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Oxford Street has developed a new brand identity as part of a strategy to ‘cement its status as the globe’s go-to high street destination for brands and shoppers’
Spearheaded by New West End Company, this brand positioning seeks to establish Oxford Street as the gateway to London’s West End, offering the world’s best in shopping, high street designs and ‘retailment’ (retail entertainment).
New West End Company is a company supported and run by major retailers and property owners in Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street.
Richard Dickinson, chief executive of New West End Company said: “Oxford Street is expected to bring in £5bn a year in 2013 in retail sales alone. The scale of its economic value as the country’s high street is unsurpassed.
“We want to make sure that worldwide, it’s understood that for shoppers or shops, Oxford Street is the place to be. More retail brands begin their European expansion here – American Apparel and Urban Outfitters for example – and 79% of shoppers told us that visiting Oxford Street was a part of the London experience. As our new strapline says: ‘It all starts here’.”
The new identity, which focuses on an ‘X’ symbol, literally aims to ‘mark the spot’ where strengths like the street’s multitude of flagships collide with less obvious facts like the food offer of over 500 restaurants within a stone’s throw of the street.
The first major campaign sporting the new identity will take place during London Fashion Week this September. The new strapline will appear across all marketing campaigns for Oxford Street from this autumn, including a refreshed website which currently welcomes over 1 million visitors a year: www.oxfordstreet.co.uk.
New promotions, as well as on-street navigation and customer services, will be also introduced to highlight the offer in and around Oxford Street.
This brand positioning will be the backbone for the future strategy for East Oxford Street. This part of the street has historically suffered from a disappointing retail offer, but is now under the guardianship of retail property expert David Kenningham. He has been tasked by New West End Company to attract brands from the US to invest in the area and have all properties occupied ahead of the arrival of Crossrail in 2018.
