M&S strikes gold with Mark Wright and Spencer Matthews Christmas menswear campaign

Marks & Spencer has seen a Christmas social campaign featuring former TOWIE star Mark Wright and Made in Chelsea personality Spencer Matthews as best buddies - dressed in Autograph menswear - receive 12 million views and 250,000 "likes".

Focusing on its "growing market share in menswear", the UK high street giant has also now published a blog about the success of the unlikely pairing of "Mark" and "Spencer", which has also seen over 25,000 clicks to its website.

In the first 24 hours of launching the video campaign, M&S saw 4,500 clicks to its website, driving a 77% uplift in sales of the Autograph roll-neck worn by Eton. educated Matthews, who entered the Guinness World Records in August this year for completing 30 marathons in 30 days in Jordan, West Asia. There was also a 38% uplift in sales of the Autograph overshirt he wears.

On the blog, Mitch Hughes, Director of Menswear at M&S, said: "The response has been incredible. But the truth is, we’ve been having a moment in menswear for a while now. We’ve been on a real journey to reshape for growth, and lots has been done since I joined as Director of Menswear at the start of last year.

"We’ve raised the bar on talent and become a beacon for new talent in the business. Whether that be the arrival of Callum Briggs who joined us as Head of Design in the summer, or more recently David Olaniyi, who joined us as a Junior Designer, following his win on Dress The Nation, our first ever design competition in partnership with ITV – we’ve created a high performance culture which is laser focused on creating stylish, quality product at a trusted value."

The tongue-in-cheek campaign sees Matthews knock on the Christmas wreath decked front door of Wright, putting his finger to his lips as a sign for "shush" on Wright’s door opening.

Matthews then proceeds to reveal giant cards each with a message. The first says: "We’re back baby!" The second reads: "Say it’s carol singers" – prompting Wright to call out the message (presumably to his wife, Vogue Williams) – followed by "To me, you are the Mark to my Spencer." The final card says "Merry Christmas" as the two warmly embrace and cheek kiss. The ad ends with Matthews saying: "That’s enough now…actually, we’re just getting started."

That message is echoed in Hughes’s blog post: "In the first half of this year, we have welcomed over 600,000 new customers to menswear. These customers are not only younger, but they are spending more.

"At the heart of our menswear offer sits our Autograph collection. Focused on elevating wardrobe staples with style and sophistication, it is going from strength to strength. In the first half of the year, sales of Autograph were +47% and the collection now makes up nearly a fifth of total menswear sales, with 40% of Autograph customers new to the brand - showing the power of the collection as an entry into M&S.

"These new customers are driving sales growth and supporting us as we continue to grow our market share in menswear.

"Lots has been done, but their remains lots of opportunity - particularly in growing our omnichannel, improving our availability in store and investing even further in quality, value and style.

"But, as Spencer said last week, we’re just getting started."