Blog: John Lewis director of marketing shy to admit influence, yet hails shift from price-led ads

John Lewis’ director of marketing Craig Inglis has said this year retailers have “upped their game” with their Christmas adverts, in a move away from price-led campaigns towards story-led adverts. However, he was modest in discussing the influence the department store’s TV advertising has had on retail.

Story-led advertising campaigns

Speaking at the Thinkbox Advertising Effectiveness event in London yesterday (5 December), Inglis hailed how retailers are now running more story-led campaigns, though emphasised the key for these campaigns is being authentic to the brand.

Though Inglis downplayed John Lewis’ influencing on retail advertising, he did say retailers are telling more stories with their campaigns, adding: “If I look at retail brands this Christmas I would say overall the retail industry has upped its game. The ads are provoking a reaction and trying to tell a story, which is a good thing. There is a risk if the story doesn’t ring true, and I hope our ads tell a truth about John Lewis. If that authenticity wasn’t there our customers would see right through it, they are pretty discerning.”

Less emphasis on return on investment when building brand

Inglis went on to say that John Lewis doesn’t set an ROI target for its headline, brand-building TV campaigns, because the department store is guided more by a “big idea” true to brand - a bold statement. However, he added that John Lewis print campaigns are more short term and the success of these campaigns are measured in terms of generating sales for the products they are advertising.

The John Lewis influence

The department store’s influence can be seen in a number of retailer’s Christmas adverts this year. Boots’ new more poignant strategy centred on giving rather than receiving isn’t far off John Lewis’ TV spot last year, about a young boy wanting to give a gift to his parents; while Matalan’s and Debenhams’ festive ads wear their hearts, and their influences, on their sleeves in a similar manner.

Inglis did admit there has been a shift away from price-led campaigns in the industry since the department store ran its ‘Always a Woman’ campaign, which told the emotive story of a woman’s life from daughter to grandmother, set to a cover of the Billy Joel song of the same name.

The move away from price-led campaigns

Inglis explained that around the time of the ‘Always a Woman’ campaign there was pressure to move away from John Lewis’ ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ strapline to a more discount-led strategy, but staying with the brand position has been key to the department store’s success.

He said: “Two or three years ago retail slightly lost its way and moved to price and discount-led strategies, and that doesn’t have the right affect in the long term. I know our consumer base got confused by that shift as they didn’t quite know what brands were saying to them anymore. I think if brands are [now] being truer to themselves and truer to the customer base about what their place is and what they stand for then that can only be a good thing.”

This Christmas has seen many retailers taking heed of John Lewis’ example. In this day and age of constant discounting and sales, the ability for many businesses to differentiate themselves based on price must be limited - not to mention damaging to their ability to sell at full price in the future. In turn, preference and affinity for a retailer, and knowing what a retailer’s brand stands for, might just turn out to be a deciding factor on where consumers choose to shop.