Well, you’re going to see this a million times before the man in the red robes makes his way down your chimney this year.
Like it or not its up to you, and as with all good things that make friends and build loyalty it will equally develop enemies on the less sentimental side of the spectrum. You don’t make good friends without good enemies and there is certainly enough to go round for a retailer like John Lewis.
On the subject of millions, as far as I know for every £ spent on the Christmas campaign by John Lewis, and that amounts to about £7 million this year they see a return in sales increase of around 5 times. £35 million is certainly a return on investment to warm the heart of even the most entrenched Christmas Scrooge.
Clearly no advert is an island, certainly not one that generates that level of sales increase, and the clever thinking is the 360 degree campaign that sees the emotional tugging of the heart strings through the advertising transferred to a thousand store windows, hundreds of Christmas shops and departments and finally through to a strategically developed range of commercial best sellers to maximise the sales opportunities of the man, his moon, his balloons, the telescope, some wrapping paper and quite possibly some specially branded John Lewis moon cheese.
Its predictable, but clever, and possible through a fully integrated retail calendar linking merchandising and buying to marketing and store operations and everyone in between. And as with all good things, its not just for Christmas. Retail never stops, and the rewards for a retailer that doesn’t stop either is the gift of Christmas futures filled with perpetual commercial celebrations.
So, as we’ve now left Halloween behind, which is respectable timing for the UK, follow the link below and indulge in the John Lewis advert at least once, if only to admire its strategy, and even if the sentiment itself leaves you running for the door at the mere thought of devouring some “sickly-sweet” moon cheese.
Ironically, and symptomatic of the retail year, this leaves us pondering on next years focus before we’re fully into this years season. The three strikes and out rule would suggest that the current formula may be coming to the end of its life cycle, we’ll see. But as market leaders and Christmas leaders John Lewis will as usual be ahead of the game, with all eyes watching, which in itself is the true testament to this wonderful retailer firmly on top of its game.
We are not all John Lewis, but we all need to maximise Christmas sales and all other commercial opportunities throughout the year. Developing a retail calendar which combines the emotional with the hard commercial is at the heart of optimising every month of potential sales.