https://www.forbes.com/sites/willburns/2018/11/15/john-lewis-partners-and-elton-john-just-owned-christmas/
John Lewis & Partners And Elton John Just Owned Christmas
The British retail chain, John Lewis & Partners, have a new Christmas TV spot out and it's a gem. It's strategic, it's well produced, the creative idea is strong and overall it's just got that thing we in advertising always long for but rarely deliver, magic.
Here's the spot and then I'll break down the thousand reasons I love it. Sir Elton John, ladies and gentlemen:
to me, what makes this spot so strong is the strategy. Which is to convince us that "Some gifts are more than just a gift." Smart coming from a high-end retailer whose prices are likely to be a hurdle.
With this message successfully communicated, the brand reframes how customers look at its (more expensive) gifts. It's no longer a dishwasher or a TV or a jacket or a bottle of perfume.
Like Elton's piano, a gift from John Lewis & Partners has the potential to take on a thoughtful and transformative mission in someone else's life.
For Elton, the gift of a piano was, we now know, a gift of gold records, of fame, of knighthood, of a $500,000,000 net worth someday. But even at the moment the gift was given, it was just a mom wanting to make her child happy at Christmas.
Regardless, this spot communicates the strategy powerfully and emotionally, and, in the process, increases the perceived value of buying a gift from John Lewis & Partners.
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The actors playing Elton.
There were five different actors playing Elton at the different times of his life. All were completely buyable as Elton himself. They had the look, the sound, everything down.
But one stood out.
That little boy who comes down the stairs on Christmas Day is magnificent. He's magnificent for two reasons: one, I swear to God that's exactly what Elton would have looked like as a child; two, the child nails his part.
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