M&S - Handle with care

Challenge

M&S wanted to bring about a culture change when it came to keeping information secure. This would help to support their vision of being a ‘world leader in protecting customer and colleague data’.

Of course, culture change is always a big ask – even more so when you’re asking people to change ingrained, daily behaviours. But by identifying problem areas upfront, as well as measuring attitudes towards and understanding of information security pre-launch, we could help to both monitor and improve these aspects. 

Always read the label

Our creative platform, Handle with Care, referenced a label with clothing washing instructions. The four topic areas each had their own icon. As well as providing a perfect mantra for and connection with protecting information, the Handle with Care label quickly became synonymous with information security around the business. 

The communications plan split activity into three parts. Tease– where a short quiz assessed current attitudes; Launch– kicking off with a 'day in the life' film featuring M&S colleagues in store and office information security scenarios; and Learn– via an interactive hub site hosting fortnightly topic quizzes. Fun awareness materials such as large ceiling labels in offices, short plasma screen animations, whiteboard and bathroom stickers supported the campaign, helping to keep the conversation going. 

Outcomes

We’ve drummed up a lot of interest in the business, notably amongst the office population that face more information security risks. The Handle with Care Yammer post was seen by 5,000 colleagues – 56% of their office-based workforce – and 1 in 2 clicked through to the hub to find out more and take at least one quiz. Already it feels like M&S are well on their way to protecting themselves from cyber threats.