Although M&S's profits sank rapidly after the £1bn peaks of the late '90s, it remained arguably the most iconic store on the high street, even though its range was derided as out of touch with its trendsetting competitors.
Chief executive Stuart Rose has since led a remarkable turnaround at the ailing giant.
The retailer's "food porn" creatives had viewers salivating and led to a clutch of copycat ads, and its clothing range was boosted by bringing in designer George Davies, the man responsible for the hugely successful Per Una womenswear range, and by launching a big bucks ad campaign featuring iconic '60s star Twiggy.
The ads, which M&S has continued to use, updating themes and adding models as new ranges are unveiled, have been instrumental in defining a resurgent M&S.
The campaigns feature models Lauren Bailey and Erin O'Connor alongside Twiggy, and their message to the masses is that M&S could make every woman in the land look just like the perfect creatures on screen.
The current reincarnation features Twiggy and co at the fairground, accompanied by David Bowie's Lets Dance, merrily showing off the retailer's Autumn collection. While most of the models are suitably clad in their winter woollies, one of the ladies can't resist the urge to show off her M&S underwear on an improvised catwalk.
The latest M&S Twiggy ad first aired on 9 September and the retailer saw its buzz rating rise and continue to rise almost immediately, up from +15 to +23 in the two weeks following the launch of the ad.
Other changes were less significant and M&S will be disappointed that its overall index score remained almost unchanged at +43.
However, the shift in buzz (which forms no part of the index) is encouraging and may yet lead to a strengthening of the brand as positive word of mouth spreads.
The retailer's recommend and value scores both edged up to 39 and 42 points respectively.
However, worryingly, both uplifts have been short-lived - perhaps echoing consumers' dwindling disposable incomes as the credit crunch bites deeper, as reflected in a 6.1% drop in like-for-like sales in Q3 of 2008.
METHODOLOGY: YouGov interviews 2,000 people each weekday to form its BrandIndex, a daily measure of public perception of more than 1,100 consumer brands across 32 sectors. It is measured on a seven-point profile:
1 Buzz
2 General impression
3 Quality
4 Value
5 Satisfaction
6 Recommend
7 Corporate reputation.
In addition, we supply an index score.
Sundip Chahal,