Most powerful ad of the year? Maybe
Sometimes the link between brilliant ads and their return on investment is a little too vague – but not so for this amazing ad.
Created by UK agency Adam & Eve for department store John Lewis, the retailer says that the ad – which features a reworking of Billy Joel’s Always A Woman To Me soundtracking a woman’s life story – has resulted in an astonishing 39.7% leap in sales.
It’s certainly capturing the public’s imagination in the UK. Several mainstream British papers have written about it, and I think it’s the first time my parents have ever emailed me about an ad. As The Observer puts it:
Both versions are crazy middle-of-the-road… of course. But still, isn’t the Italian one much sexier? Even though makes you feel a bit weird when it cuts from the young kids’ scene, then 5″ later you’re looking at a fella’s hand slide up the heroine’s leg: “Hang on, just a moment ago she was in a kiddy ballet class… and now she’s shagging?”
Can’t wait to see what Myer’s does with it; I’m betting ugg boots, track-suit pants preceded by a midori vomit in the teenage years.
Beautiful ad. Wonderful positioning for John Lewis, they must be stoked.
I agree Chris , beautiful ad, very middle of the road but spot on for a department store
I would pay to be a fly on a wall if an agency for Myers or DJs ever pitched the idea of a $10m ad, the client response would be priceless.
It reminds me very much of the animated Lloyds TSB For The Journey ads that ran in the UK a few years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lloyds+TSB+For+The+Journey&aq=f
Specifically:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3xe9dSY7zM
/y0z
This is an excellent piece of advertising. What a shame we seldom see the likes of it in Australia.
God, that’s hilarious, Fergus! I for one, can’t wait to see that Myer Ad!!
I do think it’s beautiful….but it coul be for any one.
Change that end frame and it’s an ad for Nike Woman, or Dove or Bonds undies
Rob Campbell keeps saying this: Yes the John Lewis ad is beautiful, but it doesn’t really say anything unique, not even emotionally. Unlike http://tinyurl.com/27fx4co
I’m sorry, are you all debating about whether or not this is a good ad when it’s reportedly seen an almost 40% increase in sales? I’m pretty sure that fact alone makes it a good ad.
@OtherAndrew: +1.
Powerful? Phht, derivative and uninspired. I’ve seen the whole “lifetime compressed into a minute or two” shtick done dozens of times in ads, movies, even comics, infact, I can’t name a media or genre where it hasn’t been done in various forms and ways… I’m quite sure I’ve probably even seen it in a sit-com.
Anyone who is actually “moved” by this ham-fisted attempt at emotional manipulation would probably be just as “moved” when an orange puppet gets taken away by the “alien task-force” in the final episode of ALF.
And I’d like to know the name of the person signed over TEN MILLION Dollars for this schlock, I’ve many many “ideas” to pitch to this gullible person.
Those who saw ART & COPY recently will see some similarity to Hal Riney’s great bank ad – but hey, isn;’t it good to see a good ol’ fashioned ad aimed at the heart rather than the head.
Emotion still sells!
It’s undeniably an emotionaly-engaging ad (even though I’m sure I’m not in their core target audience) and you can’t argue with the *claimed* ROMI numbers.
But I totally agree with @Katie Chatfield here. This ad could just as well be for the Royal Mail (UK) or for AustraliaPost.
A few cunningly inserted mail props e.g. birthday parcel, exam results, postcards from travels, congrats cars (new home, new baby etc) and voila.
Ironically, it seems this ad is being “knowingly oversold” by the UK media.
two things:
– anyone else find the lyrics disparaging?
– she married a ranga
This ad made me feel really home sick for Blighty – why is it that generally speaking UK TV advertising is of a much higher standard than the rest of the world? Please enlighten us Tim
Hi Jayne,
I’d argue that every market had roughly the same percentage of great and awful ads. But because the UK’s a bigger market, numerically it has more of both.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I rather think this is similar to the current insurance ad on TV where two years of a girls life is compressed, cleverly and succinctly. I love that ad, it tugs my heart strings because it speaks to me demographically, all those experiences are things I have had in short spaces of time. So it sells to me. There was another series, from Commbank I think that made the emotional link between the potential of a child today and their future ambitions and dreams. Yes, of course emotion sells. Perhaps it’s just the dream of a life so uninterrupted with any hint of sadness or tragedy that is making this cut through so well in the UK where, lets face it, life for many has been and will continue to be cruddy for a long while.
