John Lewis + adam&eveDDB = an enduring partnership of consistent Christmas communication!

British retail chain John Lewis has had an endearing partnership with agency adam&eveDDB for their Christmas films. I have been seeing their Christmas films every year since 2011. Most of their films are whimsical, with a magic realism/child-like quality, specifically focus on 'gifting' as a topic, and make for a fantastic watch.

Before 2011, John Lewis started this trend of a Christmas campaign films in 2007, with the agency Lowe and Partners. The films from 2007 to 2010 (2007 and 2008 by Lowe and Partners; 2009 and 2010 by Adam and Eve, which later became adam&eveDDB) do not fall in the narrative as what they started in 2011 - they don't have a single story and usually feature assorted people (montage) and multiple threads. (See those 4 films at the end of this post)

Also worth noting, from 2007 to 2012, John Lewis prioritized their films for TV-first, and starting 2013, they went digital-first! The YouTube views are representative of this shift in media. John Lewis started uploading their films to their own YouTube channel from 2011.

2011 - The Long Wait - 8.2 million+

2012 - The Journey - 6.8 million+

2013 - The Bear & The Hare - 17.2 million+ (the big jump of going digital-first)

2014 - Monty The Penguin - 27.5 million+

2015 - Man On The Moon - 29.9 million+

2016 - Buster The Boxer - 27.8 million+

2017 - Moz The Monster - 10.2 million+

2018 - Elton John Lewis - 6.1 million+ and counting (since it's new)

This year, the film is decidedly different, but wonderful nonetheless. It features Elton John (the 2nd time Elton John's 'Your Song' is featured in a John Lewis Christmas film, after Ellie Goulding's cover of the song used in 2010) and has an interesting narrative that you may get to comprehend as you pay attention and observe closely. It, obviously, ends with a lovely message!

If you haven't seen John Lewis's earlier ads, I highly recommend that you do. Here's a playlist of all of their ads, in reverse order, starting with the latest one. My favorite so far is 2016's Buster The Boxer!

2018 - Elton John Lewis

2017 - Moz The Monster

2016 - Buster The Boxer

2015 - Man On The Moon

2014 - Monty The Penguin

2013 - The Bear & The Hare

2012 - The Journey

2011 - The Long Wait

This series got me thinking - is there an Indian equivalent to this? A brand (client) and an agency, coming together, predictably for one occasion (could be Diwali in India, for example) and making it a series that people look forward to. Agencies like Ogilvy have long and storied associations with brands like Cadbury/Mondelez, but I cannot think of a client+agency combination owning an occasion and delivering on it year after year consistently, like John Lewis and adam&eveDDB. Or is there one in India?

It would mean the client being in a kind of business that has perennial demand, the client needing predictable budget every year for the occasion and the relationship between the client and agency being strong enough to look into the long-term. Isn't this an opportunity for an agency, worth pitching to one of their long-standing clients? Other UK-based brands like Boots and Sainsbury's have this tradition of Christmas films too, but they don't come close to the John Lewis tradition, in terms of consistency in story-telling. The closest I can think of, in India, is Vodafone and Ogilvy, with regard to ZooZoos and IPL, but it's only a vague equivalent, not a direct one at all.

Also, the John Lewis series has been spectacularly effective for the brand and has won effectiveness awards too. So, this need not be an exercise in vanity and can be a demonstrable combination of consistent story-telling (and building a property) and marketing payback.

PS: Here are the 4 earlier films by John Lewis.

2007 - Shadows (Agency: Lowe and Partners)

2008 - Clues (Agency: Lowe and Partners)

2009 - The Feeling (Agency: Adam and Eve)

2010 - A Tribute To Givers (Agency: Adam and Eve)

(there was a controversy around this film since the boy is thoughtful enough to give a gift to his dog but does not take the dog inside, away from the snow)