Landing in 19 stores nationwide on from December 4th, the 10-piece collection spans t-shirts, hoodies and pyjama sets.

“It’s so exciting to be partnering with a retailer as iconic as Marks and Spencer on this exclusive Wallace & Gromit collection,” said Hannah McFarlane, Licensing Manager at Aardman.

“As we celebrate Aardman’s 50th anniversary, this range offers a joyful tribute to our much-loved characters, brought to life through vibrant designs that are sure to delight young fans.”

Alex Dimitriu, M&S Kids Director, added: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Aardman on this exclusive Wallace & Gromit kidswear range.

“Bringing such beloved British characters to life through vibrant, playful designs has been a real joy for the team. At M&S, we’re committed to offering families clothing that combines quality, creativity and great value, and this collection does exactly that. We know our customers and their children will be excited to wear these fun pieces as Aardman celebrates its remarkable 50-year milestone.”

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The range takes cues from M&M’S packaging and colourful candy shells, and includes a 3D Crossbody and Chain Coin Purse, as well as fashion accessories spanning bracelets, earrings, necklaces, charms and stackable rings.

“The M&M’S brand has long been committed to bringing people together through colourful fun,” said Jane Hwang, GM Global for M&M’S.

“Partnering with a brand like Kate Spade New York, known for joy, and everyday celebrations, is the perfect complement this holiday season. We hope the special collection will surprise and delight our fans as they rock their favourite brands in an iconic new way.”

Charlotte Warshaw, VP Americas Wholesale, Global Licensing & Collaborations of Kate Spade New York, added: “Kate Spade New York has always been rooted in joy through personal style and self-expression, with products that deliver vibrant pops of colour, playful patterns and dimensional textures.

“This iconic collaboration with M&M’S delivers just that and does so in a way that puts front-and-centre our Gen Z customer.”

The collection is available from November 1st.

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The book, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, champions the commitment that M&S’ Select Farm partners have to building a more sustainable future by exploring the world of sustainable farming and helping children to better understand the source of their food.

“M&S Food has always partnered with Select farmers and growers that we know and trust to produce delicious food in a way that maintains our reputation for trusted value and protects the planet for future generations,” said M&S Food Managing Director, Stuart Machin.

“The stories within the book bring to life these relationships in a way that sparks conversations within families who we know are deeply concerned about the impact of environmental damage on future generations.

“It will inspire young minds and help children to learn more about where their food comes from, the effort that goes into producing it, and the importance of establishing ethical and sustainable farming practices now and long into the future.”

Juliet Matthews, Colour Publisher at HarperCollins Children’s Books, added: “We are delighted to have worked with Marks & Spencer on a truly collaborative project, creating a book that will not only entertain children but also deliver important learnings on sustainability and the journey of food from farm to foodhall.

“We have combined the best ingredients of HarperCollins Children’s Books  –  compelling, beautifully illustrated stories accompanied by engaging activities – with fabulous recipes from the M&S Chef team, to create a book for young readers that we hope will inspire long-lasting conversations about responsible farming and the joys of food prepared with care and love.”

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Shows like Love Island generate huge interest and engagement on social media, coupled with plenty of column inches in more traditional media. This is supersized water-cooler-moment TV. It represents an attractive programming route for broadcasters as shows of this kind can help deliver higher audiences, more advertising and wider commercial opportunities around the main programme.

Lots of formats, like Love Island, have second or third programmes associated with them which often review the main show and further engage audiences. This commitment to a range of programmes is an indication of how important these shows are to TV schedules. It’s easy to see why programmers and broadcasters are keen to pursue similar programmes.

Shows like Big Brother, Love Island and I’m a Celebrity… have all helped create a momentum in programming that doesn’t seem to be slowing up. Interestingly, these types of shows haven’t always generated significant retail engagement. We’ve seen licensed ranges and some retailer partnerships – like when Superdrug linked with Love Island – but there seems to be room for further commercial development. That said, building wider commercial activity around TV shows of this kind can be a challenge.

Against this backdrop, it has been interesting to see how retailer Marks & Spencer have capitalised on ITV’s Cooking with the Stars programme. The show is currently on air on Tuesdays at 9pm on ITV and is primetime viewing. It also has a companion show, Extra Helpings, that is available via M&S’ YouTube Channel.

M&S have really seized upon the commercial opportunity that Cooking with the Stars presents. The show features eight top British chefs – including Jack Stein, Rosemary Shrager and Judy Joo – who are teamed up with celebrities who, you guessed it, cook with them.