@Nate Are you seriously telling me that ALF was a puppet???
Nice short film, sponsored by John Lewis.
I think if more brands thought about spending their marketing money in this way (i.e. make nice content that people want to watch), they’d get a much better product from their agencies.
Not a patch on the KFC sizzler bucket ad for mine.
Could the increase in sales be to do with ecomonic recovery and consumer confidence? After all, John Lewis is unaffordable to most and somewhat of a luxury shop.
You know what – am in the target market but this is not a tear jerker for me…music of course good (classic) but has’nt this ‘journey through life’ stuff been done enough before. If I was the client and seen the storyboards I would not think original….esp for the cost!! Also isn’t the standard ad in the UK 20 sec’s – trying cutting that back and acheive the same effect…
“Sometimes the link between brilliant ads and their return on investment is a little too vague – but not so for this amazing ad”
Hang on a sec, the link between this ad and a “39.7% leap in sales” is still a bit “vague” to me.
What’s the evidence for this extraordinary claim? If it exists then this ad is more than just the “most powerful ad of the year” – regardless of its creative merits.
If it doesn’t trouble the award juries, there’s a pretty obvious conclusion to be drawn.
This one should clean up at the effectiveness shows though—which are the ones that smart clients pay most attention to.
Who said John(ny) Lewis isn’t in Australia? Didn’t he train Jeff (I Love Youse All) Fenech and Kostya Tszyu?. Now if only he had trained Aussie Joe Bugner we’d all be winners!
I agree with Cheerio.
Hi DFC,
If you click on the link , it takes you to the interview with the marketing director of the brand. I suspect that a few days into the campaign he won’t have his Effies entry written just yet, but the client isn’t a bad starting point for that info.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I wonder how much of the $10 million was spent on media.
Anything, at the right time, right place, aimed at right people can do ok. That is media (engagement) planning – not necessarily the result of good creative
I’m known to believe in fairytales…like “good” creative work and awards are won with an ownable insight. Tim’s notion that this ad could effectively be licensed for Australia might work against that….
other wise it’s ‘nice’ creative and either loads of media dollar or a great media planner….
Might I also suggest that the 40% raise in sales might be um….”a great story”. As the TVC has only be on air a week (which is what it says on the Sun piece) it could be a little hard to verify…
John Lewis seem to have a bit of a habit of making good ads – they did one a few years ago about being a child at christmas that was quite good too
Hey Tim,
Which link takes you to the interview with the marketing director? I’ve checked the links above to the various articles – but cant seem to find the specific interview with the Marketing Director (but it’s late and I might be missing the obvious!). A couple of the articles mention the TVC and the 39.7% sales increase in the same paragraph or headline – and imply a direct link.
Just interested as John Lewis was reporting a 6.5% year-on-year sales lift at January 2010. And various UK retailers are reporting up to 20% to 30% sales bounce-backs attributed to the easing of the GFC.
Clearly this TVC has been a huge hit with 300,000+ YouTube hits, massive emotional impact etc – and undoubtedly a very positive sales impact.
But I’d still like to see the (not vague) evidence that this ad “has resulted in an astonishing 39.7% leap in sales”. I’ll be interested to read that Effies entry when it’s written 🙂
Hi DFC,
Apologies – you were clicking on the correct link. I’m now doubting myself slightly, but I think the Guardian/ Observer story has changed a little (when I linked to it over the weekend, it would have been overnight first edition time in the UK) and lost the quote from the marketing director I think I remember seeing.
Digging around a bit this morning, John Lewis have posted some figures on their website (I’ve also included a sales graph in the copy, above): http://www.johnlewispartnershi.....ionId=1782
The 40% uplift is in sales on johnlewis.com, which is of course the url at the end of the ad. There is also data for individual stores, none of which is as high as the 40% figure.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I’m starting to detect some serious ‘spin’ here by the John Lewis marketing team … how much of that claimed growth was organic rather than TVC-related?
After all, John Lewis sales are claimed go up by 16% when the sun shines for farks sake (although admitedly that is once every 123 days in the UK)
http://www.stockwatch.in/sunny.....fits-24979
And John Lewis has only recently celebrated “record sales” for Christmas 2009, which I assume all happened pre-TVC from general economic recovery:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8440511.stm
I’m beginning to think that all you ‘advertising’ types don’t actually believe in the power of advertising…
Why would we dispute the results, especially when it only serves as a great case study for all of us to champion the medium of advertising and it’s power to influence the bottom-line?
