John Lewis, the connection of music and fashion in advertisements.

The purpose of this blog is to critically analyse how is it possible to make an connection between music and fashion in advertisements based on John Lewis Christmas ad 2011 and to evaluate what are the issues in nowadays advertising in communication as well as what is the future of the advertising.

‘Music in advertisements has the power of changing people’s moods and creates emotional responses to the advertisements. A study shows that consumers’ mood and buying intentions can be affected by music in the background (Galan, 2009).  Music in fashion advertisements play a very important role as it shows the brand sensuality, sense of luxury, high culture and finesse. Creative process for fashion advertisements is almost fully on forms and reuse of music. Music vibrates at different levels of frequencies and appeal to people over different sensory organs than visible information. People pay more attention to the visible staff that to the one they hear that is why music in fashion advertisements influence people thoughts and feelings but people cannot recognize it and do not know about it.  While music belongs to the invisible power of advertisements, fashion in advertisements plays the visible role. Through the advertisements, fashion can express affiliation; lifestyle and shows brand personality (Anthony McCann, 2004).

JOHN LEWIS AND THE CONNECTION OF MUSIC AND FASHION

John Lewis uses music as a powerful tool in its advertising in order to stay in peoples mind and make emotional connection with them. The brand in their advertisements always has well-known songs which have  a well-known song which has a right fit with the brand and then reinventing it in a different way. Many tracks from John Lewis have gone on to be popular in their own way, reaching the top of the music charts.  The reason behind that is that people do not focus too much on the song but it stays in their mind and helps remember about John Lewis brand.  Other reason is that well-known songs are used in fashion advertisements have a powerful associations with the brand. To those belong the fact that people listening skills are able to access related thoughts and connect them with the advertised product or brand. John Lewis know that by using a well-known song, sang by unknown artists trigger peoples general associations with the brand, bring back nostalgia and it stimulus people’s perception of the brand. It influence people to buy an artist’s music and increase awareness of music  (Adam Sherwin, 2009). John Lewis has realised eleven track album with all the songs used in their advertisements. The album was lunched 2 weeks before Christmas 2011 and gave a new meaning into the music industry (James Hall, 2011). John Lewis strategy is to target "premium programmes, which drive conversations and allows the ad to become part of that". John Lewis has driven more than 1m music sales.  The “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I want” song was for seven weeks in chart and sold 83,000 covers (Mark Sweney, 2012).

TYPE AND SUCCESS OF THE ADVERTISEMENT. 

All of the John Lewis Christmas advertisements have similar themes. Advertisement from 2011 “The Long Wait” is an award winning and heart touching one. The advertisements was made by Adam & Eve DDB agency and realised on Friday 12 November 2011 which is widely seen by advertisers as reading for Christmas trading period because of UK equivalent of Super Bowl. The emotional £6 million advertisements have an impact on every adult heartstring by showing a young boy counting down days to feel the joy of giving the gift to his parents.  This 90 seconds advertisement is backed up with “Please, Please, Please, let me get what I want” song originally recorded in 1984 by The Smiths and rerecorded by Slow Moving Millie (James Hall, 2011).  The advertisements gained the success the creators hoped for. The advertisement within hours of its launched hits the social media by being trended on Twitter and received 420,000 views on YouTube, now the advert was hit by 5m views moreover it was watch by 10 million viewers in a prime X Factor slot on Saturday night. The advert was more popular than the one from 2010 as previous ad received 439,000 YouTube hits in 11 months! Although such a success the advert does not suit to everyone’s taste and was parodies by a wide range of people on the Internet The example can be a version with the music from horror movie “The Shining” which according to the Twitter post made by comedy writer Tom Jamieson fits perfectly (video to the ad below).  (Andrea Mann, 2011).

John Lewis 'Shining' Spoof Christmas Ad Made By Twitter Version

THEORIES AND MODELS


Why John Lewis Christmas advertisement was so successful? The models should give the answer for that question. 

-          PEST

Social

“The Long Wait” ad has a big social influence on people. It’s a touching plot that in addition promotes John Lewis product range. This ad left viewers misty eyed in the John Lewis Christmas commercials.  John Lewis Christmas advertisements have an huge impact on people as audiences are waiting every year for new ad to see if it’s going to be better that the other one. Christmas ad from 2011 had 1 million viewers in 5 days which shows that audiences were going crazy over this ad.  “The Long Wait” ads touched and inspire the nation. The company tugged the nation’s hearts and 90 second commercial left many people in tears (Sean Poulter, 2012). Moreover this ad inspired comedian Charlie Brooker as well as it inspired a whole range of audience by imagining a different ad story.  Images in this ad were design to engage emotion and they did that. John Lewis taps into shopper emotions and increased sales and customers in that process (Graham Charlton, 2013).

