Why The John Lewis Xmas Ad Won My Heart...In More Ways Than One ~via @SarahGoodall
This morning John Lewis & Partners released their 2019 Christmas Advert. In the world of marketing this has become a wait-for-it moment every year, when the big brands compete on advertising creativity.
This year, John Lewis switched direction and whilst they still focused on their 'thoughtful giving' thread, it was the way they distributed it that made me love it even more.
I've always admired their ethical approach to business. Their partners (employees) have a say in the running of the business and receive a share of annual profits. So, when they decided to include partners (employees) as part of their advertising release plan this year, my ears perked up.
Historically their seasonal advert is first broadcast during prime-time TV viewing hours. Today was different. They first released it to their partners at 6am so they could share with the friends and networks on social media before it went live via John Lewis's own digital channels and shops at 8am.
In an interview with Marketing Week (thanks Sinead O'Driscoll for the heads up on the article), Craig Inglis - Customer Director at John Lewis, explains:
What we’ve found over the past 10 years is that this kind of advertising, which connects with people on an emotional level, is what really is most powerful at Christmas.
So, why am I so excited about this?
Employees need to be emotionally connected to your company if you want them to distribute brand content. John Lewis nailed it.
Advertising creative needs to emotionally connect to the audience (whether B2B or B2C) and not just sell product. John Lewis nailed it again.
Enabling employees to have priority access to such a treasured asset (the Christmas advert) says a lot about trust, partnership and value. John Lewis nailed it yet again.
For me, this is employee advocacy (or should I say partner advocacy) at its very best. I guess the only way I would further improve it is if employees were in the actual advert itself. I haven't seen the backstory behind this video yet but I wouldn't be at all surprised if they had that covered to.
Want to see the ad?
