John Lewis' Snapper Christmas Ad Reactions

The annual Christmas tradition of John Lewis bringing out a big, cinematic ad with music and a story that pulls at the heartstrings continues this year with Snapper: The Perfect Tree.

This is their first festive ad with new agency Saatchi & Saatchi and it brings in a different view of Christmas. Does the ad make as much of an impact as the ones from previous years? What about the activation beyond the clip?

Joining us to discuss its creative effectiveness are Advertisers Watching Ads former guests and marketing leaders:

Lucy McKillop (Global Brand Director, Carat, at dentsu international)

Julie Pender (Interim - Beefeater Gin, The Spirit of London at Pernod Ricard)

Charles Cadbury (CEO of Say It Now)

Samantha Dolan (Head of Marketing - Goodfella’s Pizza at Nomad Foods)

Jerry Daykin (VP, Head of Global Media at Beam Suntory)

Catherine Chappell (Head of Platforms and Investment at Mediahub UK)

Pollyanna Ward (Strategy Director at Flight Story)

Vic Miller (VP PR & Communications at GWI)

David Brewerton (Head of Marketing & Customer Comms at Metro Bank (UK))

Roy Gardner (VP Marketing - WE at adidas)

Lauren Spearman (Creative Director)

Rida Alvi (Global Marketing Manager at Haleon)

Pete Johnson (Marketing Director)

Charlotte Ford (Marketing Director at heycar UK)

Julia Linehan (Founder and CEO of The Digital Voice)

Lucas Bergmans (Advisor / Blogger)

Transcript is automatically generated, so not perfect, but you get the idea!

Tom Ollerton 0:00

Hi, welcome to a special Christmas edition of Advertisers Watching Ads.

This is a weekly show where brands watch other brands ads and discuss them. Automatic Creative make it in partner with Contagious. So what we've done is we've got lots of the guests from Advertisers Watching Ads over the last year or so to look at the John Lewis ad. So let's see that John Lewis ad and then let's see how the industry has responded to it.

Lucy McKillop 2:30

So I did get the feels for a Venus flytrap watching the John Lewis ad. I think it's a lovely way to cut through and talk about something a bit different and growing your own traditions. But I think it wouldn't be Advertisers Watching Ads if there wasn't a slightly contrarian point of view, and I have noticed that across socials, they've not changed it or chopped it. It's still the same long-form ad, but I think it would have been amazing to sort of see with a new agency. Does it come with a new way to activate the iconic John Lewis ad across multiple channels?

Rida Alvi 3:01

I absolutely loved it. I found it heartwarming. I found it humorous. It may be a very typical formula, but is it going to be breakthrough? Is it going to have a really high recall? Definitely, yes. True. Because of that monstrous plant who actually pulled at my heartstrings quite a bit. But what I loved even more is actually the activation, which looks phenomenal.

Roy Gardner 3:25

I think I might get voted the Christmas Grinch here, but that John Lewis ad was disappointing. I think overall, it was pretty tired variation on the theme and left me cold. Pretty underwhelmed, overall. Impressed though, by the activation integration that I can see so far.

Samantha Dolan 3:39

Loved it! Absolutely loved it, the John Lewis advert. Complete change in direction for them. If you'd have said to me, "You're going to be actually in tears over a Venus flytrap getting kicked out of a house for tearing the place up." I would not have believed you, but there it is. I think the music played a massive part in that, really kind of went with it and built into the big, big crescendo but yeah, absolutely loved it.

Vic Miller 4:02

I really like that it's not this kind of polished, sparkly lights, twinkly, glossy, expensive Christmas. I think that's right for this year. And it's got a nice message about creating our own traditions. So it's a thumbs up for me.

Julie Pender 4:13

I love the new John Lewis ad. Loved The Venus flytrap. It's a bit of nostalgia from movies I've watched of my youth, and I think it's quite unique. They haven't gone with the celebrity, and it's quite heartwarming, even though it's not pulling the same kind of crazy emotional strings. But absolutely loved it.

Catherine Chappell 4:27

There's no emotional connection to the ad this year for me. However, I think the music was outstanding and I can appreciate the direction they're trying to take the ad.

Charles Cadbury 4:34

From the little shop of horrors to the big shop of offers, this strikes a delightful note, which is what everyone wants at Christmas time.

Charlotte Ford 4:41

Venus flytraps creep me out but overall, I really like the ad. I think the music made it. It was a great use of audio and storytelling. Above all else... it still felt like a John Lewis advert, which is super tough brief for a new agency to crack. And I think they did a great job. So actually, should be really proud of themselves.

David Brewerton 4:58

It was a bit odd. Don't really know as a consumer what to take away from it, but I like the music.

Charlotte Ford 5:03

My mom described it as odd and alarming, but with a new agency looking to find a different way to cut through with the same formula. That's probably not a bad thing.

Julia Linehan 5:11

Good on John Lewis for trying something different. They got huge pressure on them every year to come up with something bigger and better. This was a different way of approaching it. And for me, I liked it.

Lauren Spearman 5:20

It took a little while to get going but who cares when the music was just that sublime?

Lucy McKillop 5:24

I really liked it. Thought it was playful. In a backdrop of cost of living, war, all the bad things. It brought a moment of joy. Yeah, made me smile. And ultimately, it gave a message that it's okay and kind of wonderful to be different.

Pete Johnson 5:40

Well it's big and it's bold and it's really entertaining. Sounds great, but I think for every one person who stood by the emotion of this, there'll be another person confused.

Lucas Bergmans

I think they did a good job. I think it definitely looks and feels and sounds like a John Lewis ad. Almost if I'm being really picky getting to the point where it's a little bit clichéd but I think for a normal people in the street, they'll definitely, generally like it. I think the music's amazing. Really good. I really hope the dog didn't get eaten.

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