John Lewis (Meeting Needs) Flashcards
PLAN
1 Hour 20 Mins to complete
SECTION ONE: Introduction
The John Lewis (JL) brand, epitomising quality and reliability, ensures a strong connection with customers through its iconic Christmas advertising and a commitment to excellent customer service. Annual sales have increased 24% in the last 10 years to £3.8billion in 2023. Since launching its first advert ‘Shadows” in 2007, John Lewis (JL) has established its Christmas adverts as the launch and focal point of the Christmas season. These adverts have become an annual cultural, with JL using the power of social media to breadcrumb consumers to generating anticipation and excitement over the advert’s content. While JL would argue that their main intention is to meet the needs of their consumer, through providing entertainment and information, some would argue that their primary motive is manipulate viewers as a means of gaining profit.
SECTION TWO: Underlying Theory
According to Uses and Gratification theory, people have a need for diversion from the stresses of everyday life, but they also have a need for surveillance: a desire for information about what is going on the world. JL Christmas adverts meet both of those needs by providing diversion in the form of an entertaining and moving narrative featuring characters the audience warms to, and by providing information about the products that are available to buy as Christmas presents, and about what types of gifts are fashionable and likely to be high on people’s Christmas lists.
SECTION THREE: Entertainment
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In terms of providing entertainment, two of JL most popular adverts of recent years – “Monty the Penguin” (2014) and “Man on the Moon” (2015) – have hit on a winning formula to engage the audience. Unlike their competitors who use their adverts as an explicit showcase for items for sale, JL understands the power of using a familiar narrative format, in this case the Todorovian structure, to build a story in which their items feature but are not the focal point of the advert itself. This gives the audience opportunity to warm to the characters and the brand.
SECTION THREE: Entertainment
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In Monty the Penguin, JL sets the equilibrium through a montage of shots with a young boy and his pet penguin. Each shot establishes and builds upon the bond between the two characters. They are seen watching TV, playing Lego, playing hide and seek, sledging and playing on the trampoline. JL has carefully crafted this for their target audience (people over 30) to feel a sense of nostalgia, as these are activities we all remember doing as children with our friends, but it also appeals to younger children as the character and his activities are things they can identify with. The soundtrack choice – an acoustic version of John Lennon’s “Real Love” by Tom Odell – also helps anchor this sense of nostalgia as the original will be identifiable by their older target audience, while the younger audience will be fans of the current artist. As a result, the audience – both young and old - warms to the characters and feels invested in their journey from the outset. As the disruption to the equilibrium is shown through Monty’s sadness at not having a partner and his relatable desire for love, the audience needs a resolution and JL provides this through the final scene of the advert. On Christmas morning, the boy takes Monty downstairs and covers his eyes. As the music swells, Monty’s eyes open to see Mabel the penguin and he rushes to see her and touch noses, with it then revealed that these penguins are the toys of the young boy. It is clear that JL met its goal to entertain their audience as the advert amassed 1.8 million Youtube views on its first day of release and, according to Brandwatch, 14,500 comments about how the advert made people cry were left on social media within 24 hours of release.
SECTION THREE: Entertainment
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JL repeated the formula in 2015 for their: Man on the Moon” campaign. Again, following the Todorovian structure and using characters we can identify with – this time a young girl and an elderly man – MOTM tells the story of the girl discovering an isolated old man on the moon via her telescope. Her equilibrium is disrupted when she sees how sad and alone, he is – emphasised by the extreme long shots to highlight his isolation and low-key lighting – as she attempts to repair the disruption. A montage of shots shows her eating toast, playing on her scooter, all activities the audience can see themselves or their children doing, which helps anchor the reality of the situation. On Christmas morning, the girl manages to deliver a telescope to the man. As the advert reaches its resolution, the music swells and the advert lifts in mood through the use of bright balloons delivering the gift and high key lighting to show the delight of the old man who is now not so isolated. The strap line “show someone their loved at Christmas” hammers home the emotional message behind the advert, tugging on the heartstrings of the viewers and clearly meeting the need of entertainment as it received 23,000 online comments just 2 hours after its release. The music choice is well chosen and serves to meet the needs of entertaining the audience. Again, JL use a recognisable song “Half a world Away” by Oasis to appeal to their 30+ target audience but opting for a slowed down acoustic version by popular singer Aurora. The song shifts in pace and tone with the advert, with the song choice perfectly mirroring the action on screen. The song reached number 11 in the UK charts, emphasising its proven ability to entertain.
