Brands may have been jumping into bed with musicians for decades – from Marvin Gaye with Levi’s and Nick Drake with Volkswagen to Madonna with Gap and Coldplay with Apple – but there is always a risk such collaborations will hit a bum note. After all, how many David Bowie fans really welcomed Sound & Vision being used in a B&Q ad?
Enter the latest spot from M&S Food, with a new collaboration with 1970s “dad rockers” Status Quo, who have updated the lyrics to their 1977 hit Rockin’ All Over The World to Saving All Over The Store.
Launching on social media across M&S’s TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels, the new lyrics include M&S’s ‘Dine In’ deal and other “budget” initiatives such as its ‘Remarksable Value’ products and ‘Dropped & Locked’ prices on customer favourites.
The idea for a song actually came from the shop floor and has been devised in-house, following a spate of viral videos by staff who manage each store’s social media accounts.
One team manager – Jack Norbury from M&S Devizes in Wiltshire – submitted a request directly to CEO Stuart Machin for a song that teams could use on TikTok to get even more views. Jack had previously racked up millions of views for the M&S Devizes TikTok account with his videos all about the retailer’s value credentials.
Once Machin had given the idea the thumbs’ up, it was passed on to director of food marketing and loyalty Sharry Cramond to make it happen.
Filmed at M&S Purley Way in South London, the film features Jack with Status Quo in the Fruit and Veg section, complete with guitars, keyboard and a drum kit, where they are soon joined by colleagues from the store (including store manager Camilla Harris) with their own replica guitars, rocking out as shoppers look on – and on and on and on…for nearly 4 very long minutes.
Cramond said: “When we helped our stores launch their own social media accounts during lockdown, sharing vital information with local customers, I don’t think anyone could have predicted how much of a roaring success they’d still be – we now have over 1,000 store accounts and their videos receive 3.5million views every week.
“It’s brilliant to see colleagues like Jack using their stores’ TikTok channels to shout about our incredible value. Thanks to them we’ve seen our value perception improve to its highest ever level.
“Whether it’s our Remarksable Value ranges, our Dine In deals, our Dropped & Locked prices, our bigger pack better-value products, or our broad selection of ‘Specials’ each month across fruit and veg, flowers, bakery and wine, we are truly challenging the status quo on value every day here at M&S Food.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
Well, where do we start? Well, why not on the YouTube comments section where fans of both the “Quo” and M&S seem divided.
Many M&S shoppers seem to love it, which we suppose is the point, after all, hailing the ad as “awesome”, “brilliant”, “wonderful”, and “fantastic”.
Quo fans, however, don’t quite share this enthusiasm, with one saying: “Oh FFS! This sort of things breaks my heart as a dedicated Quo fan having been to Belgium to see them twice all over the UK posters on the wall, battle jacket full of Quo. I love him to bits but I wish Francis (Rossi) would stop this sort of pants.”
Anther wrote: “Please stop! This is so embarrassing! Once, a long long time ago Quo was a real hard-rocking band who made real good music! Now they have become a joke, a band who is doing anything for money, disgusting!”
Here at Decision Marketing, we must admit we are not fans of either; both “brands” seem tired and desperate. Still, guess that makes them the perfect match…
And, no doubt, much to annoyance of real music fans everywhere, the original song will be back in the charts any day now.
Decision Marketing Adometer: A “down, down, keep ’em down” 5 out of 10
