Providing a safe pair of hands at M&S

We brought Information Security to life with a creative platform of recognisable clothing-style labels and hands-on activities, ensuring staff engagement from shop floor to head office.

A man wearing a jacket and shirt looking at a computer screen as part of the M&S cyber awareness campaign

Challenge

As one of the UK’s most beloved and recognisable high street retailers and financial service providers, the cyber security of M&S is crucial. With their staff dispersed over 1,400 locations in the UK, we needed to create an easily-recognisable campaign that would engage staff working in a wide variety of roles and environments.
A female employee looking at the camera sitting at her desk with a laptop.

Solution

Handle with Care became M&S’s new security mantra. It was our creative platform that adopted the same style as the universally-translatable clothing washing instructions.

The Handle with Care label had four topic areas and the communications plan consisted of three parts. Tease – a short quiz which assessed current attitudes; Launch – a ‘day in the life’ short film featuring M&S colleagues in store and office information security scenarios; and Learn – an interactive hub site hosting fortnightly topic quizzes.

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.
A large poster of a male employee wearing a suit with the campaign message 'Read the label' in large lettering. Next to this is a picture of a male employee in the bathroom looking at a mirror which has a campaign sticker fixed to the mirror.

Impact

Handle with Care became synonymous with Information Security around the business, with more than one in two interacting with the online hub and defending themselves against cyber security threats.