John Lewis Christmas advert brand’s ‘most effective’ since 2019

The advert, ‘The Gifting Hour’, depicts a woman searching for a Christmas gift for her sister, passing through memories of different phases of the siblings’ lives.

The spot received a 4.6 star rating (out of a possible 5.9 ), making it the brand’s most effective Christmas advert since the ‘Excitable Edgar’ advert of 2019.

Additionally, System1 said the focus on shopping itself has resulted in the highest ‘brand fluency’ (a measure of how recognisable the brand is) for over 10 years.

John Lewis departed from longstanding creative agency Adam&Eve last year and ‘The Gifting Hour’ is the first festive ad for the retailer from Saatchi & Saatchi.

System1, formerly Brainjuicer, used its advertising testing platform Test Your Ad, which predicts the commercial potential of ads and ideas based on emotion. The platform tests participants’ emotional responses while watching an ad, assigning a score of 1.0 to 5.9 stars based on ‘long-term brand-building potential’. 

Jon Evans, chief marketing officer, System1, said: “From Elton John to Excitable Edgar, thoughtful gifting has been the common thread in a decade of John Lewis ads. It’s what makes “The Gifting Hour” such a great Christmas ad too. The lifetime bond between the sisters means love, family and gifts are among the strongest associations viewers have with the ad.”