- Product/Brand - John Lewis
- Spot - Monty The Penguin
- Song Title -Real Love
- Composer - Lennon
- Publisher - Lenono Music
- Artist - Tom Odell
- Record Co - Sony-Columbia
- Ad Agency - adam&eveDDB
- Creatives - Ben Priest, Emer Stamp, Ben Tollett, Daniel Fisher, Richard Brim
- Film Company - Blink
- Film Director - Dougal Wilson
- Post Production - Work Post
- Air Date - 8/11/14
When it comes to music in TV commercials John Lewis has become the brand to beat at the best of times, let alone at Christmas.
It was in 2009 that Britain’s favourite department store first graced the seasonal ad breaks with a Top 30 cover of Guns N’ Roses’ Sweet Child Of Mine by Swedish artists Taken By Trees – and then followed it up with a specially commissioned version of Elton John’s Your Song which peaked at Number 2 and revived the faltering fortunes of Ellie Goulding.
Since then, with two consecutive chart toppers by Gabrielle Aplin and Lily Allen in the bag, it is clear that inclusion in a John Lewis ad has developed into one of the most valuable propositions in UK pop.
Key to that success story is Music Week Sync Award winning supervisor Abi Leland. For the last six years she has played a crucial role in ensuring that John Lewis’ advertising agency adam&eveDDB and their various record label partners sing from the same hymn sheet over the holiday period’s most eagerly anticipated spot.
Speaking as this year’s John Lewis Monty The Penguin campaign single – Real Love by Tom Odell – surfaced at Number 7 after its first full sales week, Leland insisted that, despite the intense media pressure, chart positions were the last of her concerns.
“We just try to bring everything back to the basics and work with the story and the film,” she says. “If we were to start trying to second-guess everyone’s expectations and were influenced by that, then I feel we would run into trouble.
“The main focus is that there is synergy with the music and the film and that the cover version does justice to the song.”
Work began on Monty The Penguin back in May when Leland was shown the approved shooting script. A brief was subsequently agreed after detailed discussions with adam&eveDDB creatives and multi-award-winning director Dougal Wilson whose portfolio includes videos for Basement Jaxx, Goldfrapp and Coldplay.
Thereafter the search was on for a song which, says Leland, “would work well with the narrative.”
“Naturally we explored other options but Real Love was liked very early on,” she continues.
“As with all campaigns there are a number of stakeholders involved so it can take a bit of time to get a final decision. But Tom Odell’s version was so undeniably good it was pretty easy getting everybody on board.”
