John Lewis Christmas: Using Emotions to Create a Compelling Message Online

Introduction:

Back in 2009 the recession was causing major difficulties for retailers, with less disposable income and the increasing uncertainty in financial markets, people were tightening their wallets.Thus, causing a knock-on effect for the retailer. John Lewis is a household name in the UK and was one of those suffering but instead of watching the company crumble, they decided to implement a new marketing strategy, one that would prove to be a game changer for them.

The new strategy would focus on creating an emotional attachment with people. As a consumer, if you have an emotional attachment or affiliation with a company/brand/product you are more inclined to purchase with them. In addition to this, creating compelling emotional content will also attract those who may not have been a customer in the past.

The results were clear for all to see as sales figures reflected a return on investment over a three year period of 500%. (2009 – 2012)

Strategy Implementation:

Christmas is an important time of the year for John Lewis which accounts for almost 40% of sales and 20% of annual profits. The retailer has become known for its Christmas campaigns ever since they launched their new strategy in Christmas of 2009 with the campaign “Remember The Feeling”.

In 2010 the campaign “For Those Who Care” followed a similar theme of touching emotions. I remember this campaign in particular as it was my first time I had seen a John Lewis advert but I somehow felt my emotions being triggered; something which for many who know me is not an easy thing to do.

In 2011 “The long wait” featured a young boy waiting to give a present to his parents on Christmas morning. No doubt bringing a tear to the eye of many parents.

In 2012 “The Journey” was one of the most popular campaigns as it trended globally within hours of being released online. The power of this ad was growing with a Google analytics comparison between this campaign and the “Train” ad by Coca Cola showing that the John Lewis ad was a signal to the start of Christmas. This success was reflected further by yielding the highest return of any single campaign with over £160 million in incremental revenue.

Fast forward to 2014 and the release of the latest campaign which includes #MontyThePenguin. According to Sysomos, a social media intelligence company, the campaign was mentioned on Twitter more than 90,000 times and viewed more than 6.9 million times in the first 24hours.

Conclusion

Triggering an emotional reaction is one of the key components in creating a successful campaign. John Lewis is a perfect example of this. If you would like help setting up a marketing campaign for your business contact our creative team.