Business & Investments

John Lewis will still win the battle of the Christmas ads, says Oxford academic

Oxford (PRWEB UK) 28 November 2014

Professor Nancy Puccinelli predicts that the £7m John Lewis ad featuring Monty the penguin will attract customers to stores and, particularly if the actual shopping experience matches the mood of the ad, encourage them to spend money. However, Boots, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and even Waitrose (owned by John Lewis) may struggle to attract more customers via their adverts or encourage them to spend more.

“The number of story-based advertisements this year suggests that many agencies have been eyeing previous John Lewis ads and trying to emulate them, but they haven’t understood that it’s not just about tugging at viewers’ heartstrings,” said Professor Nancy Puccinelli, Associate Professor in Consumer Marketing at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. “Our research shows that a powerful element in communicating with consumers is getting the right fit between marketing messages and what’s driving their decision-making, whether it’s minimising risk or maximising pleasure.”

In a recent research paper, Puccinelli and her co-authors explained that “Back to School” campaigns often implicitly address the fear that children might be starting school without the right kit. People who base their decision-making on minimising risk are particularly susceptible to this sort of messaging. But at Christmas it is more profitable to appeal to consumers with a “promotion mindset” – those who respond to images of indulgence, and who will be open to switching to premium brands and to spending more to get the most out of their purchasing.

“With this in mind, I think that the John Lewis ad, which doesn’t really focus on specific products but does present an idealised, rather up-market picture of a family Christmas, will do very well,” said Puccinelli. “The current Sainsbury’s 1914 and Boots Boxing day ads are interesting because, while they both feature heart-warming stories, I don’t think they tap into the idea of indulgence, which is what will get consumers spending more in their stores – obviously the main aim of these promotions. The Boots 2011 TV ad spoke more directly to their consumers to optimize pleasure. With this year’s adverts, people will enjoy watching, but won’t necessarily feel the urge to buy much more than a chocolate bar, even if it is one in retro 1914 packaging.”

Puccinelli also believes that the Tesco’s ad, which centres on lighting up a large store car park, fails to create an indulgent feel.

She suggests that even the Waitrose ads could be improved upon. “The Waitrose ad contains a sweet story, but its message seems to be rather a utilitarian one, focusing on good customer service, or preventative one– worried about getting your Christmas baking wrong? Come to Waitrose and we’ll help. More of a focus on the celebratory could help Waitrose convert our enjoyment of the advert into more sales.”

According to Puccinelli’s research, even small adjustments to marketing messages to improve the fit with consumers’ prevailing states of mind can boost sales by up to 186%. Getting it wrong, such as emphasising cheapness (step forward Iceland) or price promotions when people are in the mood to spend money and buy the best, can even have a negative effect.

For further information or to speak with Professor Nancy Puccinelli, please contact the press office:

Kate Richards, PR Coordinator, Saïd Business School

Tel: +44 (0)1865 288879, Mob: +44 (0)7711000521

Email: kate.richards(at)sbs(dot)ox.ac.uk

Jonaid Jilani, Press Officer, Saïd Business School

Tel: +44 (0)1865 614678, Mob: +44 (0)786025996

Email: jonaid.jilani(at)sbs(dot)ox.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

1. About Nancy Puccinelli

http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/community/people/nancy-puccinelli

2. About Saïd Business School

Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford blends the best of new and old. We are a vibrant and innovative business school, but yet deeply embedded in an 800 year old world-class university. We create programmes and ideas that have global impact. We educate people for successful business careers, and as a community seek to tackle world-scale problems. We deliver cutting-edge programmes and ground-breaking research that transform individuals, organisations, business practice, and society. We seek to be a world-class business school community, embedded in a world-class University, tackling world-scale problems.

In the Financial Times European Business School ranking (Dec 2013) Saïd is ranked 12th. It is ranked 14th worldwide in the FT’s combined ranking of Executive Education programmes (May 2014) and 23rd in the world in the FT ranking of MBA programmes (Jan 2014). The MBA is ranked 7th in Businessweek’s full time MBA ranking outside the USA (Nov 2014) and is ranked 5th among the top non-US Business Schools by Forbes magazine (Sep 2013). The Executive MBA is ranked 21st worldwide in the FT’s ranking of EMBAs (Oct 2014). The Oxford MSc in Financial Economics is ranked 7th in the world in the FT ranking of Masters in Finance programmes (Jun 2014). In the UK university league tables it is ranked first of all UK universities for undergraduate business and management in The Guardian (Jun 2014) and has ranked first in ten of the last eleven years in The Times (Sept 2014). For more information, see http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/

ENDS

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