-          THEORY OF CONSUMER

John Lewis belongs to the Post Modern Consumer, Mary Goodyear. The reason behind that is that the ad tries to reach people’s stimulus. Postmodern Marketing is a strong stimulus, and this stage the most important speed of research. Postmodern marketing have to cope with a mature competitive market and knowledgeable and cynical consumer. “The Long Wait” ad after realized had many modifications made by customers that are why OMD agency had to be careful with thinking about new 2012 Christmas advertising, to avoid such a situation.  This type of advertising knows when to give pleasure to the consumer, when to give a surprise to them or when to challenge (Barbara Strozzilaan, 1999). 

-          FCB Model. 

         

-          STRONG AND WEAK MODELS 

“The Long Wait” John Lewis Christmas ad 2011 belong into the “Weak” model because the ad continue the emotional strategy from the previous year and due to this it shows a strong relationship with the existing customers as well as people are knowledgeable. John Lewis ad creative knows exactly that people wait for similar subject ad and they know that changing themes would disappoint the company customers. They know they can expect something surprising and emotional from John Lewis Christmas advertising that is why people wait impatiently for John Lewis advertising campaign.  The ad fit with Christmas traditions and does not try to change it (Andrew S.C. Ehrenberg, 1974). 

-          SEMIOTICS

Sign code used in John Lewis Christmas advertisements gave them reputation of “best ad ever” and made many people cry.  According to the “Long Wait” ad Christmas time for John Lewis associate with the period not only of receiving and giving but it is about the tradition of anticipating, and the unusual time of being surprised and this is the secret why the ad got so successful. The sign language which is shown in the ad says that the family belong to the middle class family that’s what John Lewis target and this is shown by the house the family live in (sash windows, small house and rooms in there, the street family lives in) and the lifestyle they have. Another shown sign language is refereeing to the advent calendar which focuses on expectation and building up to Christmas.  As advent parallels go on, advertisement shows many different aspects of Christmas which are: impatience for Christmas to come, snow, shopping, dinner, nativity plays, Christmas lights and many more. Those small aspects of the ad correspond to the audience’s Christmas preparation and at the end there is this special surprise in the special day.  Surprise is a separate future of the ad. “Long Wait” breaks the trend as the advertisement make such an impact on audience that they wait with the boy for Christmas to come and surpassingly people see that waiting is not for receiving the gift but for giving them, additionally the camera shot was structured so that the boy gives the gift to the audience, which shocks people. Moreover music in the background which is well known and gives calmness shows the spirit of Christmas even more (James Archer, 2011).  In addition to shows the winter appearance, by adding snow on rooftops and hedges and on the windows. To show more of the winter spirit breath and redness from the cold to the boy’s face were added.

John Lewis uses a tactic of connecting and engaging with customers by creating emotional Christmas advertisements. The markets have a definition that if the brand can emotionally connect with its customers then people will take the offer. After the success of Christmas campaigns for John Lewis, people are waiting for the next step of John Lewis and the advertising idea which will be undertaken. From year to year Christmas ads made by the company are very successful in the digital media as well it higher the company sales. The emotional tactic of making advertisements appeals into people moral values and brand loyalty. From John Lewis that kind of adverting takes away the stereotype of being purely money grabbing brand and being unsympathetic into ordinary peoples’ situations. According to the study, emotive advertising rise people happiness and wellbeing. Additionally advertisers know that people does not have as much money to spend nowadays that is why financial benefits would not sell as much as emotion connection with its customers (Patric Danaher, 2012). 

Emotionally connection with people was already started in the past by many artists through their paintings. To the artists that relates back into the John Lewis advertising philosophy belong: 

Ruben Belloso whose art has an impact on peoples’ reactions. His art shows a lot of emotions through faces which makes people cry. 

(WackeyMania, 2010).

  Post impression art relates back into the ad philosophy as the art which was created in that time was mostly based on the emotions. The example of the post impression artist is Vincent van Gogh. 

 Van Gogh's ear 'cut off by Gauguin'. This painting brings many different emotions to people and gives a lot to think. People can interpret such a painting in many different ways and reactions (Angelique Chrisafis, 2009).

Another post-impressionist which give many emotions through his art is Paul Cézanne. His art is a mystery of design colour and composition (Cierlmeyrin, 2009).

.

HOW TO USE ADVERTISING AS AN EFFECTIVE PART OF THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS?

How John Levis Christmas ad does use marketing communication to become so successful then?

