980s hits catalogue again for its summer campaign.

This time its pushing its summer womenswear, menswear and kidswear collections to the beat of Technotronic’s ‘Pump up the Jam’.

And it chose a director with a strong music pedigree to make sure it hit the right note with Tanu Muino — known for creating music videos for Harry Styles and Dua Lipa — in the director’s chair.

The campaign was developed by Mother Design and is built around a glamour vibe but it adds a slightly humorous take on the pumping-up concept as it shows summer swimmer, holiday pieces and eveningwear.

The fact that it’s a bit more cool than we’ve come to expect from M&S ads underlines the confidence at the firm that has seen a strong turnaround in recent seasons after years of trying to get its must-visit status back. Recent seasonal links with Sampaio and Sienna Miller are further evidence of this.

The campaign runs until early next month on radio, print, OOH (with an Oxford Circus tube station takeover) digital display, VOD, CRM, paid and organic social, and in-store/windows.

M&S marketing director, clothing & home Anna Braithwaite said: “Summer is a time when our customers are prioritising socialising and making the most of the warmer weather and the lighter evenings. It’s also a time when we want to have a bit of fun with our wardrobe.

“We’ve bottled up everything we know our customers love about summer and added a dash of poolside glamour to create a vibrant and infectious campaign serving up style inspiration.”