The If Agency

The John Lewis Partnership can do no wrong for me at the moment.

You have two delightful Xmas TV campaigns – one for Waitrose set in a Willy Wonka-esque factory magically dusting mince pies with Christmas tree dust, the other for John Lewis, truly capturing people’s hearts with a beautiful concept of ‘For gifts you can’t wait to give’ that YouTube simply can’t play enough times and for which they are receiving numerous accolades.

Then you have two fully integrated campaigns.  Waitrose announced the other week their plans to launch Christmas ‘how to’ videos with Delia and running Q&A’s with guest chef experts –the ideal complement to their ‘School of Christmas Magic’ campaign .  Meanwhile, John Lewis have a subtle but completely delightful ‘Kids say the funniest things’ type of promotion running online and inviting you to ‘guest the gift’ they’re describing for the chance to win an iPad2 – simple, charming and thoroughly engaging.

It was topped off for me recently with the news that John Lewis is trialling a virtual store in the windows of Waitrose in Brighton. Showcasing John Lewis’ “top 30 favourite things for Christmas” the initiative uses QR codes to direct customers to the appropriate product page where they can use the ‘Click & Collect’ service to order the goods online.

 

To be honest, I have been struggling a bit with QR codes, but now I’m thinking it’s because not everyone is using them correctly.  It’s a bit of a ‘ooo quick, we need a QR code, let’s stick one on there and show we’re modern and digital’ but they serve no purpose.  And there’s plenty of examples of them going badly wrong for brands, where they won’t work or don’t take the customer to where they’re supposed to.  Other common mistakes include lengthy URL’s or a lack of instruction.  Marketer’s need to think carefully about the position (don’t put them at the bottom of a six sheet for example, forcing the reader to crouch down) and the location (don’t put them on the underground where there’s no reception Red Bull) and of course the content, which needs to be useful.

See these good (and bad!) examples:

http://smartlifeblog.com/the-5-best-and-5-worst-uses-of-qr-codes/

The John Lewis example is a perfect example of effective use for me.  By showcasing desirable, must-have products, John Lewis can exploit that impulsive Christmas panic method of shopping at this time of year, while taking a foothold on the high street even though their stores are largely out of town or in out of town shopping centres.  It promotes the convenience of their new ‘Click & Collect’ service and neatly ties another bow around their ‘For gifts you can’t wait to give’ campaign.  Lovely.

 

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For press information or images please contact Matt Neary at Conker PR
Telephone: 07799 412215
E-mail: Matt@conkerpr.com