BrandSensitize | Strategic Brand Evaluation & Marketing Advisory
M&S at a Crossroads: Tradition vs. Trend
Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a heritage retailer working to restore its position in the global retail market. The company generates about $18 billion USD (£13.8 billion) in annual revenue, with 90% of sales from the UK. M&S operates 400+ stores across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, aiming to expand its reach and strengthen customer loyalty.
At the heart of its philosophy are five enduring principles: quality, value, service, innovation, and trust, expressed through its mission of “doing the right thing” for customers, suppliers, and society.
Brand Foundations
- Quality + Value – products must deliver craftsmanship at a fair price, the brand’s twin stars since its penny-bazaar origins.
- Customer-first approach – seamless experiences across stores, digital channels, and the “Your M&S” app.
- Continuous innovation – investment in accessible, premium-quality products to build loyalty.
- Sustainability – targeting net zero by 2040, embedding 1,000+ green projects across the supply chain.
- Integrity & community – ethical sourcing, transparent reporting, and multimillion-pound annual donations to local causes.
M&S’s challenge is to reinterpret its century-old values for modern consumers while remaining a symbol of trusted quality at accessible prices.
Leadership & Strategy
- Rachel Higham, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, is leading efforts to enhance cyber resilience, accelerate digital execution, and ensure operational reliability.
- The brand must balance its traditional style with fresher, more casual fashion to appeal to younger shoppers.
Cybersecurity Crisis (2025)
M&S faces a critical brand moment after a major cyberattack disrupted operations:
- Sales disruption – outages affect online orders, in-store payments, and supply chains, resulting in refunds and eroding trust.
- Weak vendor controls – gaps in digital resilience and third-party management drove customers to competitors.
- E-commerce dependency – the outage coincided with a key seasonal period, hurting revenue and brand reputation.
Technology & Partnerships
M&S’s tech ecosystem combines scale and customer insight, with key partners:
- TCS – leading digital transformation and tech operations.
- Ocado – powering online grocery fulfillment and last-mile delivery.
- Microsoft – enabling AI-driven store, customer, and operations transformation.
- First Insight – capturing voice-of-customer analytics for Clothing & Home.
Brand Positioning
A blend of tradition and reinvention defines M&S:
- A heritage promise of quality and value.
- Renewed focus on digital resilience and cyber trust.
- Growth tied to sustainability and e-commerce expansion.
Yet, the retailer must overcome cybersecurity fragility, limited global footprint, and generational relevance challenges to secure its future as a modern, trusted brand.
Comments
Keith Nicks is EVP and Chief Digital & Commercial Officer for Ahold Delhaize USA, overseeing
omnichannel marketing, retail media, and e-commerce for U.S. brands. Tim Bork is the Chief Commercial
Officer for Ahold Delhaize Europe & Indonesia, focusing on local brands and responsible for growth,
including marketing and customer experience.
With nearly €96 billion in projected 2025 revenue, Ahold Delhaize ranks among the top 10 global
retailers, operating over 6,700 stores across multiple formats, including Albert Heijn, Delhaize, Food Lion,
Giant, Hannaford, and Stop & Shop.
6,700 stores powered by one procurement platform – a scale that makes others jealous.
For customers, Ahold isn’t just a grocery retailer; it’s a trusted lifestyle partner that combines the
intimacy of local shopping with the innovation and value of global retail leadership.
Ahold’s brands, such as Albert Heijn, Stop & Shop, and Giant, represent 37 years of average customer
relationships—customers don’t just shop there; they grow up with these brands, creating emotional
connections that transcend transactions.
After gaining thirty million loyalty members, Ahold demonstrated that personalization consistently
outperforms promotion.
BrandSensitize™ research shows that Ahold Delhaize operates with a decentralized marketing and brand
building approach, where marketing functions are embedded within:
- Brand-specific leadership (each local brand has its own marketing teams.
- Regional commercial officers who oversee marketing alongside broader commercial
responsibilities. - Digital and omnichannel specialists who handle modern marketing channels.
Ahold Delhaize’s Brand Building Initiatives:
Sustainability campaign: €50M investment reached 10M consumers, delivering a 20% boost in
sustainable product sales and generating €400M in revenue.
Digital Marketing: €150M digital budget achieved 25% higher engagement, 2.6% click-through rates (vs
1.9% industry standard), and built 500K+ social media following.
Loyalty Program: 30M members across brands with 85% customer penetration, driving 75% of total sales
and contributing €1B annually—10% better retention than competitors.
Strategic Brand Partnerships: 100+ collaborative campaigns with CPG brands, including Coca-Cola,
generated €600M in additional revenue through joint promotions.
Omnichannel Investment: A $1 billion price investment initiative, combined with AI-powered
personalization, aims to achieve an 80% loyalty sales penetration by 2028.
Strategic marketing drives measurable business results—from sustainability messaging to digital-first
loyalty programs, Ahold Delhaize demonstrates that well-executed brand-building campaigns deliver
both customer engagement and bottom-line growth on a global scale.
Ahold Delhaize’s Strategic Technology Partnerships:
- W23 Global VC Fund: $125M investment with Tesco, Woolworths & others backing AI startups
like Harmonya & Protex AI - Zycus Partnership: Source-to-Pay suite powering procurement across 6,700+ stores globally
- Hanshow Technology: Electronic shelf labels + innovation labs across all European locations.
- Inmar Intelligence: $141M in customer savings delivered through personalized digital coupons.
- DoorDash Collaboration: Tripled order volumes through enhanced last-mile delivery integration.
- Internal AI Innovation: MaxiGPT, LionGPT & Albot assistants deployed across the Serbian,
Belgian, and Czech markets. - New Tech Studio: AD/01 in Bucharest targeting 250+ tech talents for digital acceleration.
Zycus has licensed its comprehensive Source-to-Pay suite to Ahold Delhaize, including eSourcing,
Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM), and Supplier Management platforms.
TCS’s relationship with Ahold Delhaize marks a mature, strategic partnership focused on digital
transformation and supply chain technology.
Wipro partnered with Capgemini as one of the most significant retail transformation initiatives in the
world at Ahold USA.
Capgemini powers Ahold Delhaize’s end-to-end transformation, developing blockchain technology use
cases for Ahold Delhaize’s supply chain and leveraging its expertise in business transformation, as well as
its understanding of Ahold’s industry and operations.
Traditional retailers, equipped with AI and Robotics, will surpass pure digital players by 2030.
The key is to position Ahold not as just another retail success story, but as the company that has
rewritten the rules of digital transformation for every traditional business watching.
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