SECTION FOUR: Defining Personal Identity
Uses and Gratification theory also suggests that people use the media to fulfil a need to define their own personal identity. JL Christmas adverts do this by promoting positive human values that most people can recognise and feel they share or believe in. Monty the Penguin, much like Man on the Moon touches on universal themes of love, friendship, and the joy of giving. By engaging viewers emotionally, it can prompt individuals to reflect on their own relationships and values, potentially shaping their view of themselves in relation to these themes. Also, viewers who identify with the emotions or ideals represented in these adverts might see JL, and its offerings, as a way to express their own identity. This can lead individuals to align their consumer choices with brands that they feel represent their personal identity or aspirational self, or even that they aspire for their children. JL encompases traditional family Christmases, with traditional values and gifts – giving traditional soft toys like Monty, rather than iPads or PlayStation. Man on the Moon’s central theme of loneliness and the importance of showing love and care to those who may feel isolated encourages families to empathise with others’ experiences. Viewers are encouraged to consider their values, and the importance of giving, rather than receiving, particularly at Christmas.
SECTION FIVE: Consumerism
In terms of providing information, JL use subtle, integrated product placement to inform their viewers of items for sale in their shops and to draw attention to desirable gifts found in store. Monty the penguin stuffed toys, cufflinks, bags and Christmas decorations were all available for sale as they recognised that the emotional appeal of the advert would generate interest in items featuring the character. In addition, the Mise-en-scene of the bedroom, and indeed entire house, in the advert was designed using John Lewis products. While not explicit advertising, a simple internet search would inform potential customers that they could buy the desk or stripes jumper used in the advert in store. Man on the moon mirrored this strategy. The telescope used in multiple shots drives the narrative. Its placement is a clear indication to viewers that this product is available in John Lewis and would be a desirable gift for both young and old as it was in the advert. Again, all items within the advert-from the plate the girl eats her toast off, to her bright pink scooter- were available for sale in John Lewis. The text on screen at the end of the advert states “John Lewis: in store/online/mobile” making the purchase information abundantly clear to the audience.
SECTION SIX: Profit and Brand
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It is clear that as a business, JL’s primary concern by making these adverts is to gain as much profit and brand recognition as possible. In Monty, JL have carefully crafted characters and an idealised version of Christmas which customers are desperate to emulate. By evoking feelings of nostalgia, joy, and sometimes sadness associated with the Christmas season, the advert is intended to make JL top-of-mind for consumers when they think of Christmas shopping - driving traffic to their stores and website. We also see the main character being thoughtful and generous by getting Monty partner and the final strap line “give someone what they’ve been dreaming of” followed by the JL logo helps to reinforce that to have this perfect Christmas and perfect family, you must shop at JL. This is further reinforced by the use of on-screen text in the next frame – “in store / online / mobile” – to emphasis the ease of shopping with JL. JL also promotes excessive consumerism as the final scene implies that the only thing a child wants more than one penguin, is two toy penguins, encouraging additional sales of the toy. Further, JL capitalised on Monty’s popularity by selling related stuffed toy merchandise – JL made £18m from the sale of stuffed Monty the Penguin toys alone. This direct link between the advert and purchasable products creates an additional revenue stream, directly tying the advert’s emotional appeal to tangible sales.
SECTION SIX: Profit and Brand
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‘Man on the moon’ however, initially felt like a non-commercial advert. Using storytelling and emotional engagement, it centred around a girl’s attempt to bring cheer to an old man stranded on the moon. As part of the campaign, JL also teamed with Age UK to raise awareness of a serious social issue, loneliness in older generations. However, JL not only spent £1million on the advert, but an additional £6m placing this at primetime advertising slots, largely during huge Saturday night family shows, like the X Factor and Saturday Night Take Away. This advert is a prime example of JL investing huge sums to build their profits and brand. They were aware that this advertising strategy would reach the entire family and would result in increased profit. This was successful as online Christmas sales increased by 5.1% in December and the sale of telescopes increased 400% following the launch of the advert.
SECTION SEVEN: Conclusion
The easiest and most obvious stance to take is that meeting audience needs cannot really be JL adverts’ ‘main intention’ as maintaining and increasing profit and brand recognition are their primary purposes. In both 2014 and 2015, JL outperformed its rivals – indeed in 2014 reported a 48% increase in like for like sales. However, in achieving this aim, I believe that JL also meets audiences’ needs, and it is something they work very hard to do. This is demonstrated by the annual ‘buzz’ around the release of their Christmas adverts – indeed, the adverts are discussed pre and post release on news channels and daytime TV shows, such as This Morning each year. But ultimately, all this activity results in increase sales and profitability for JL.
