Delivering a compelling customer proposition Living up to our brand promise

A differentiated brand portfolio
Debenhams is different from many department stores because it has a unique and differentiated brand offer. Over half of what we sell is exclusive to Debenhams. You can read more about Designers at Debenhams overleaf. Our core brands are also extremely important to us. Brands such as Mantaray, Red Herring and Bluezoo are just as unique and exclusive as Designers. They provide the lower and middle components of our price architecture and are a key part of our ability to offer great value every day. Debenhams’ own brands are complemented by our offer of international brands, particularly in health & beauty where the availability of some of the world’s most prestigious brands such as Chanel, Estée Lauder and MAC creates a halo effect over the rest of the store. There is also a role for concessions in our brand portfolio. Concessions such as Coast, Miss Selfridge and Jacques Vert add choice and drive footfall.

Raising standards instore
We need to raise our instore standards to change customers’ perceptions of Debenhams, reinforcing it as a modern and contemporary place to shop. We are starting to do this through improved visual merchandising which makes extensive use of large format photography which not only looks good but increases product rate of sale. We need to improve our product presentation so it is more inspiring and to a consistently high standard. We also need to demonstrate more price and value confidence within our range of “good, better and best” products. Service standards instore are also crucial. Our model is predominantly self-service but we need to provide great service in areas like personal shopping, bra fit, gift list and in the restaurants. Technology is an important enabler of service and we are introducing a number of new systems to help us achieve this.

Communicating the proposition
Our marketing is becoming more joined up. Messaging is consistent around the themes of “Life made fabulous” and Designers at Debenhams. We are speaking with one voice for both brand marketing and promotional marketing whereas in the past we have used different approaches for each which customers found confusing. Our marketing and PR activities are now completely aligned. We are also changing the mix of marketing media. Traditional media such as TV, print and direct marketing will continue to be important but new media will become increasingly important. 2012 will see some exciting developments, including the use of augmented reality. We are not spending any more money, instead we are making it go further.