La Redoute to relaunch in the UK, following marketing overhaul

La Redoute is gearing up for a relaunch within the UK this fall, following a marketing strategy overhaul designed to increase brand awareness in the country. The move comes not long after the management buyout of the mail order catalog, which saw Natalia Balla, chairman and CEO of La Redoute and Edward Cortez take over the company from Kering last summer.

In order to continue competing with rivals within the UK, the French label is keen to raise its brand profile in a country which was once considered its main market outside of France. "Although we've been in the UK for 20 years, a lot of people in the UK don't realise it. They think we have a French name but aren't genuinely French," explained Heidi Kenyon-Smith, La Redoute marketing chief director to the Drum.

The company launched its first digital campaign last year, which centered around the theme 'French Style Made Easy,' in a film which depicted women receiving complimentary messages. After the short film saw close to 300,000 views on YouTube, the company decided to move towards more digital and social marketing scheme.

"We have a home shopping background and in the past we've not invested heavily in brand awareness because we've relied on having a great database. But we know that one of our biggest challenges is unprompted brand awareness; it’s very low. People don't necessarily think about us when they are shopping online. That’s why we're reviewing that and spending less on direct marketing and investing more in awareness activity," added Kenyon-Smith.

Over the next 12 months the company aims to focus on digital marketing, above-the-line marketing as well as TV ads and increasing engagement with consumers through its social media channels. La Redoute is set to become "bigger and better" on Facebook, as well as Twitter and Instagram, where it currently "doesn't do anything on." The brand aims to foster a community on Instagram and will soon allow UK consumers to upload images of themselves in La Redoute clothing on the website's homepage.

The French company has hired a number of agencies over the past three months to oversee its marketing strategies, including PR agency, Beattie Communications, to help manage it social media activity, Cheetham Bill to oversee creative campaigns and iCrossing to handle social and SEO. "We've tended to work in silos with agencies and channels but we've recognised we need to change that. We're going to be working in a much more collaborative way and have inter-agency meetings."

"We don't have these huge budgets that other retailers have so for us to have an impact we need to make sure that we're maximising everything we’re doing and it’s amplified the best way we can," noted Kenyon-Smith.