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It marks the British retailer’s first ever venture into film promotion, offering shoppers a "buy one get one free" film ticket deal for Mother’s Day.

The partnership will see all 320 Marks & Spencer retail stores plus larger Simply Food outlets run promotional activity for the tie-up, which will enable shoppers to receive a "two for one" cinema ticket for the film across all the major UK cinema chains, in return for spending £20 in store on qualifying categories.

In the run up to Mother’s Day on 15 March, artwork for the film promotion will be displayed in participating Marks & Spencer store windows nationwide.

The campaign launches today (5 March), and will be supported by door stickers, digital signage and in-store displays.

The activity is supported online with a competition to win tickets to the film premiere in London, and a Facebook competition on the Marks & Spencer brand page to win a trip to India.

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is the sequel to the 2012 film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, featuring stars Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Richard Gere.

The first film became a blockbuster, grossing nearly $137 million globally and ranking as the year's second most popular independent film release in the UK.

Tapping into the growing power of older film audiences, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel campaign is geared towards engaging with a demographic who are highly connected to the cinema experience, with over two thirds (68%) agreeing the cinema is a great way to spend quality time with friends, family or their partner, making the Mother’s Day connection a perfect association.

Furthermore, a massive 83% of the 45+ ABC1 cinemagoer audience act as the main shoppers in their households.

Patricia Cabrera, brand and events marketing manager at Marks & Spencer, said: "We are pleased to announce our first cinematic promotional deal and provide our customers with a special offer on their cinema viewing of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, just in time for Mother’s Day."

Kathryn Jacob, chief executive of Pearl & Dean, said: "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is an important step in the evolution of the older 'cinemagoing' demographic – this is the first ever sequel to a film which was so popular among this influential cinema audience.

"This is a wonderful new development in the growth of Pearl & Dean and really shows what is possible when you can connect up a new release to an engaged and flexible brand."