Jessops’ new campaign stars its owner and Dragons’ Den stalwart Peter Jones attempting to show off the camera retailer’s expert customer service.

Jessops

The TV ad features Jones going undercover wearing a wig and false beard as he pretends to work in a Jessops store. The entrepreneur deliberately bumbles his way through trying to help unsuspecting customers with mildly humorous results. One customer asks how many megapixels a camera has and Jones responds: “There are a lot of them.”

Most of the customers do not recognise the ‘bearded dragon’ - one mistakes him for Sir Richard Branson - but the result overall is not quite funny enough. The ad, though novel, ends up being slightly forgettable.Jones’ feeble efforts to help customers do, however, highlight the retailer’s service credentials.

It is a smart move to emphasise the one-to-one service that cheaper online alternatives can’t provide. However, showing exactly how staff expertise can help consumers choose a camera for their individual needs would have more clearly illustrated why people should shop with Jessops.

The campaign also features a playful social media element. Jessops ran a competition encouraging consumers to make their own disguises and then post a picture on its Twitter or Facebook pages. This gave the campaign greater exposure through retweets and likes, which should help drive the Jessops’ online presence.

Jessops’ promotion of its in-store expert service to set it apart from its rivals is a sensible tactic, but it needs to be more focused on why its service is so important. Hence, I’m out.

Jessops Bearded Dragon advert