Marketing Mix was designed in early 50s and at that time the norm was management decided products and push communications. Nowadays marketing research approached new approaches. Time has changed due to commuter generation, Internet, social media and customer power. Before people who work in marketing knew exactly where they stood now for example if advertiser made advertising the commercials were made, if person did PR it was all up to the person what was done and if person did a design the they were coming with visual and graphics and usually mixing all of these staff didn’t work together. Nowadays in the internet age there is impossible to run a campaign that doesn’t involve the company website, social media and PR.  (Olorunleke Kola, 2010). Moreover back in days printed marketing was the only method of conveying the message to the customers. In recent time television, emails, blogs, mobile marketing as well as company websites became the necessary trend of conveying the message to the customers (Barbara Strozzilaan, 1999).

The example of John Lewis Christmas ad shows that to make advertising a part of the effective marketing communications, multichannel techniques should be used. Digital media take a huge impact nowadays on the customer decision making process. TV ads in not enough to make it successful, social media are very important nowadays to get people involved into the process and to create a buzz around the ad launch. The John Lewis Christmas ads create an emotion through its commercials and then push it through digital media to make people talk about it a lot.

Another part which plays an important role in marketing mix is email marketing. It plays and played very important role for John Lewis and other brands.  There is seen a triple digital growth in mobile and tablet shopping which increase traffic and the company revenue. It allows customer to choose the way they want to shop. Additionally PPC, excellent web user experience and Click and collets option is important to encourage people to purchase the products.

To make customers even more involved John Lewis introduced wi fi in the store as well as number of available iPods for customers which increase customers experience and introduce brand personality more (Graham Charlton, 2013). 

In order to make outstanding advertisement the process starts at the strategic development stage. First of all it is important to start with marketing communication programme, and then responses of the consumers have to be captured. The responses are recorded in the advertising data. After that, executives analyse and evaluate the data and write reports which help to allocate the integrated marketing and communication budget. The integrated marketing communications develops a strategy with the appropriate combination of offline and online channels. It has grown manifolds in recent years due to numerous shifts in the advertising and media industry. Nowadays for the developers it is a primary strategy.  For the success of the company business it’s important to select communications elements as the advertising should be effective in all of the platforms.  Once the integrated marketing process has been set, the company can start reap rich dividends from that.  And this is how the successful advertising should be made within the marketing communication mix (James Green, 2012). 

HOW ADVERTISING IN MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX CAN CHANGE IN THE FUTURE?

So how John Lewis ad may change its advertisements in the future in order to be successful? 

Advertising is all about the sending messages (which are the stories of the things that have been done) to the people, to persuade them to buy (which is demonstrating the brand purpose) and from that point the future of advertising is doing exactly the same thing but better. It will be all about targeted messages, zero cost media and among many others timely interruption and a big data which answers for many asked questions. Consumers of the media industry are the most computer power and it still continues to explode.  The predictions for the future of advertising are: 

-          Advertising experience becomes highly targeted due to tracking the customers’ activities.

-          People won’t be able to skip advertisements; therefore they will be kind of forced to see ads. 

-          The way customers will use different forms of technology is what will affect the future of media. Brands have to gain customers trust through such devices as they have an ability to craft the brand story along with the brand and advertising agency (Joe Cappo, 2005).

New innovation in advertising and digital technology will change the media landscape. There is a possibility that in all of this battle the winners will be Amazon, iTunes and Netflix while on the lost positions may be cable businesses, television stations, newspapers and book publishers as well as music labels (James Green, 2012). 

The role of Christmas advertising for John Lewis has an role of publicising the brand rather that it’s a brand building as John Levis is already well known by people and do not have to build its reputation while the company have to gain new customers and keep the existing one through its communication mix. The consumer which John Lewis targets (postmodern society) through its communication are a marginal customer as advertising raises the willingness to pay for a brand (Tülin Erdem, 2004).

ISSUES 

How John Lewis Christmas Advertisements does overcome all of the issues and become so successful? 

Nowadays advertising faces many issues.  With the years sophistication of advertising techniques and methods progressed, enticing consumerism and needs where have been none before or even changing luxurious into the necessities. Another issue is that the technology drives “New Product Development” (Acton, 2011).  More issues which should be highlighted are:

Ø  Many changes in the way people use media.

Ø  People know how to engage rather than give an opportunity.

Ø  Old survey styles have been abandoned

Ø  The data is unstructured, which is difficult to analyse and it doesn’t represent larger segment data of the population.

Ø  Opportunity which measures the actual media exposure does not predict problem ahead and only defines what constitutes the desirable level of specific metrics.  Additionally it only measures 80% of people awareness which may be not enough.

Ø   If the advertised product is small it is more difficult to get high awareness.

Ø  People don’t like answer questionnaires so advertisers should find other way of researching peoples opinion.

Ø  Advertisers have to shape and change the advertising content into the one which fit into demographics and this put them in the risk of losing money if it goes wrong.

Ø  More many external variables which affects advertising is lack of control over public buying decision process, makes a threat but also give an opportunity to become an leader (Terrence Shimp, 2010).

