Debenhams hands creative account to Mother after 8 years with JWT
Debenhams has selected Mother as its lead strategic, creative and design agency, with a remit to develop its brand identity and ‘express’ its new strategy dubbed Debenhams Redesigned.
'You Shall' was JWT's last work for Debenhams
The department store announced its split with J. Walter Thompson, the creative incumbent of eight years, in September. It has held pitching rounds with Karmarama, Portas, Mcgarrybowen and Mother, having announced its plan to review its marcomms agency with the help of AAR in July.
The indie shop will be tasked with developing the Debenhams Resigned strategy, which aims to position the brand as a destination for ‘social shopping’ whereby the retail experience is ‘confidence boosting, sociable and fun’.
Richard Cristofoli, managing director of beauty and marketing at Debenhams, said: “Throughout the pitch process, Mother consistently demonstrated that they understand us, our customer and our brand, as well as the challenges in hand and could bring their creative thinking in a way which would make a difference.
“We are excited to work with them as we move forward with our Debenhams Redesigned strategy in 2018.”
Katie Mackay, partner at Mother, added: “Debenhams is a giant of the high street. We’ve been impressed with their clarity of vision, which we’ll now get to showcase within a modern brand.”
JWT's swansong to the retailer was 'You Shall', a Christmas tale that modernised the fairytale of Cinderella.