Overview

Very started life as the iconic Littlewoods catalogue — but by 2023, the shine had well and truly dulled. Years of muddled messaging had left customers confused and colleagues uninspired. The vibes? Off. The perception? Unfashionable, low quality, overpriced.

Enter a new CMO, a bold vision, and a brand transformation served with glitter, sass, and Scouse spirit. Together with The Gate, Very embarked on a full-scale glow-up. One that would turn an often overlooked brand into the flamingo of the flock. Loud. Proud. And unapologetically sparkly.

Challenge

Once upon a time, The Very Group was the moment. As the Littlewoods catalogue, they were the UK’s must-have shopping bible, with flexible payment options to spread the cost.

But from the 90s onwards, catalogues fell out of favour, seen as old-fashioned and expensive and damned by snobbery. Fast-forward to early 2023, and Very had really lost their sparkle. In a sea of slick, sharp competitors (hi Shein, hey M&S), it was fading into the background. Very Pay — their credit offering and secret sauce — wasn’t cutting through.

Meanwhile, the cost-of-living crisis had everyone clinging to their pennies and questioning their purchases. If you weren’t clear, relevant, and fabulous? You were getting left behind.

We needed to give people a reason to love Very again. Actually, scrap that. We needed to give them lots of reasons. More reasons. Very reasons.

Insight

Through customer focus groups, colleague workshops and deep dives into our Scouse roots, a truth sparkled into view: Very is — and always has been — about more. More flair. More optimism. More bang for your buck.

As for their customers they were walking manifestations of that mindset. Modest budgets but major main character energy. They weren’t just getting by — they were making magic.

We matched those vibes with a slice of culture we knew would resonate: hun culture. It’s a fabulous, cheeky, why-not vibe that finds joy in the everyday. It’s leopard print, prosecco o’clock, 00s pop culture, and holibobs. It’s Gemma Collins being the GC. And most of all, it’s “a glittery resistance” to gloom and difficulty: refusing to let life grind you down. It wasn’t just a vibe match. It was a soul match.

Strategy & Approach

We reframed ‘Very’ as more than a name. It is a cultural code for abundance—with attitude. Big looks, big hearts, big ambition. Strategically, it offered a distinctive position beyond price and convenience. From that, a simple, powerful positioning emerged:

✨ “There’s Good. And there’s Very Good.” ✨

Simple, sticky, and sassy. If it wasn’t bringing sparkle to the party it wasn’t Very.

Inspired by our brand, our audience and hun culture we positioned Very and its customers as flamingos in a flock of pigeons. ( huns LOVE a one-liner)

This linked our brand and comms strategy like False lashes & payday:

There’s Good -pigeons – anything basic, other retailers.

And then there’s Very Good - flamingos—Very and its customers

Solution

We launched the new brand at Christmas (go big or go home, right?), unleashing three absolute icons: Kerry, Terry, and Cherry, all on a mission to make Christmas sparkle, thanks to Very. The glitter, the fun, the Girls Aloud banger brought pure hun energy. But this pink world was unmistakably Very. The brand line "Let's Make It Sparkle" was a rallying cry. Very – and its customers – don’t just do good… we do Very Good. 

The Masterbrand launch was just the opening number. Very has a whole wardrobe of needs, and everything from fashion to finance was given the flamingo treatment.

Then in 2024, we gave the people what they didn’t know they needed: Alison Hammond. As The Very Godmother, she helped us sprinkle joy and solve gift-giving dilemmas on live TV — turning retail into entertainment and securing new revenue from brand partners.

Every move was calculated. Every touchpoint on-brand. And every moment designed to turn good into Very good.

Results & Learnings

Commercial glow-up

• +3.4% retail sales growth (Golden Quarter 2023)
• +4.5% (Golden Quarter 2024, ex. Nike)
• +8.4% brand contribution to EBITDA
• 17.4% growth in H1 adjusted EBITDA — the best ever

Brand love soaring

• +3ppt brand consideration (GQ 2023)
• +2ppt brand consideration (GQ 2024)
• Womenswear consideration up to 52% post-flamingo
• Strong uplift in price, quality, and value perceptions — especially among non-buyers

Creative slayage

• System1 score: top 4% of all campaigns ever tested
• Kantar: 2nd most persuasive Christmas ad of 2023
• 71% of our audience felt positively toward the campaign
• +22ppt unprompted attribution YoY
• 44% correctly attributed the unbranded flamingo ad to Very

Lessons from the flock

• Own your sparkle — cultural connection drives commercial performance.
• Right-brain storytelling cuts through the noise and builds emotional stickiness.
• When you commit to a brand world, don’t whisper — strut.