The show has a challenge and jeopardy element as each week a celebrity is eliminated. There is also a focus on skills acquisition, as the celebrities learn new dishes and cooking techniques.

The dishes shown in the programme provide ideas and inspiration to viewers as well, and this is an element that M&S have capitalised on and are bringing alive in their shops.

M&S highlights key ingredients from the show throughout their stores by using branded Cooking with the Stars signage to flag the ingredients up. The show and the promotion are heavily promoted in store, in shop windows and with boards outside store; M&S have made it clear they are Cooking with the Stars.

Linking to ingredients from the show is a smart move and a really good link to the on-air content. The show is a great call to action for consumers and M&S are making it convenient for consumers to follow up on that call.

A further dynamic of the partnership is that M&S are offering free recipes cards with recipes from the chefs, complete with step-by-step instructions. These are displayed in a branded dispenser at the front of store. For example, chef Rosemary Shrager has contributed a Goan Chicken Xacuti with Fragrant Basmati Rice and Capstis.

A key feature seems to be that you can prep and cook the meals within an hour. Convenience is a key theme in this promotion. Convenience when it comes to shopping, selecting ingredients and cooking is a powerful combination and will resonate with consumers.

M&S has also given its Percy Pig brand a Cooking with the Stars makeover to celebrate the partnership. This comes in the form of a limited edition plush toy called Chef Percy, that comes with a hat, a Cooking With the Stars apron and an ear embroidered with ‘Limited Edition 2021 Gift’.

Another driver for M&S is the fact that the series is inspiring consumers to try new dishes, but in a curated way. The chefs’ menus and recommendations deliver a degree of permission and confidence that consumers may well need to try something new.

A further benefit is that I imagine M&S are learning a lot from this in terms of uptake, trends and consumer choice. This will be useful in future range planning and NPD. It also helps position M&S as an interesting place to shop, offering something different from their competitors.

M&S have also integrated the partnership into their in-store newspaper: What’s Fresh at M&S. The July issue featured the chefs on the front page and strongly called out the partnership with follow up pages that outlined the premise of the programme in more detail. This was also backed up with a QR code to allow consumers to access all the recipes created by the chefs.

M&S have used the partnership to deliver a real retail event and create a point of difference in the marketplace. For them, they are reliant on the show being a success and delivering an audience. Linking with a prime-time ITV show is low risk as there is a readymade audience, but in today’s more volatile TV market there are no guarantees, so it’s a bold move by M&S and one they clearly felt could deliver a big impact for them.

M&S may be thinking that this partnership is a way of keeping consumers engaged and motivated around home dining, building on the trend for more elaborate home dining that has emerged during lockdown. The challenge element of Cooking with the Stars is also no doubt appealing to M&S as this will naturally lead to social media sharing and engagement among consumers.

For ITV, landing a major retailer like M&S for a partnership of this kind is quite a coup. There are presumably commercial benefits from the partnership for ITV, but it also enhances the visibility of the series and contributes to the feeling that this is a significant programme – an event!

M&S’ promotion of the show is a great boost for ITV and helps shine a light on it, especially during a busy broadcasting period with the Olympics on air. It’s difficult to make assumptions on the commercial aspects of the deal, but for both parties it represents a partnership of significance and one that could be a template for future collaborations.

As a commercial broadcaster, it’s easier for ITV to deliver this kind of integrated event TV than the BBC or indeed maybe some lower profile channels, but it is still a challenging commercial undertaking.

It’s important not to forget that this is also a fantastic showcase for the chefs featured on the show. It will be interesting to see if involvement in the show leads to more TV opportunities for them or opens other commercial doors for them and their brands.

Cooking with the Stars certainly seems to be a fresh direction for M&S but one that should be applauded in terms of their commitment to it, the in-store presentation of the partnership and the focus on sales promotion.

It’s a partnership with product at the centre of it and one that should influence consumer behaviour. It will be interesting to see how it is judged upon its conclusion, but also whether it inspires other retailers to develop this kind of in depth partnership with a TV show.

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The case of Colin the Caterpillar v Cuthbert the Caterpillar has caught the media’s attention. In case you have been cocooned away and missed it, on 15th April 2021, Marks and Spencer launched high court proceedings in the UK against discount supermarket Aldi, alleging trade mark infringement and passing off.

The thing everyone wants to know now is whether the case has legs.

