The best 2014 Christmas Campaigns: M&S vs John Lewis

The battle for the best Christmas Campaign for 2014 has kicked off, as a number of UK retailers have launched their advertorial holiday campaigns in the hopes of winning over consumers in time for the holiday rush. FashionUnited brings together the top Christmas Campaigns for 2014 to see which retailers are most likely to have tapped into their customers hearts, and purses.

First up is department store group Marks & Spencer, the UK's biggest clothing retailer and their advert 'Follow the Fairies.' Unlike its previous adverts, the group decided to try a new tactic and launch its 2014 holiday campaign without a leading celebrity starring in the main role. Last year saw a roster of celebrities including models Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, David Gandy and actress Helena Bonham Carter in a fantastical themed campaign.

Marks & Spencer uses a little 'Magic and Sparkle' in its 2014 ad

However, seeing as the enchanted Christmas ad did little to help boost the group's holiday sales last year, M&S has decided to tap into the power of social media this year and is aiming to lift holiday moral across the country by carrying out “random acts of kindness.” M&S did reuse its slogan from last year, “Magic and Sparkle,” a play on the name Marks & Spencer, which refers to the name of the adverts two fairies, played by models Claire Chust and Chloé François.

In the ad, the duo fly around the city of London at night performing good deeds, such as changing a boyfriend's boring gift of an alarm clock to a glamorous bra, helping a woman find her lost cat and causing an power outage, whilst making it snow so children inside playing video games go out and play in the snow. The campaign was first launch online via social media Friday night and then televised advert debuted during the first advert of ITV's X Factor on Saturday.

Although M&S refused to reveal the cost of its Christmas advert, the group stated that the absence of celebrities meant there was more budget to push its campaign online via social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. Prior to the launch of its advert, M&S was sharing “random acts of kindness” across the UK, such as delivering chocolates to a hospital ward, making it snow outside of a primary school in Cornwall and flying fairy lights over Newcastle's Tyne Bridge.

However instead of linking the acts of kindness directly to the department store group, M&S created a separate Twitter account @thetwofairies, which had over 13,000 followers before the advert officially aired. “We wanted to capture that feeling and bring Magic and Sparkle to life in a fun and light-hearted way that spreads a little cheer,” commented Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, executive director of marketing and international at M&S.

“This Christmas will be the biggest online Christmas ever in the UK and the most social Christmas, fuelled by an unprecedented surge in the use of mobile phones and tablet computers.”

Next up is upscale department store chain, John Lewis, who has held the gauntlet for best Christmas advert for the past few years. Last year's animated ad, which highlighted the unlikely friendship between a hare and a bear seems to have been the source for this year's campaign, which features a little boy named Sam and his best friend, Monty the Penguin. The two minute short film was once more made by Adam&Eve/DDB, the creative agency behind a number of UK retailer's top Christmas adverts.

However, unlike its previous advert, which was animated cartoon, John Lewis decided to use CGI animation to bring Monty the Penguin to life. In the ad, Sam and Monty are seen playing together, going sledging, playing football and jumping on a trampoline as best friends do before Monty begins to noticed couples kissing and appears to want the same, without a single word being spoken. As the Penguin seems to fill with longing, Sam makes a decision and for Christmas gives Monty the ultimate gift, a female penguin companion named Mabel.

At the end of the ad, Sam's mother walks in the room and sees her son playing with his two penguin soft toys with a smile on his face to a version of 'Real Love' by John Lennon covered by Tom Odell and the strapline “Give someone the Christmas they've been dreaming of” flashes across the screen before the John Lewis logo is shown and the connection is made. The advert was designed to evoke “the magic of make-believe at Christmas through a child's eyes,” commented the department store group.

The advert first aired on social media platforms last Thursday, before airing on television during Friday night's episode of Gogglebox on Channel 4, after a week of unbranded teasers with the hashtag #MontythePenguin. The new Christmas advert which cost 1 million pounds to make and is part of John Lewis's overall 7 million pound investment in its Christmas campaign, received over 4 million views on Youtube within 24 hours.

John Lewis hopes to give consumers 'the Christmas they've been dreaming of'

Much like M&S, John Lewis has also tapped into the power of social media and linked its Christmas ad to a Twitter campaign, which promises to light up all its followers' home pages and send out a tweet to all their friends simultaneously as the Oxford Street Christmas lights, sponsored by the department store turn on in London. John Lewis is also supporting its Christmas advert in its stores, with the launch of a space called Monty's Den, which is said to use technology to enable children to bring their favorite toys to life. The department store group has also created cuddly toys based on Monty and Mabel, and a children's book named 'Monty's Christmas.'

“We hope this uplifting tale of Sam's love for his friend Monty will remind people of the magic of Christmas through a child's eyes and inspire them to think how they can make the festive season extra special for their friends and loved ones,” commented Craig Inglis, marketing director at John Lewis.

Both adverts convey a similar message, that the holiday season is a time to share the gift kindness with your loved ones and give them the best possible Christmas. Both use a narrative basis to tell a story of Christmas, without directly presenting facts or making claims. The adverts try to tap into their viewers emotions that are linked to love, friendship, giving and sharing through the art of story-telling before connecting the idea to their own brands. However, one of the adverts clearly seems to have moved its viewers more than the other.

Last year John Lewis reported record breaking Christmas sales and its Christmas advert ranked third place in the top three most global shared films of 2013. In comparison, Marks & Spencer's ad was listed in eleventh place and the group one of the few UK retailers to report a “difficult” festive trading period. Since its launch last week, Monty the Penguin has over 11 million views on YouTube and nearly 36,000 shares. On the other hand, Follow the Fairies has 2.6 million views on YouTube and 450 shares.

However, instead of only posting its Christmas ad to YouTube, both department store groups have also posted them on Facebook, where the majority of the adverts shares come from. John Lewis's ad has been shared over 152,600 thousand times so far, and M&S's advert 25,800 thousand times. If the link between views, shares and Christmas sales stands to be true again this holiday season, then John Lewis has yet again managed to win over its consumers with its heartwarming advert which will undoubtedly lead to customers opening their wallets.

Many already seem to be doing so, as the 'Monty' and Mabel' soft toys have already sold out in store and a number have found their way onto eBay, with large and medium plush sizes selling for more than double their retail price.