This year’s high-street Christmas adverts are officially rolling out, and many (including us) couldn’t wait to see the always much-awaited John Lewis advert and discover what the chosen song would be this year. Often the go-to advert of the season, the high-street giant certainly has competition nowadays with Aldi, M&S, Asda and more vying for that top spot.
We all know the past few years have been a real challenge for many reasons, and with these early November ad releases, it seems Christmas has arrived early. With consumers looking to not only spread the cost but also to spread some much-needed joy, these festive adverts could not come at a better time.
The 2024 John Lewis Advert – The Gifting Hour
The Nu Image team gathered to watch ‘The Gifting Hour’ this morning, and while it had us feeling festive, it also split the room. The ad follows a woman last-minute shopping for a Christmas gift for her sister in the Oxford Street John Lewis store.
She falls into a memory lane wonderland, visiting various moments of her life involving her sister at different ages, which inspires her to pick the perfect gift (we think… it’s possible that it’s open to interpretation). The ad ends with her meeting up with her sister, sharing a great big hug and handing over the mystery gift while the wording ‘The secret to finding the perfect gift? Knowing where to look’ hovers.
So. A John Lewis advert about… John Lewis? About Christmas gifts and shopping? To those not engrossed in the lore of John Lewis Christmas ads, this might sound like perfect sense, but to the rest of us, this ad is different.
The question is: good different or bad different?
Everyone who knows John Lewis knows that their Christmas ads are famed for being ‘mini movies’, typically with a fun and/or emotional plot. 2022 gave us an ad about a dad practicing skateboarding to make their new foster daughter feel more welcome, and in 2015 we saw a young girl sending a gift to the lonely man on the moon. It’s safe to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the room after watching either of these, this year’s ad has definitely taken an entirely different route.
One thing is true, in our opinion, and that’s that this year’s ad is a great Christmas gift shopping advert. It has colour, festive vibes, a fun and fast pace, and above all it shows that John Lewis is the place to go for Christmas shopping, whether you need jewellery, toys, or furniture. It’s well-produced, as always, and gets you in the Christmas spirit. So, is it a bad thing that it doesn’t make you want to cry?
From a marketing point of view, the difference in style has people talking, so it’s done its job. Instead of sharing how much we cried or laughed, we’re talking about whether we like the change in direction. Regardless, we’re talking about it and we’re talking about John Lewis, which is, of course, the goal. Whether we liked the ad or not, we certainly all have it planted in our minds now that John Lewis is the perfect place to tick almost everything off our Christmas lists, right?
Maybe the root of some viewers’ dismay is the lack of tissues and, let’s face it, some form of heartbreak occurring on screen. We’ve come to expect it from John Lewis, but does the absence of that make it a bad advert? We don’t think so. Realistically, how much do their previous adverts convey what John Lewis actually is? This year they’ve gone back to advertisement basics, yet still having a heartwarming story we can all relate to: the struggle of finding the perfect present for someone we love.
A new musical direction
Last year’s ad about a giant venus fly trap featured a semi-operatic piece titled ‘Festa’ written and produced specifically for John Lewis by Italian classical tenor Andrea Bocelli. This was a change for John Lewis, who typically opts for soft piano covers of nostalgic pop songs, and it seems like they’re continuing to be different.
This year, the song was Sonnet by The Verve. It wasn’t a cover, which is unusual, but simply the song as it is. Pretty standard for every other advert, but a new direction for John Lewis. It’s a great song and a great choice, however, so we’re not complaining here!
What’s rather exciting, and certainly something different, is the competition they’re launching on TikTok. They’re asking for the public to create their own covers of Sonnet, with the winner being chosen by The Verve’s Richard Ashcroft. The ad will then be rereleased on Christmas Day, featuring that cover. This is a fantastic move to garner an incredible level of engagement, especially from the younger generations.
The creative agency behind the John Lewis adverts
Nope. It’s not us. But we still love them just the same! Saatchi & Saatchi of London are the agency behind this ad, leading to them producing the third in a trilogy for John Lewis now.
Previously, CCO Franki Goodwin said, “It does feel a little bit like taking the reins of a movie franchise” which is understandable. The John Lewis ad is the giant of festive advertising, and no small task to undertake, but the agency has said that opportunity has come with the pressure.
So, why are the John Lewis ads continually such a success and how have they become such an annual talking point?
Christmas sentiment
Christmas is a time that evokes emotion in the majority of households in the UK. To some, it’s a time to bring family together and for others, it’s a time to reflect on what has been lost.
John Lewis has been producing big-budget adverts for many years, but the ‘Long Wait’ campaign in 2011 was the first to really strike a chord with the nation. Directed by Dougal Wilson, it depicts a small boy, desperately waiting like so many others for Christmas day to arrive. The view makes the assumption that he is waiting for his own gifts, however, when Christmas morning arrives it turns out that in fact, he was eagerly awaiting the 25th so that he could give a gift of his own to his parents. Paired with a cover version of the Smiths’ ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want,’ the ad caused widespread discussion and clouded many an eye with a tear or two.
Since then, the campaigns have continued to grow. From a trampolining boxer dog to a stranded alien, the John Lewis Christmas adverts have pulled at heartstrings and become a Christmas tradition for many.
Films in their own right
With big-budget directors, clever short stories and top-class animators, the John Lewis ads have become films in their own right. The ‘Bear and the Hare’ animation, which showed the friendship between two woodland animals, showcased the adverts as short films more than any before.
