For Christmas 2016, John Lewis’ strategy centered on thoughtful gifting. Through the campaign idea of ‘gifts that everyone will love’ the brand conveyed the joyful nature of Christmas by engaging the UK in the story of Buster the Boxer and his animal friends - whom delight in secretly playing on a children’s trampoline intended for a little girl on Christmas morning – only observed by Buster the family dog.

‘Buster’s Garden’ VR extends the campaign, with in-store installation giving shoppers the opportunity to engage with the characters, and discover the magic of shared play for themselves.

This groundbreaking VR experience, not only allows shoppers to step into a CGI version of Buster’s snow covered garden at night and onto the trampoline, but it allows shoppers to see their own hands in the VR world and use them to engage with five garden characters and control their movements.

Our premise was simple; immersive entertainment allowing users to engage and play with the animals in a memorable, fun experience, without the tech on show.

The urban garden animals emerge, and make their way to the shopper in the center of the trampoline. Through innovative technology users see their own hand movements in the virtual world of Buster’s Garden, and use them to control each animal’s bounce, spin and nuzzle – all with 360-degree positional sound effects. In another VR first, shoppers can instantly share a 3D film of themselves conducting the characters on social.

Footfall for both the VR experience and non-interactive Google Cardboard versions in the flagship store was 11,000 over a 6-week period, and totaled over 250 average daily users – so a high volume of Christmas shoppers engaged with the creative experience. Crucially, those enjoying the VR ranged from children to 84 year-old Christmas shoppers, so this was an accessible and fun experience with no tech-driven barrier to engagement.

Amplifying the campaign across social and increasing engagement with the brand, 5,000 user videos had over 19,000 views and 1,500 downloads over six weeks. In addition, branded 360-video Google Cardboard versions of the experience were featured in 10 key regional stores across the UK, and an accompanying 360 video released on YouTube reached over 125,000 views during the campaign.

John Lewis saw a 36% jump in sales year-on-year in 2016, taking over £175m in the week leading up to Christmas.