Syncs aren’t just for Christmas
John Lewis is fast becoming the go-to advertiser for turning unknown artists into stars. The department store’s judicious sync usage over the last few years has been chart cat nip for many emerging talents with its current Christmas campaign powering Gabrielle Aplin’s debut at 36 in the Official UK singles countdown with her version of The Power Of Love just two days after the ad first screened on TV.
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Taken By Trees scored their one and only chart hit at the end of November 2009 with a version of Guns ‘n’ Roses’ classic Sweet Child o’ Mine, Ellie Goulding scored her highest chart place - number 4 - with a cover of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin classic Your Song used in the retailer’s festive ad the following year and Slow Moving Millie reached a peak at 31 with the Morrissey/Marr classic Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want as a result of John Lewis’ 2011 Christmas campaign.
Yet the upmarket department store and its advertising agency Adam & Eve doesn’t just pull the stops out for Christmas. Careful consideration is also given to the music used in its Never Knowingly Undersold campaign with Paloma Faith being the latest artist to appear in this Autumn’s film illustrating the story of two people falling in love - in different eras. The soundtrack was a cover of the INXS song Never Tear Us Apart. Not only did Faith’s version linger in the charts for seven weeks, peaking at 16, but the Aussie band’s original enjoyed a sales resurgence too.
The attraction for the artists is obvious. And it’s not just the high level of media exposure which comes from the association with a blue chip brand. John Lewis spots are now regarded as some of the best – and most creative – in the business too. Slow Moving Millie explained her involvement with last year’s Christmas campaign simply: “John Lewis is such a British institution.”
The department’s formula has been so successful that, at the end of last year, John Lewis released its own album Reworked, an album of 11 songs by artists including Amy MacDonald, Dionne Bromfield and Fyfe Dangerfield of The Guillemots, who provided an emotive reworking of the Billy Joel classic Always A Woman which was a number 14 hit in 2010.
John Lewis marketing director Craig Inglis said, “Over the last four years, we have become known for our innovative use of music within our TV advertising. The eyes are on us and it is great that our advertisements have caused so many conversations and people are so engaged with them.”
Abi Leland, director at music supervision specialist Leland Music, which has helped match music to award-winning campaigns for brands from Nike to Lloyds TSB, has a unique insight into the process. She was originally brought in two years ago to help John Lewis and Adam & Eve on what developed into the Ellie Goulding ad.
Leland disputes the popular perception of a basic formula that says ‘new act + well known song = successful John Lewis ad’.
“The starting point is never the same,” she says, but concedes that the approach John Lewis has adopted over three years has been to invite a less established artist to provide a new interpretation of an old song, even if use of The Smiths catalogue kicked off a wicked online debate about the use of the Morrissey/Marr catalogue for commercial gain.
Leland stresses that songs must “tap in to” the right tone and lyric if they are to be considered for a campaign. Initial shortlists are drawn up by herself and her team at Leland Music, but the client and the creative team at the advertising agency also play their parts. For example, the INXS song Never Tear Us Apart was suggested by the agency.
The key, she says, is to start at the script stage of the ad and only approach a handful of people to record the song - usually never more than five or six, sometimes less. “It varies with each song because different people bring a different approach. But it’s normally a small handful, so we try to be sensitive and keep it all quite confidential.”
Thus Badly Drawn Boy was one of the artists considered alongside Fyfe Dangerfield to try out for the cover of the Billy Joel song She’s Always A Woman.
As the ad develops the song will be finessed. “You can’t go right to the wire once the ad finished because you need to develop the cover,” says Leland.
Rich Robinson, VP Synchronisation Europe and RoW EMI Music, was a key decision maker in ‘casting’ Gabrielle Aplin for the latest John Lewis ad.
“Abi and myself talked about Gabrielle and thought that musically she was at the right time in her career with the right personality,” he said.
Unusually, Robinson said Aplin’s hat was in the ring before they knew what the song was going to be.
“We knew we wanted her in the selection process,” he added. Aplin and producer David Kosten, who has worked with Bat For Lashes, worked up a demo, which was then selected and re-worked as the ad film went from rough cut to the final 90 second epic.
Released on Parlophone, Aplin’s version of The Power Of Love peaked at number 1 and, says Robinson, is “95% certain” to appear on her forthcoming - but as yet untitled - album which is expected in March.
Once again, John Lewis 2012 Christmas spot has been greeted with thousands of inches of newspaper and magazine coverage. How sustainable it will be remains to be seen since every long-running campaign, no matter how successful, eventually has to be re-calibrated or re-worked.
For the time being though, neither Leland or Robinson, see any reason to tamper with John Lewis’ successful melding of music with advertising. Robinson concedes that at some point it might run its course, but adds there are still plenty of good ideas around the brand.
“As long as the general public reacts positively to it, there is no reason to change our basic approach,” adds Leland, who expects the next Never Knowingly Undersold ad on the slate for around April 2013 to follow the established route.
However, she does add the caveat. “But, who knows? John Lewis is a smart brand. Anything could happen.”
