JOHN LEWIS: THE KINGS OF CHRISTMAS

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This week the infamous John Lewis Christmas advert was released. (See Below)

Now if you’re not from the UK, you’re probably wondering what the hell is going on here.

What you need to understand is that John Lewis is known for being ‘THE’ Christmas advert. It’s a running joke in England, that Christmas doesn’t start until John Lewis put out their Christmas advert.

When it does come out, people scour the internet to see it. Then flock to social media - just as quick - to talk about it.

It is absolutely crazy to think about how there is so much “hype” around an advert. Especially when adverts often have negative connotations when it comes to viewers.

Simply put: no one does Christmas quite like John Lewis.

Let’s break down how they became the “Kings of Christmas”.

Company Overview

Valuation: Unknown - Largest employee-owned business in the UK

2020 Revenue: £3.7 Billion ($5 billion)

John Lewis is a brand of high-end department stores operating throughout Great Britain, with concessions also located in the Republic of Ireland and Australia. The brand sells a range of goods such as homeware, fashion, furniture, electricals and more - a great comparison for US readers would be Target.

Breaking Down The Strategy

Christmas time is a vital part of the year for all retail stores. The months of November and December account for 19% of retail says per year on average. (Source)

So when it gets to this time of year retail stores smother our TV’s and social feeds with their greatest Christmas ads in order to bring them to their stores over competitors.

However, when it comes to competing with John Lewis’ Christmas ad’s the competition falls well behind.

They dominate the supermarkets:

They even dominate the retail stores:

You should now understand why I labelled John Lewis “The Kings of Christmas”.

No one can compete with them.

John Lewis were not always associated with Christmas however. In fact, they only began running Christmas ads in 2007.

So, how did John Lewis become known for Christmas and why are their Christmas adverts so effective?

Answer: Well honestly there are many. Awesome positioning, great content creation and even better storytelling. However, these are all parts of one thing and that’s John Lewis being able to connect with its customers - in this case, through Christmas stories.

The adverts aren’t like normal adverts; they tell a story – and not just any story: they tell a simple story with a strong emotional thread through it. They show the viewer what is happening rather than telling them.

They are also strongly aligned with their brand: John Lewis is always there for you, a testament to the retailer’s longevity and the fact that you want it to be there for you is a testament to their long-standing reputation for quality.

These sorts of heart-tugging adverts don’t work half as well for the supermarkets, because no one actively likes and trusts supermarkets in the same way that they trust John Lewis.

It’s that authenticity combined with an emotional tug that drives people to share the John Lewis advert – 2014’s offering was briefly the single most shared video on the planet. John Lewis cleverly created a buzz around the advert before it was even screened with a Twitter hashtag. The result was not only a boost in sales but people spending money on tie-in merchandise specifically connected to the video advertising itself – a true success story.

It’s important to mention that it’s not just one or two Christmas ad’s that hit for John Lewis. No. Every single year John Lewis’s Christmas ads hit.

To emphasise their success, just take a look at this Google Trends graph:

I won’t bore you with the ins and out of the trends. Here’s the stuff you really need to take from it:

• Over 3/4 of "John Lewis" searches happen between November & January.

• Searches for "John Lewis" have peaked in November for 7 consecutive years (you can take a guess which month they release the ad).

• Right now searches are fairly low. Let's see how it is after a few weeks of the ad being released!

The most important thing to realise is that John Lewis' Christmas ad is more than likely the cause of peak searches for the last 7 years!

No one does Christmas ad’s like John Lewis. The true “Kings of Christmas”.

And for all you Christmas lovers, here are all the John Lewis Christmas adverts from 2007-2020:

The Lesson

John Lewis probably didn’t set out to become THE Christmas advert company. However, when it happened, they leaned into it - which is a lesson in itself.

The biggest thing to learn from John Lewis is associating yourself with a holiday can be huge. When people in the UK think of Christmas, they think of John Lewis too. This tie between John Lewis and Christmas is vital for their branding; more importantly for their sales. I can only begin to imagine the number of people that choose to do their Christmas shopping at John Lewis over competitors; simply because of its association with Christmas.

I’d go as far as to say, if John Lewis lost its tie with Christmas it would be detrimental to the company. That’s why they spend millions every year to ensure their advert hits!

Another lesson to be learned from John Lewis here is how effective storytelling can be.

Through these short 2-3 minute stories John Lewis is able to tug on their consumer’s heartstrings and really allows them to connect and create somewhat of a relationship.

It’s so hard for big billion-dollar companies to create these sorts of bonds with anyone, let alone do this on a mass scale as John Lewis does.

How To Implement This

There are so many ways you can implement a similar strategy to John Lewis. From pushing more storytelling content to creating a relationship between your brand and a national holiday.

• Storytelling - The John Lewis ads show that storytelling content (done right) is hugely effective. Try putting some of your marketing budgets aside and hiring a media company to produce a short story for you.Remember to have the video represent the brand. Of course, don’t create a short horror story if you are a family-friendly brand.

• Relationship with a holiday - Thomas from Ariyh Tips recently wrote an article on associating promotions with special days (article). The following (quoted from the article) explains the associating your ad’s with world holidays is hugely beneficial. You’ll also be happy to know that the more unique the holiday the better - no need to compete with the big dogs for Christmas, Halloween, etc.

This has been a breakdown of John Lewis’ marketing strategy with its Christmas Adverts. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!