MAA blast from the past: Twiggy for seemingly unsinkable retailer M&S

What a difference a decade or so makes. Back in 2009 M&S was riding a wave under boss Stuart Rose and marketing whizz Steve Sharp. It celebrated its 125th anniversary with Twiggy harking back to its launch as a penny bazaar, with a promotion offering goods for a penny.

The next year Marc Bolland took over from Rose after a decent career at Heineken and then Morrisons – and the trouble began. Not all Bolland’s fault of course, some say that Rose and Sharp actually provided gloss on top of a labouring organisation. Philip Green had almost bought it – God save us.

RKCR/Y&R was in the chair. A decade of change coming for Y&R too, not in a good way either.

What’s wrong with a bit of gloss anyway?