N Brown to revamp JD Williams to attract younger-minded shopper

The mature brand is revamping its offer and marketing approach to bring it in line with its customers, which are much more in tune with trends.

N Brown chief executive Angela Spindler said: “She’s not a silver surfer. She’s choosing a much more sassy hair colour – she’s plum, she’s blonde, she’s chestnut. She’s refusing to get old and we’re getting the proposition right for her.”

It has adopted in-season, rather pre-season, marketing to coincide with its catalogue mailings to make it more digitally focused.

Spindler said: “We’re operating this way with Simply Be and its doing really well. We need to apply it to our juggernaut JD Williams.”

JD Williams, which has recently signed up TV star Lorraine Kelly as its brand ambassador, is to push the button on a full rebrand in the autumn, which will lead to its publications having a more magazine-like feel. “It will have far more vibrant colours with a much more editorial style and much less clutter,” said Spindler.

It will also up the amount of entry price items to encourage new shoppers to “give it a go”.

Spindler said the retailer had “undertraded” in low-priced products but, as an example, it will up the amount of jersey tops under £20 its sells from 25% to 37% of its range.

The move to modernise the brand comes as the group has adopted a fast fashion approach for its younger brand Simply Be. It has moved its sourcing to the UK and Turkey to enable it to deliver the latest catwalk looks to customers in just eight weeks.

N Brown unveiled a 2.5% in like-for-likes in its first quarter this morning.