Shop Direct, the parent company of Littlewoods and Woolworths,
has launched a new title targeting women aged 50 and older. The
new brand, isme, is fronted by Loose Women presenter Lynda
Bellingham and sells apparel, homewares and electricals. It
replaces the Marshall Ward title, with Shop Direct mailing
existing customers the new catalogue from January. In time, the
Marshall Ward website URL will divert to www.isme.com.
The new brand has been in development for six months, says Shop
Direct’s group retail director Gareth Jones. The company held
focus groups with 2,500 women, 1,500 of whom were not Shop Direct
customers, to find out what women aged 45 to 55 want from a
fashion brand. The new name was chosen because it “better
reflects a more contemporary offering,” he says.
During the focus groups, Shop Direct discovered that its target
age segment was reticent to take fashion advice from size-zero,
20-year-old models. This was the inspiration behind Savoir,
isme’s own-brand offering that aims to appeal to a more mature
age group, but that has a strong emphasis on fashion at the right
fit. Comprising 450 lines, some Savoir items will be exclusive to
isme. Certain lines will also be available in Shop Direct’s other
titles such as Littlewoods and the newly merged K&CO, a rebranded
offering that brings together the Kays, Empire Stores and Great
Universal fascias.
The new brand is supported by an intensive media campaign that
includes a two-year sponsorship of daytime TV show Loose Women.
From 1st February, Shop Direct will begin a TV advertising push,
with commercials predominantly scheduled during daytime TV. Jones
adds that the TV campaign will be supported with press ads and
PR, as well as digital initiatives.
Largest ever spring/summer catalogue
Although it’s well publicised that Shop Direct plans to transform
itself from a catalogue business into an online retailer, Gareth
Jones says the print catalogue remains central to the isme
campaign. While 20 percent of the isme customer segment already
completes transactions online, the majority still have concerns
about security, or just prefer to shop another way, he says. Shop
Direct also learned that the isme customer likes to browse print
catalogues, so based on that, it created a 1,500-page catalogue
for isme-the largest spring/summer catalogue Shop Direct has ever
produced. The book was mailed in January to 100,000 customers
identified as fitting the isme profile.
Jones says that the business worked hard to ensure that
everything in the new catalogue is just right: from the room
sets, to the styling, to the models, who are generally a size 12,
not 8.
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