Paul Simons: triumphant John Lewis extravaganza has some home truths for all of us

The latest extravaganza from John Lewis/Waitrose courtesy of adam&eve/DDB I sense has a philosophical thread running through it for both the client and the agency. The line at the end “When you’re part of it, you put your heart in to it.” is a real truth about the agency world.

In the mid ’90’s I sent out an all staff note explaining we had shares available to buy for anyone interested. They were a buy back from a leaver and we had an internal market for shares. Our building manager Bill Whatley came to see me and asked if he would be allowed to buy shares. I explained they were open to anyone employed by Simons Palmer.

So Bill bought some, from memory about £5000 worth, and from the day he owned them his existing commitment to our place was elevated to the pride of an owner. As the pay off on the JL&P/Waitrose says “For us, it’s personal” was precisely how Bill saw things.

We did the deal with Omnicom a few years later and Bill’s investment was rewarded by a doubling of the share value.

In my opinion the Bohemian Rhapsody children’s version is a triumph, in a class of its own on a level above anything else we have seen in some time. As always with adam&eve they draw in parent and child to the John Lewis world of emotional engagement with their brand.