Saatchi & Saatchi is taking John Lewis on a trip down memory lane in the first of a three part series culminating with the big Christmas showstopper. This spot rams home the return of the “Never knowingly undersold” claim and – you guessed it – introduces a new brand platform, “Live knowingly.”
It’s the biggest campaign in John Lewis’ history, and a lot is riding on it. New CEO Jason Tarry, who previously played a key role in Tesco’s turnaround, took over from Sharon White as chairman of the retailer this week. John Lewis has just started to get back on its feet after a few “difficult” years, halving pre-tax losses (mostly thanks to Waitrose), and Tarry will be keen to keep up the kind of momentum that rivals like Marks & Spencer and Next have maintained.
Saatchi’s work covers the last century of John Lewis, as seen through an Oxford Street window display. It focuses on fashions through the ages while actress Samantha Morton does her best with the voiceover, reflecting on what she knows and doesn’t know about life. Paul Simon’s I Know What I Know, sung by Laura Mvula, underlines the whole “knowing” theme yet again.
Charlotte Lock, John Lewis customer director, said: “We’ve looked to our heritage to inform our refreshed value promise to customers, and we are backing it with the biggest marketing campaign in our history. We are literally depicting a window on Britain, showing the changing trends and events over the past century.”
Franki Goodwin, CCO at Saatchi & Saatchi, said: “Bringing back the ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ promise and launching the ‘Live Knowingly’ platform has allowed us to uncover the deep connection this brand has shared with the nation for a century. This isn’t just a shop – it’s been everything from a date night destination to a bomb shelter.”
The campaign was directed by King She, who has also worked with Apple, Spotify, eBay and Powerade. It debuts tonight during Taskmaster on Channel 4.
Samantha Morton calls it a “wonderful, honest, uplifting campaign” which might be stretching it. Watching the full 60-seconds is a bit of a jumble of words and images – maybe there’s a cut-down that will be a bit sharper? And perhaps some accompanying work telling customers what’s in the shop now.
MAA creative scale: 6
