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

#BIGSNOWBALLFIGHT

Want to join in? During December we’re inviting colleagues, clients, suppliers and friends alike to throw a #bigsnowballfight snowball to @ifagency on Twitter with every hash tag counted contributing towards the fight to help polar bears in their shrinking Arctic habitat.

Why polar bears? Well their fur’s hollow -- which is pretty cool, they can swim about 100 miles at a time and they’ve almost seamlessly replaced beloved Captain Birdseye in a memorable new ad campaign. What’s not to love? And that’s only some of the reasons we all think a 2-second Tweet is worth it...watch these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR-xllh_h5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKmjMcYtz40

Awesome huh?

It goes without saying that the bigger the ‘fight’ the more we can do to help, so spread the word.  Follow us on Twitter, @ifagency, and tweet us now, not forgetting the all-important hash tag #bigsnowballfight

For more details on their plight and the WWF’s support via their adoption programme, visit:

http://support.wwf.org.uk/index.php?page=shop&pid=2&PHPSESSID=cdil21k7bvjtt1u5u9m1qlvub1

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

Each tweet received by @ifagency quoting #bigsnowballfight will be counted as a single entry.  The if agency will donate £1 for each valid and qualifying Tweet up to a maximum of £500. Only one entry per Twitter account. Entries open to anyone over 18 years of age. Only Tweets entered between 13^th December and 31^st December 2011 are valid, after which final numbers will be counted and used to calculate the final contribution.  No tweets after this date will be counted.  Tweets may be subject to delays, interception, non-delivery and unauthorised alternations.  Therefore information expressed in Tweets are not given or endorsed by The if agency and they remain the personal views of those Twitter account holders. We do not accept liability for any damages due to viruses which may be transmitted in or with any Tweets or arising from any amendments made to those Tweets by a third party. A maximum of £500 will be donated. Donation will be to the WWF and their Adopt an Animal scheme.  Any Tweet received by the Agency is taken as permission for the Agency to reply via Twitter but any personal details will not be disclosed. The Twitter name, logo , Twitter T, Tweet, and Twitter bird are trademarks of Twitter, Inc.  The if agency is in no way affiliated with Twitter, Inc. The Promoter’s decision is final in connection with all matters arising from this promotion and no correspondence will be entered into.  The Promoter accepts no responsibility, liability or any consequences whatsoever for participating in this promotion. 

Promoter: The if agency, 25, Weldon Road, Altrincham WA14 4HP. "The if agency" is a trading name of if agency Limited, a company registered in England with number 05223018 and having its registered office at 2 Jordan Street, Knott Mill, Manchester M15 4PY.  The if Agency logo is an unregistered trademark of if agency Limited. VAT registration number 854368106.