The issue which marketing mix faces is the fact that it does not consider the consumer only the product. Nowadays while the technology progressed, some changes should be made, and marketing mix concept requires rethinking to be successful in recent time as now the customers hold the power and the control over brand success (Barbara Muller, 2011).

Advertising in current world appeals into the phase of history which is called postmodernism (Roxanne Hovland, Joyce Marie Vollburg , 2010).  The problem within this is whether the symbols and images of human culture can loyally represent reality as it really is in order to have a sense of meaning in peoples’ lives. People must have symbolic images that human believe do represent external reality. Postmodernism relate into advertising semiotics as worlds, pictures and sounds are the most important images people have. All of those represent reality and give it certain significance and show to people how to relate to it which builds the culture; the example can be John Lewis Christmas ads which use a wide range of signs code and sounds which stays in peoples mind. 

Nowadays signs are only a world or an image that does not represent anything beyond its own existence. Advertisements create its reality. It doesn’t relate to the reality and seems to show old fashioned, modern person. People wouldn’t care if there wouldn’t be anything behind seen images. Postmodern culture which exists now does not represent anything beyond itself, what people see in advertisements is what they will get without any other meaning. Additionally postmodernism relates into neither company’s logos which give the symbolic recognition into the brand but this nor have any connection with its history, the meaning is added later into it.  The problem with postmodern advertisement is the fact that they do not bring return on investment into the brand. The ads have computer generated graphics, are artistry and originally as well as win many prizes but are inefficient. The symbols which are shown in the advertisements try to appeal into people self-actualisation from Maslow theory. 

Another issue which rises for advertisements is globalisation. It is good for big and rich brands but not so good for the small one which may get lost in a crowd. Big brands try to expand their products into BRIC countries, so they have to think how to relate people values, attitudes and believes into  “Thin and thick” culture to gain success.. Advertising is part of the thick culture as it shows a foundation for challenges of people’s lives and common culture gives common value to the people. (Roxanne Hovland, Joyce Marie Vollburg , 2010).

John Lewis is a brand born out of the business philosophy. The company was made on “Thick and thin culture” (Detlef Pollack, Jorg Jacobs, Olaf Muller, Geret Pickel, 2003) and even though that issue it became very successful. Additional rules which John Lewis strategy Christmas ads breaks is the fact that although advertisements belong to postmodern type of advertisements it bring Return On Investment.

Thick culture in John Lewis brand focused on the values of family (sons inherit business after his dad), the definition of self (giving value to people who wished to exchange their money for the company goods), matters of basic trust same interpersonal as institutional (John Lewis partnership, which means relation between employers and employees. No one ask more that define fee, written partnership constitution founded under Settlements in Trust enforced by Courts of Low) as well as team work. John Lewis thin culture applies into the values as order, freedom and collectivism (freedom of correspondence to talk straight to the company management and its friends), attitudes towards the current performance of the political and economic system (staff was getting money which was hardly enough for leaving, not possibility for any savings, the pay sheet was small,  financial risk of employers and John Lewis tried to break the perversion of capitalism which could cause the society break down) (Lewis, 2013).  John Lewis knows exactly the issues which advertising faces and the nowadays social trends within the marketing mix, which carefully developed and made bring such a success to the brand.

In conclusion into to the issues which advertising in marketing mix faces nowadays, advertising as form of marketing communication needs re invented, for new and interactive marketplace.  The advertising needs some more digital revolution which brings a lot of success into the brand by looking at the example of John Lewis Christmas campaign and the role of digital media in this process. Technology is the future of advertising in marketing mix whether it is web, mobile, new social media platform. New cultural values will be based on how people engaged and get involved with the new forms of media and other language, social or cultural barriers will not have an influence on that (Joe Cappo, 2010).  The technology gives the impression of creating the new world of internationalists group of future communication where older generation may be a bit lost and where this problem will have to be overcome.  The new way of communications, put customers on the first place, where they get active before purchasing the item. Consumer will have even more power as they can control the media and use it the way they want to (Rick Mathieson, 2011). Thirty seconds TV advertisements have to create an emotion in people lives and the Internet have to play role of pushing it further. Television should be more customise to see people brand choice behaviour, to see customers’ sensibility and reliability. As people do not like answers questionnaire advertisers should think of other way of solving this problem which can be an answering for it through smart phones where people do not have to write the answer they can just say it and the answer will be written by itself (Venger, 2010).   The new platform will be the fact that customers expect the truth from the advertisers, where an example of it can be John Lewis advertisements to show that it works based on the company Return On Investment. John Lewis knows exactly how to target new generation of people and how to bring the emotion through the ad and how to make a buzz through digital media to make people talk and remember the company ads.

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