At first sight, you might think so. M&S has sold a caterpillar sponge cake since 1990 under the name Colin the Caterpillar. Since then, it has sold 15 million cakes and it registered the trade mark Colin the Caterpillar in 2008. In contrast, Aldi has only recently started selling its chocolate sponge caterpillar cake and it has called it Cuthbert the Caterpillar.

But with so many legs, it is risky to try to run before you can crawl. Many observers are sceptical of the merits of M&S’ case.

M&S claims that Aldi are seeking to ride on Colin’s coat tails and take unfair advantage of the reputation that M&S has acquired in its cake. However, when comparing Colin the Caterpillar with Cuthbert the Caterpillar, the Court will give relatively little weight to words like “the” and “Caterpillar”, which have little distinctiveness – at least for cake made to look like a caterpillar.

So, the Court’s comparison is likely to focus most on the words “Colin” and “Cuthbert”, which are not particularly similar. Added to this, the Court is likely to take into account the fact that consumers are accustomed to all the major supermarkets selling caterpillar cakes. Tesco has Curly, Sainsbury’s has Wiggles, Asda has Clyde, Morrisons has Morris, Waitrose has Cecil and Co-Op has Charlie.

M&S also claims that Aldi are passing off its cake as coming from the same source and being the same quality as M&S’ cake. Ostensibly, Colin and Cuthbert do bear a passing resemblance, but is this enough?

Passing off is a complicated area of the law, and, besides proving that it has a reputation and goodwill in its cake, M&S will have to show that Aldi is guilty of making a misrepresentation.

As the packaging of the two cakes is not especially similar – and each bears the respective supermarket’s house mark – this means M&S needs to rely principally on the misrepresentation being that when the Aldi cake is out of its package, it so resembles the M&S cake that consumers assume it’s the same cake or comes from the same manufacturer. M&S then has to show that this will cause it damage, for example because of lost sales. It’s a stretch, even for a caterpillar.

So, are M&S wise to chew on this particular leaf? It seems that the reason M&S has decided to take on Aldi is the close similarity between the appearance of the two cakes, more so than with the caterpillar cakes of the other supermarkets.

“Ostensibly, Colin and Cuthbert do bear a passing resemblance, but is this enough?”

Furthermore, M&S believes it holds the moral high ground, especially given that Colin the Caterpillar is a central piece of the company’s partnership with the Macmillan Cancer charity.

A spokesman said: “We know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the very best from us; love and care goes into every M&S product on our shelves. We want to protect Colin… and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value.”

M&S may be right. When deciding to launch court action for intellectual property infringement, it is important to weigh up all the pros and cons. No doubt, M&S has done this and knows what it is doing.

As an intellectual property advisor, however, I am usually asked by my clients to keep them out of court and initiating court action is a last resort. There are often imaginative alternatives.

Aldi has a bit of a reputation for this kind of thing and it is interesting to compare and contrast the approach being taken by M&S with that taken previously by Brewdog. When Aldi launched an Anti-Establishment IPA that looked and tasted like Brewdog’s Punk IPA, Brewdog responded by launching its own ALD IPA.

Aldi liked this response so much, they decided to stock Brewdog’s beer, and it turned out to be a commercial success for both companies.

Sometimes you get the best results by turning something on its head.

Victor Caddy is Trade Mark Attorney and Director at Wynne-Jones IP. He can be contacted via email at victor.caddy@wynne-jones.com.

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This month, we’re talking about the iconic M&S sweets brand, Percy Pig.

The character has been a staple of the retailer since 1992. Having started life as a humble bag of grape and raspberry gummy sweets, the Percy Pig brand has expanded in-house to encompass products like greeting cards, bedding, pyjamas, plush toys, piggy banks and face masks.

Perhaps naturally, the area that has seen Percy’s presence expand the most has been the M&S Food Court. Spin-offs include easter eggs, ice cream, muffins, biscuits, sponge rolls, ‘Phizzy Pop’ and a dessert sauce.

Elsewhere, a recipe list on the M&S site allows fans to create their own Percy Pig-inspired culinary delights, including trifles, fudge, milkshakes and even nachos – complete with a sweet pink dipping sauce.

With the brand soaring, we asked Sweet Connextion’s Carl Richardson, Interim Licensing Management’s David Berry and Finsbury Foods Group’s Daryl Newlands whether M&S should look to expand Percy Pig’s consumer products presence further with licensing.

