Christmas adverts 2015: What retailers must do to rival John Lewis when it comes to winning consumers’ hearts and minds November 3, 2015 People around the country celebrate (or lament) the fact that Christmas seems to be starting earlier with each passing year. Fairylights adorn high streets, the newest children’s toys fill up shop windows and festive sandwich flavours pop up in supermarkets, often before the Halloween decorations have even come down. Love it or hate it, there’s [...]
Christmas adverts 2015: John Lewis, Burberry, Duracell, Sky Movies and Asda are the most popular festive ads so far this year November 9, 2015 It's been just four days since John Lewis unveiled its festive advert for Christmas 2015 – but the department store chain is already head and shoulders in front of the competition when it comes to online impact. Tear-jerker quite possibly, but John Lewis' Man on the Moon advert has already been shared nearly 478,000 times [...]
Black Friday UK 2015: 1 in 5 ecommerce websites including John Lewis, Boots, Boohoo and Argos went down before 9am this morning November 27, 2015 UK retailers’ online shops are buckling under the strain of Black Friday, with one in five crashing before most of us had finished our morning commute. Argos, Boots and Game were among those that had downtime before 9am, showed data from commerce agency Ampersand. The agency is tracking what websites are currently live, showing how [...]
Black Friday 2016 history: What is it, when did it come to the UK and where will it hit next? November 1, 2016 Black Friday fever is sweeping the nation, with many retailers saying they will get some of their best sales yet. But where did the bumper discount day come from and where will it hit next? Here's a short history. Where did Black Friday come from? Black Friday – like Halloween, McDonalds and theme parks – [...]
Black Friday UK 2015: John Lewis deals revealed on Miele vacuum, Sony TVs, Amazon Fire tablet and more ahead of 27 November launch November 26, 2015 John Lewis has finally revealed a handful of the many deals the retailer will be offering at this year’s Black Friday sale, just hours before the midnight kick-off as bargains go on sale online. Many retailers have already begun revealing their offerings, but John Lewis has been very secretive about its bargains, keeping them hush-hush [...]
Christmas adverts: John Lewis, Sainsburys, Burberry & Marks and Spencer beaten by Universal for most shared festive ad of all time November 2, 2015 It's that time of year already. John Lewis is poised to unveil its Christmas advert on Friday (8am if you're really keen) and once again will be launching in on social media first, followed by a grand pushing out to TV audiences at the weekend. It has become an iconic start to the festive period, [...]
As Christmas adverts battle it out, Google Android beats Disney, Budweiser, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief to become the most shared advert of 2015 November 19, 2015 John Lewis and Sainsbury's might be battling it out over who will take the number one spot for this year's Christmas advert, but the two retailers are barely on the radar when it comes to the most popular advert of the year so far. That honour goes to Google Android's Friends Furever campaign, featuring some surprising animal friendships. [...]
Why is good behaviour in business such a radical idea? October 19, 2016 One of the most significant passages of Theresa May’s wide-ranging speech at the Conservative Party conference earlier this month criticised selfish bosses, rigged markets and dysfunctional businesses. Calling for a new spirit of citizenship, the Prime Minister highlighted a rogues’ gallery of those companies who refused to play by the rules, infuriated their customers and [...]
A tale of two retail sectors: Shares in fashion retailers fall as supermarkets jump September 15, 2016 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in the retail sector today, as shares in retailers led both the risers and the fallers in the FTSE 100. Firmly in the spring of hope was the supermarket sector, where Morrisons led the risers, with shares jumping 7.13 per cent to 207.4p in [...]
John Lewis Christmas advert 2015: With Aurora’s cover of Half the World Away once again it has the right song, brand values and storytelling November 6, 2015 Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without retailers bombarding us with their festive fair. However, when you consider the serious amounts of time and money (£7m for last year’s Monty the Penguin) spent on first creating their Christmas campaigns and then on the media time to ensure we see them, many a retailer must be asking themselves, what [...]