Observed Signal · Jul 28, 2026 · Interview · Source: The Drum · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Positive
M&S Marketing Director: Campaigns Are Only 10% of Marketing
Sharry Cramond, marketing director at Marks & Spencer, explains that marketing extends far beyond advertising campaigns, which she says account for less than 10% of marketing. She discusses her career path through Kraft, Tesco and Coles, M&S’s strategy to double its food business and grow fashion/home/beauty online, the importance of clear team goals, local store-run social accounts (Facebook and TikTok) that reach millions weekly, agency and media partnerships (Mother, Mindshare) and an unconventional LinkedIn-led launch appointing Gillian Anderson as a campaign 'chief compliments officer'. She also describes internal practices for alignment such as 'blue pins' and an AI specialist colleague called 'AI Di'.
Profile highlights retail marketing practices (local store social, agency/media partnerships, a LinkedIn-led campaign) that are tactically relevant to marketers and retailers but do not represent industry-level technical or policy changes.
Track Tesco Signals & Market Shifts in Real-Time
Polaris7 autonomous intelligence agents track regulatory filings, primary sources, executive changes, and deal flow 24/7. Create your free Explorer workspace to monitor these entities.
Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Sharry Cramond is the marketing director at Marks & Spencer.
- M&S is committed to doubling the size of its food business and doubling the size of fashion, home and beauty online.
- M&S asks individual stores to run their own social media accounts on Facebook and TikTok to communicate locally; the company says these local accounts reach millions of people every week.
- M&S works with agency partner Mother and media partner Mindshare and holds sessions with Meta, TikTok, Google and LinkedIn.
- M&S appointed Gillian Anderson as a campaign 'chief compliments officer' and launched the campaign on LinkedIn.
Connected Companies & Entities
7 Entities mapped“Next, I went to Tesco to get some retail experience....”
“The huge retailer Coles, in Australia, was going through a transformation....”
“We also have great agency partners. Mother, our agency, has a global network....”
“We often have sessions with them, with Meta, with TikTok, with Google, so that we’re learning all the time....”
“The risk we took is that we decided to launch the campaign on LinkedIn....”
“Every single year, ITV shadows our colleagues as we’re getting ready for Christmas because Christmas is so important in retail....”
“We often have sessions with them, with Meta, with TikTok, with Google, so that we’re learning all the time....”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
M&S partners with Ann Summers to refresh brand
An opinion piece by Steph Kiens (growth director at Elmwood) analyses Marks & Spencer’s recent launch of an Ann Summers lingerie range as a strategic brand-collaboration play. Kiens argues M&S is using the partnership to borrow attitude and modernity from Ann Summers, while giving Ann Summers mainstream exposure and legitimacy via M&S’s distribution. The article notes M&S has increased its under-30 underwear shoppers and frames this co-branding approach as an alternative to incremental product changes or premiumization for category incumbents seeking growth.
M&S Product Director’s TikTok Hits ~50K Followers
Hello Partner profiled Kathryn Turner, Director of Product Development at M&S, whose personal TikTok — launched in mid‑May 2026 — organically grew to nearly 50,000 followers in under a month by sharing authentic, behind‑the‑scenes product development content (bakery favourites, farm visits and product stories). The piece, written by Sofia Aira and published June 8, 2026, frames Turner’s rapid audience growth as a viral success and a lesson for brands on authentic creator-led storytelling. The article includes a prompt to subscribe to Hello Partner’s Partner+ for full access.
CMO role shrinks, expands with extra letters
Mark Ritson analyzes the trend of expanding the CMO title to include roles like chief marketing and guest experience officer, chief marketing and customer growth officer, and chief customer officer. He cites recent appointments at Target, Wendy's, Kohl's, and Lowe's, noting that only 36% of Fortune 500 companies now use the CMO title, down from 55% two years ago. He argues that the marketing discipline has narrowed its focus to communications and digital, leading to the need for these 'chaperone' words to reassure the C-suite. Ritson suggests that marketing should reclaim its broader definition encompassing product, price, place, and promotion, as exemplified by Lowe's decision to keep the CMO title without extra qualifiers.
Track Real-Time Market Signals & Shifts
Set up custom watchlists to receive automated, evidence-grounded executive digests whenever material signals or shifts occur across your tracked landscape.