Alison, I think we all believe in the power of advertising as we have collectively seen the great brands it builds.
However, I think we are all equally wary of claims that are based on thin slices of data that do not represent the whole picture. I am not saying that is the case with this campaign, but we have seen it all too often in the past and realise that such poor ‘analysis’ will upset the apple-cart for everyone and give our industry a bad name.
Hey thanks for the clarification Tim – it did look like the article might have been changed to me too.
I did note the 40% figure for Johnlewis.com – which, as you say, is on the end of the TVC – but, so far as I can tell this is 40% up on year prior. How long has the TVC been on air?
Overall the link between this TVC and a 40% sales “leap” remains “a little to vague” to me – but I’ll park the scepticism there for now!
Hey – while I’m at it – is that a cough at the 39 second mark in the Billy Joel re-record? If so, I’d be wanting some of my £6 Million back!
When you see advertising such as this – well thought out, beautifully created – it reminds you why you are in this field. Maximum kudos.
Didn’t we have a dairy add with Cindi Lauper’s “Time after Time” which was virtually the same type of add, but 5 years ago?
agree it’s an old concept. personally i prefer the xbox life is short spot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afLYBScd5do
I’ve always loved that song. Couldn’t tell what they were advertising, though, so the ad must not have been aimed at me. Perhaps sales would have jumped 57 percent if the ad had been more clear?
A really nice emotive piece, not particularly original, but really well done. Can’t see it as an award piece myself but that doesn’t really matter. It clearly resonates with the audience.
As far as ‘if you change the last frame for it, it could be for anyone argument’
That’s a tired argument..
The fact is, there is a last frame and I’m sure people have noticed it.
Yes another retailer could have done it BUT they didn’t
I would suggest any tangible, functional difference between John Lewis and its competitors would be negligible. By emotionally connecting with their audience, the brand has done a great job.
I thought they were all shit
Can 1 tv ad really be the sole cause in 40% increase in sales?
Back in the 80s, Clemenger produced the first Tim Tam ‘Genie’ spot (though many of you are too young recall it… sigh; it starred a just-out-of-NIDA Cate Blanchette) for a campaign that ran for almost 20 years. From memory, sales went up around 46% within a month or two of the ad going to air – this for a brand that had 96% awareness.
Of course, a good part of the reason wasn’t so much that it was a phenomenally brilliant ad, but that Arnott’s previous creative work had been so dire anything new and original that actually contained an insight was bound to get noticed. And I guess people liked it. So Dan, it IS possible.
But in one week? Hmmm.
I wonder what their YoY growth was before pre-GFC?
I wonder if the UK retail spend figures follow a similar trend of increasing growth.
An inflated result due to a bounce off a low base?
08-09 – A bad time for retail (GFC)
09-10 – small growth (Green Shoots of recovery)
10-11 – recovery in full swing
Really interesting, I wish more economic support was given with these types of claims.
I love how all you “marketers” are judging an ad’s effectiveness by your personal reaction to it. Especially when your names show you are male.
The real genius was finding what makes the client special as a brand to its customers, and making sure it aligned with that. Otherwise people will be let down when they go to the store. The hard work is then keeping the promise the ad makes. The ad itself is the writing on the icing on the cake.
If i may quote Bill Bernbach (and Paul Jones),
“EXECUTION IN THE HANDS OF GENIUS BECOMES CONTENT”
This is a great example of his quote.
The spot seems to be a recycled idea, but gee it’s beautifully created.
@Nate — get serious Alf was no puppet, he was a real alien!
certainly the Italian version is sexier, but slapped together — there is no subtle, carefully-considered transition between stages.
I found the English version emotionally engaging, and I can see how it could be put to use for any number of business marketing efforts, but it’s not clear from this what they are selling; and like many of us here, I have no idea who the company is either.
bothering me more so was the absence of time — every scene is contemporary, only the central characters change.
great track that sparked an idea – subsequently ripped off by some scouser pom. the rest is congrats to a post house. in terms of the 40% increase, likely working off a low base – I’ve never heard of them…
Funny how the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s all look the same in John Lewis’ world. I didn’t feel that time passed, and realised the homogenous style was to blame