M&S’s fashion operations are bouncing back with a vengeance and the newly-confident retailer has unveiled the spring collection and the campaign that it hopes will drive sales growth further.

We’re told the ‘Love That’ campaign “marks a step change in season with a bold and stylish statement, focused on spreading joy through style, and encouraging individuals to embrace the uplifting energy that comes with spring”.

The retailer said it’s celebrating “how a well curated look that makes you feel good on the inside, can positively impact those around you — creating a ripple effect of happiness”. 

The ad “captures the journey of a compliment as it reverberates from woman to woman. It begins with a subtle, almost unspoken exchange, gradually building in strength and culminating in an openly expressed compliment. Closing with a close-up of a woman’s lips, gently curling into the beginnings of a smile, symbolising the warmth and connection created by a kind word — championing the powerful ripple effect of giving compliments and leaving viewers with a sense of joy and a desire to keep the positivity flowing”.

The campaign includes daytime and evening looks “from jackets so iconic you’ll want to double up, to shoes you’ll fall head over heels for”.

So, let’s look at the practical details. The campaign includes 10-second and 30-second AV content, set to the upbeat R&B track 1 Thing by Amerie, the visual narrative aiming to “reinforce our position as a leading destination for stylish, quality clothing”. 

Running across VOD, billboards, digital and social platforms, it should reach an estimated 183 million people across all channels. 

The retailer’s OOH presence “will dominate” London, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield and Bristol, with London TFL escalator ribbons in Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street tube stations, billboards across London Underground, and fly posters in “high-impact locations, maximising visibility”. 

It will also exist as a “takeover” on its own webstore, as well as in-store.

Fashion e-tail giant ASOS announced a date for its half-year results on Friday (they’re due on 24 April) but more importantly it issued the briefest of brief trading updates and the news looked good.

The company reiterated that — as it had said in its November update — it expects “a significant improvement in profitability in H1 FY25, despite continued volume deleverage, following a strong gross margin development driven by lower markdown activity and increased full-price mix, and continued cost discipline”. 

In fact, it expects revenue growth in line with, and adjusted EBITDA ahead of the consensus among analysts. The company-compiled consensus for the first half (as of this week) is for total sales growth in constant currency to be 13%, while adjusted EBITDA should be £34 million and the adjusted EBITDA margin 2.6%.

Behind those dry figures, ASOS added that it was encouraged by the fact that “own-brand full-price sales, a core engine of its customer proposition, returned to growth in the first half. This was enabled by its market-leading Test & React model, now more than 15% of own-brand sales and growing”.

It’s all upbeat news for a business that has been somewhat battered by intense competition and consumer caution since the glory days of the pandemic-driven e-tail boom.

Just-bought discount retailer TOFS (The Original Factory Shop) could see its UK store count drastically reduced.

New owner Modella Capital is contemplating a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to close a number of its 180 retail units, according to Sky News.

The variety retailer, which sells a number of major brands including L’Oreal beauty and Adidas sportswear, was acquired last month from private equity firm Duke Street for an undisclosed sum. Modella’s now understood to be in talks with business adviser Interpath on options for the retail group, including a potential CVA, which would result in cutting the retailer’s 1,800-strong workforce.

At the same time, Modella is also drawing up plans for a radical restructuring of the retailer. This will also include discussions with landlords over rent reductions for a number of surviving stores. Reports also claim a TOFS distribution centre will be a focus of those restructuring plans.

TOFS, which was founded in 1969 and then acquired by Duke Street in 2007 for £68.5 million, is understood to had also come under the bidding scrutiny of usual suspect Frasers Group, Baaj Capital and Poundstretcher, which is owned by the investment group Fortress the report also said.

Modella and Interpath have so far yet to comment.