John Lewis’ 2014 Christmas more engaging than last year

Monty the Penguin in John Lewis’ 2014 Christmas ad campaign is “more compelling” than the retailer’s ‘bear and the hare’ ad from last year, according to research from market research firm Ipsos Mori.

The research conducted in partnership with RealEyes used facial coding techniques to measure the reactions of 300 UK adults as they watched the retailer’s latest Christmas advert created by Adam & Eve/DDB, and they found that this year’s campaign was better at keeping people engaged.

Throughout the advert, Monty the penguin engages more on an emotional level, due to its strong nostalgic hook at the start, its ‘slice of life’ scenes that add humour, and its sad finale, where Monty’s sadness provides empathy to round off the advert in a way that consumers didn’t feel with the ‘bear and the hare’.

Ipsos Mori found that Monty connected more with consumers due to it being all about imagination and wonder, as at the end of the advert you realised that it is all in the child’s head.

"John Lewis has struck gold with this year’s Christmas ad, gleaning an emotional response that comfortably out-performs last year’s effort,” Jon Harper, the head of advertising and brand research at Ipsos Mori told Campaign. "Using neuroscience techniques we have tracked viewers' emotional journey while they watch the ad and we found Monty the Penguin holds people’s attention throughout, eliciting a range of emotions with an all-important sustained peak of happiness at the ads conclusion."