Here’s what they had to say…

Carl Richardson, Director, Sweet Connextion

Whenever I’m in an M&S Food Hall, I come into contact with good old Percy Pig. My first thought is always about an ex-work colleague who created him… My second being: I bet she wishes she was on a commission deal!

Let’s be honest, M&S are doing an amazing job in building Percy’s brand equity internally themselves and they undoubtedly see Percy as a jewel in the crown. I imagine the fear of brand dilution outside of Percy’s home, in their eyes, currently outweighs the licensing benefits.

Successful extensions to other products within the business have proven Percy is versatile and can work cross-category. That said, I still can’t see M&S looking to license Percy on products – and certainly not food. They may consider licensing for media, perhaps… A Percy Pig TV show for kids? Some other well-known pig did alright from this strategy, which over time moved to world domination! Who knows, one day it could be the Percy and Peppa show!

Times are tough, particularly on the High Street, so never say never. A carefully managed and controlled licensing programme would create a welcome additional revenue stream. Percy is appealing to generations new and old, however, I think he’s staying firmly in his ‘posh pen’ for the foreseeable.

David Berry, Principal Consultant, Interim Licensing Management

Marks & Spencer is currently the Lockdown 3.0 retailer of choice for food inspiration and culinary treats in this household. From the expanding ‘Our Best Ever’ and ‘Gastropub’ ranges to its ‘Biscake’ and Yumnut bakery hybrids… And all the Marmite cheese slices, pastry twists, butter and cream cheese – all must-try and exclusive-to-M&S – you can eat!

The current innovation level emanating from M&S Foodhall is impressive and reflective of the broader five-year transformation plan that the retailer is undertaking to deliver a faster, more streamlined digital multichannel business – and “making M&S special again” under Archie Norman’s stewardship.

If the ever-expanding Percy Pig merchandise range – both in-store and online through M&S at Ocado and M&S’ dedicated Percy Pig Gifts section – is anything to go by, the retailer is intent, despite the apparent oxymoron, on ‘sweating’ this particular asset.

Who doesn’t like Percy Pigs? His broad appeal with both children and adults is a testament to the original product development team, who spotted a gap in the market for foamy-gummy textured confectionery and positioned their innovative creation somewhere between the younger appealing Rowntree’s Jelly Tots and the more adult-targeted Maynards Wine Gums.

It’s almost 30 years since Percy Pig first exposed his soft underbelly to the Great British public; 2020 witnessed the biggest innovation year to date, with 20 product launches in the three months to December.

The range now stretches beyond confectionery to apparel, bedding, gifting, stationery, toys and adult face coverings – naturally! – and boasts a growing social media following on TikTok and Facebook, where a Percy Pig appreciation society has been set up on Facebook and currently has 250,000 members!

The brand would appear to have all the accoutrements to extend successfully beyond M&S through a proprietary commercial licensing programme. Licensing out the brand would undoubtedly help the retailer reach a wider audience, build deeper relationships with its customers and generate incremental revenue.

But you sense M&S have other, more significant priorities right now… They appear laser-focused on delivering innovation and a product formula that differentiates the retailer from the competition – and research suggests consumers perceive M&S to offer higher quality than their competitors.

In turn, increased marketing spend has heightened awareness of the latest brand innovations and driven consumers either back in-store or online in increasing numbers. That exclusive destination, as far as Percy Pig is concerned outside of the digital reselling community, remains firmly M&S.

And if the pre-Easter in-store space dedicated to Percy Pig merchandise is anything to go by, I don’t see that position changing in the foreseeable future.

Daryl Newlands, Marketing Manager, Finsbury Food Group

When looking at whether M&S should license Percy Pig outside of M&S, my head started racing around how big could this be for the retailer. Looking at every category associated with consumer products and how the brand could access these would be a very interesting journey to begin!

However, when thinking deeper into what this would mean, I started to back-track and my thoughts began to change – and this is why…

The Percy Pig brand has been in the making at M&S for well over 10 years and has become a stand-out brand in its own right. This is M&S’ IP and a real consumer hook. If M&S were to license this to companies outside of the M&S estate, I believe this would massively dilute the unique position and destination journey of the Percy-hungry shopper.

That said, M&S can catapult this opportunity within their own stores through a wide range of non-food related licensed products which would help drive incremental sales for the business. Could it move broader into publishing or even into animation?

The Percy Pig brand has a loyal and growing ubiquitous shopper base… M&S should hold this dear and set their sights high on evolving it within their stores and online.

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