From the vantage point of 2022, it’s hard to imagine Christmas without the John Lewis campaign.

From 2009, however, it was even harder to imagine a Christmas with John Lewis success.

The market was tough

2009 marked the beginning of Britain’s ‘Lost Decade’: a period of low growth, low wages, low consumer confidence, a weak housing market, and economic austerity.

The business and brand were in trouble

Like-for-like sales were -3.4%, operating profit had dropped by 26%, and although rational affinity for the brand was relatively high – emotional affinity was at an all-time low.

As Marketing Magazine wrote of incoming Head of Brand Communications, Craig Inglis: “Whether Inglis has inherited a poisoned chalice is open to debate. He certainly faces considerable challenges.”

The creative challenge was clear

At a time when rational persuasion clearly wasn’t working for the brand - we had to create the emotional case for people to dig deep, and fall back in love with the brand.

Solution

The Christmas strategy was born in 2009, when brand, business and consumer insights suggested John Lewis shoppers wanted to be seen as thoughtful gift-givers, and that John Lewis could claim that space.

This led to the strategic proposition: 'John Lewis is the home of thoughtful gifting', and our first Christmas campaign 'Remember the feeling'.

The following year, we returned to the same strategy.

And the year after that.

And the year after that.

In fact, the creative brief has remained the same ever since.

Leading to over a decade of hugely effective stories about hugely thoughtful gifting.

Execution

One of the biggest challenges with this kind of consistency is maintaining freshness.

We achieve this by flexing the story, setting, character, and song, every year - but keeping the fundamental premise the same. (It’s a bit like James Bond).

The other challenge is ensuring that the campaigns are instantly recognisable.

Especially, in recent years, with more and more brands ‘doing a John Lewis’ at Christmas time.

We achieve this, not with rigid brand guidelines, but by always sticking to three consistent ingredients, that always set us apart, and always set us up for success:

1.We always use the same ‘brand handwriting’

A single narrative, small children, lovable characters, a ‘rug pull’ twist, and an emotional soundtrack.

2.We always prioritise emotion over reason

Instead of telling people what to think, we always create emotional stories, characters, soundtracks that make people feel – even if we can’t explain why.

3.We always aim for fame

We never target, tailor or cut our budgets – we make as much ‘noise’ as possible, in front of as many people as possible, in three phases: tease (hinting at what’s to come); launch (creating a huge surge of interest); and sustain (giving the nation innovative ways to interact with the ad, or characters, in store or online).

By sticking to this strategy and these principles, consistently, over the long term - we have managed to create one of the most effective campaigns, in advertising history.