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By Jennifer Faull, Deputy Editor

November 11, 2015 | 6 min read

Christmas marketers are over trying to emulate John Lewis’ patented seasonal ad recipe and are instead going it alone with efforts that defy the conventions of previous years.

After much anticipation, the John Lewis Christmas ad is finally here, arriving with the same fanfare as it has done every other year. Not straying from the heart-tugging creative formula that has put it in the almost unique position of having an advert “premiere”, the spot featured a little girl called Lilly reaching out to the milky-eyed Man on the Moon all playing out to a relatively unknown Norwegian-songstress’ cover of an Oasis classic.

The recipe is tried and tested; cute child, remake of a pop-hit, message that you need to reach out to the one you love this Christmas (preferably with a gift from John Lewis). And it’s one that has been aped by many brands. This year was no different. You need only look to Lloyds bank, which shows us the struggle of a little girl who wants to give her mum the gift of a star, or PayPal which in its strive to put people through the emotional wringer was accused of almost “ruining Christmas”.

“It is this failsafe formula which is leaving me, on viewing the ad at least, feeling a bit underwhelmed,” said Nicola Carey, head of strategy and planning, at creative firm Jaywing in response to John Lewis’ latest ad. “I worry that, year on year, the narratives are starting to blur and the ads themselves are now so consistent in tone and audience insight that they are becoming more difficult to engage with in isolation.”

Perhaps this is why, more so than ever we’ve seen any other Christmas, a number of festive advertisers have tried to go it alone and move away from John Lewis-esque ad epics. Asda, Aldi, Waitrose, and Morrisons have all opted for fast-paced, flashy, spots while even M&S’ marketing boss said this was the year for moving away from the “blockbuster” and towards a “box-set” strategy.

“It is actually refreshing to see brands stepping out on their own this year and not wishing to emulate John Lewis,” suggested Daniel Todaro, managing director of field marketing agency, Gekko. “Whilst not necessarily unique it works well to avoid the amalgam of sentimental ads reducing brand recall for the consumers who skip past ads as they view on catch-up. Only time will tell whether this year there will be any real strong contenders, like it or not, to the rather successful John Lewis crown.”

Injecting a bit of comedy, instead of trying to draw tears, has been a route taken by many, including luxury brands like Mulberry. Speaking to The Drum on why Debenhams decided to enlist a raft of comedians like Sarah Millican and Dawn French, Jane Exon, the brand’s director of advertising and loyalty, explained that while emotional stories can be powerful at this time of year, that emotion can be celebratory and jubilant.

“We have purposely injected a touch of humour as we want our customers to engage and be entertained whilst taking away the key message that we have great gifts at Debenhams,” she said.

Similarly, Lidl has already garnered praise for its ‘School of Christmas’ ad. The discounter said it purposely took a humorous tone this year in part to stand out from the more emotive campaigns that other brands run at this time of year.

"When we decided to go with a more humorous tone this year it was in part to stand out from the more emotive campaigns that other brands run at this time of year," said Claire Farrant, who has replaced Arnd Pickhardt as head of advertising and marketing for the supermarket in the UK.

"The Lidl School of Christmas is a lot more light hearted and works with our brand and tone of voice, which we have handed over to the British public. This campaign really captures the mood of the nation; lots of moments, some stressful, some joyful, some funny, but all adding up to a great Christmas for everyone."

While John Lewis’ spot is unbeaten in terms of emotionally connecting with its audience, will it actually generate sales? In the long-term, analysts have suggested that balance between entertainment and a more straightforward ‘showcasing’ of their products will ultimately prove more effective to the bottom line.

Millward Brown tested 2014’s Christmas ads with consumers and found that it was John Lewis’s that came out as most loved and enjoyable, but that Lidl’s was most likely to make people buy.

Amanda Phillips, Millward Brown’s UK head of marketing, explained: “To tug on the purse strings as well as the heart strings, ads must build recognition and loyalty as well as love. The 'buzz' around an ad might get it talked about, and positive emotional associations might make viewers shed a tear. But this will only translate to sales if the ad is also meaningful, and engaging enough to be remembered.”

According to social media agency 1000heads, Lidl’s #SchoolOfChristmas has scored more impressions from a lot less mentions on social media, compared to John Lewis. In hours after #ManontheMoon launched it achieved 168 million estimated impressions from 71,740 Twitter mentions by 63,174 users. In comparison, Lidl’s ad – which launched days before – achieved 176 million estimated impressions from 5,991 Twitter mentions by 4,075 users.

1000heads suggests that most of their word of mouth comes from authoritative people while the John Lewis ad is likely getting talked about by ‘normal people’ with very low reach. It’s also likely that Lidl are past their spike of conversations while John Lewis is going to keep spreading in the coming days.

Having established itself as the Steven Spielberg of Christmas, John Lewis has almost single-handedly created the genre of ‘the Christmas advert’. But its clear there’s more than one way to tug on purse strings as well as the heart strings of shoppers and over the next few weeks those alternative ways to build recognition and loyalty amid the Christmas din will become clearer.

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