Green plans £9m TV ad campaign for BHS

Published on Sunday 15 August 2004 01:37

PHILIP Green is planning a £9m advertising campaign for his BHS and Arcadia chains as part of his fightback against Marks & Spencer.

The retail billionaire, who warned M&S he would "trade their socks off" after his 9.1bn takeover proposal was rejected, has recruited ad agency HHCL/Red Cell to devise a Christmas campaign for BHS.

Although Green has previously shunned TV advertising as an effective way to boost sales, campaigns are also planned for his Dorothy Perkins fashion chain through a separate deal with Grey London.

One retail analyst said: "When Green said he was going to fight M&S tooth and nail on the high street, he meant it. There is probably quite a lot of ego in this decision, but this is all part of the fightback plan."

A senior advertising executive said: "If you look at the retailers selling white goods and electronic stuff - the likes of Dixons, Currys and Comet - they spend bucketloads on TV advertising as they can see a direct correlation between ad spend and sales.

"Those sort of companies spend anything up to 50m a year on advertising. But fashion companies have never really seen that same effect. That changed a bit in recent years when M&S started advertising on TV, but this is still quite an unusual move."

Green is expected to reveal details of his full advertising and marketing strategy on September 9.

A typical month-long TV advertising campaign in the run-up to Christmas would cost around 5m, advertising executives said.

The Grey London campaign for Dorothy Perkins is believed to be worth 4m. It has been timed to coincide with the launch of the new ‘Your M&S’ print campaign, which M&S chief executive Stuart Rose pledged to launch at the company’s annual general meeting.

When Green’s deal was rejected, analysts played down the chances of a price war on the high street - despite Green’s battle cries. They predicted the contest between M&S and the Green empire would come down to marketing strategies.

BHS was last advertised on TV 10 years ago, before Green bought it in a 200m deal.