May the force be with you

As a child of the 80s, I loved the Star Wars trilogy (especially the Empire Strikes Back), so I was delighted to have the opportunity to include a picture of those two loveable droids R2-D2 and C-3PO on the pages of tomorrow’s Retail Week, as they’re the faces of Currys and PC World’s Christmas ad campaigns. There’s a great picture of R2 visiting Dixons’ Hemel HQ today here: http://twitpic.com/2zic7k

The advert doesn’t air until X-Factor on Saturday, but I’m sure it’s going to be great - it’s a really imaginative idea. It also shows the journey John Browett is taking Dixons on - old Dixons was all about shouting (as loudly as possible) on price, but this is imaginative and has a bit of personality, and that’s what will be needed to stand out in what is now a very crowded electricals market.

We were trying to think of memorable campaigns by UK retailers and there aren’t many - in fact the last one I loved was also by Dixons - the ones on the underground where dixons.co.uk urged passengers to visit Selfridges or John Lewis or Harrods to have a look at products, then go home and buy them on its site. It was bold and spiky, taking the sort of risks that not many retailers aren’t prepared to make these days.

Other great campaigns of recent years? The way Specsavers continues to refresh “Should have gone to Specsavers” is brilliant, while Boots “Here come the girls” did a lot to give what could be a rather staid brand a young feel. Jamie Oliver does a decent if rather cheesy job for Sainsbury’s, but beyond those examples I’m struggling.