Merchandise and charity support
In addition to regular seasonal sales, the ads have also helped to boost sales of merchandise for the stores. ‘Monty the Penguin’ toys sold out within 24 hours of his release. In fact, penguin toy sales on eBay increased overall by 300% following the lovable penguin being featured in the advert. Sales of the ‘Man on the Moon’ merchandise also happily benefited the Age UK charity.
2017 saw Moz the Monster introduced to our screens, following leaks in the press of a “Gruffalo-style monster”, it seems the speculation was pretty close to the truth. Moz strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young boy called Joe who is unable to sleep at night, thanks to Moz snoring under his bed.
10% of the takings of the ‘Moz the Monster’ plush toys were donated to Banardo’s.
Interestingly, this year’s ad didn’t feature a mascot of sorts, despite groundbreaking sellouts and much anticipation for who the next mascot will be from audiences. However, this year’s ad took the approach of placing John Lewis products that you can buy in-store in the lead up to Christmas throughout the entire advert. A clever choice that really drives the message home that John Lewis is the place to visit in order to browse and find the perfect gift for your loved one.
Famous faces
2018 featured the UK’s very own Elton John, and his lookalikes, as we watched a young Elton receive his very first piano.
“We’ve been doing John Lewis Christmas ads for some time now and what’s on my mind is how we move it on creatively but hold on to the heart of what makes them special, I hope audiences will watch this and really enjoy the national treasure that is Elton John.” Craig Inglis, customer director at John Lewis.
In a typical flourish of marketing campaign genius, the signage at their flagship store was adjusted to show just ‘John’ in a teaser prior to the advert release.
Fakes, alternatives and serious competitors
As with all creative industry success, there will of course always be competition and impersonators and the John Lewis adverts have not been without their fair share of piggy-backers. 2016 saw student Nick Jablonka launch his A-level coursework, masquerading as the long-awaited offering from the retailer. Fooling the nation with over 375,000 people viewing it in the first few days alone.
2018 saw Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot fighting for the top spot, with their own parody of the Coca-Cola ‘Holidays Are Coming’ short film. In recent years, Kevin made a return to our screens alongside the ‘Leafy Blinders,’ beating John Lewis to their release. And of course, who can forget the controversy surrounding Cuthbert the Caterpillar’s arrest in the Aldi Christmas advert in 2021.
We personally will never get over Sainsbury’s ‘The Big Night’ ad, delighting us with an incredible school Christmas performance, including the now-famous ‘plug boy’ jumping into the wall socket, and the little singing star.
The Beginner – The 2022 John Lewis Christmas advert
Not a dry eye in the house with 2022’s impactful ad. ‘The Beginner’ followed a dad and his hapless attempts to master the skateboard before the arrival of his foster child, Ellie, ensuring the pair would have something in common.
Pairing back the glitz and glamour and focusing on reality was fitting following the few years we have endured, and certainly using their reach to talk about and raise awareness around such an important subject is a commendable move. It proved a hit with the viewers, with many crediting it as the best and most emotionally hard-hitting advert produced by the John Lewis team yet. John Lewis stated, “In a challenging year, we felt it was important to demonstrate that it’s what we do that matters most,” adding it was proud to use its Christmas ad to “generate conversation and action around an often overlooked issue.”
Whilst product placement was kept to a minimum, in order to support the featured charities consumers were able to buy select products in-store such as the Lewis bear, pyjamas, a tote bag or a skateboard, with 25% of the sales donated to Action for Children and Who Cares? Scotland.
Snapper: The Perfect Tree –The 2023 John Lewis Christmas Advert
Last year’s ad certainly was heartwarming in its purpose encourage people to break the mould. The ad follows a young boy named Alfie who receives a seed for ‘the perfect Christmas tree’. To everyone’s surprise, a Venus flytrap with a big personality grows with his help, lovingly named ‘Snapper’.
Compared to 2022’s heart-wrenching advert about a dad learning to skateboard for his foster child, this ad was a lot less emotionally intense. With the tagline ‘let your traditions grow’, this ad’s message is all about doing what you love this Christmas, celebrating both old and new traditions.
The fun and festive vibe was a great way of getting people excited for Christmas who maybe had a tougher year, showing that you don’t have to stick to the classics to make the day memorable. You don’t always need the decorations or the lights or the traditional finishing touches, as long as you have love.
Was the new advert worth the wait?
We love speculating about what the adverts will be, how they will be perceived and, of course, should we have been given the opportunity, what direction we would have taken it in. It has become somewhat of a tradition on the release date to gather around a desk to watch it together.
Overall, the new advert was enjoyed here, but some of us didn’t quite catch on to the underlying message due to it being so fast-paced. As marketers, we love the TikTok competition concept, and are excited to see if we prefer the updated version with the chosen winner’s cover. But, all in all, it was a 50/50 split in the room between those who enjoyed the more traditional and relatable Christmas shopping approach and those who were expecting to be introduced to a new mascot to love, a new cover song to overplay, and inevitably another tear jerker.
Don’t get us wrong, the ad has us excited for the vibrancy and fun of Christmas, along with that amazing feeling you get when you hand over the perfect gift, but should John Lewis be considering an advert that ticks the core boxes they’re famous and that keeps audiences excitedly waiting for their Christmas ad drop? Could they find that the interest drops each year as they continue to deviate away from this? It’s certainly got us thinking of John Lewis for our shopping trips, as we’re lucky enough to have one here in Norwich. But we’re already wondering, what will next year’s ad bring?
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