The retail landscape has been challenging with the rise of online retailers and budget supermarkets. John Lewis and Waitrose were for the first time no longer the nation’s most loved brands. Our ambition was to change this. We needed to give people a reason to love us, trust us and be loyal to us again. We recognise in a changing world people value the personal, human connections.

So we brought the brands together for the first time, and celebrated what makes them different: their unique Partnership model and a different way of doing business where all people that work there are Partners and own the business, and so care more.

The film celebrates John Lewis and Waitrose’s key point of difference - a shared and unique Partnership model, where Partners own the business. We were exploring fun situations where characterful groups of people came together to do something interesting. A teacher and his class of children going above and beyond to create an incredible performance allowed us to create a sense of joy, energy and pride at being part of something special – much like the Partnership of John Lewis and Waitrose. It was a fun and dramatic analogy which everyone can relate to, with a sense of nostalgia.

As music was key to our emotional storytelling, it needed to be considered carefully. We needed a track that was a national treasure (much like John Lewis and Waitrose), which felt appropriate for two brands, whilst also showcasing the joy and energy that we wanted to portray in the ad. What better than Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, loved by both adults and children alike. The track consists of many layers, which was perfect for our idea of a school production – everyone coming together and doing their bit to produce a musical masterpiece. Guitarists, bassists, drummers, pianists, orchestral - we had over 300 children attend casting over a five day period. In the end, we cast 82 children. Truly an ensemble piece.

The film first went live across social media on the morning of the 4th September, before premiering on TV during Great British Bake Off on Channel 4 that evening - with continued cut downs on VOD across other channels being shown until 15th October. This was further supported in cinemas from 7th September, with the ad featuring next to the 20th Century Fox film “Bohemian Rhapsody” trailers. Receiving much praise from PR and celebrities such as Queen and Brian May posting the film on their channels.

At launch, the campaign became part of national conversation. The TV launch spot during the Great The campaign became an immediate part of national conversation, receiving 4.5 million views and triple trending on Twitter in the first 24 hours.

It received 99% positive sentiment across social media with celebrities like Queen re-posting.

The campaign made headlines with articles heralding the advert, supporting the businesses reverence of Partners.

The impact from 25,000 social Partner-ambassadors meant that 22million partner content appearances equated £1million of media exposure; and a 30% increase in Personal Styling Services.

Importantly, the campaign drove the UK’s highest ad awareness (AV assets hit 87.7% of ABC1 ads), significantly increased brand consideration amongst the British public (uplift of 26%), and 1 in 5 of UK adults talked about the rebrand.

These early reports indicate we successfully reaffirmed affection for John Lewis and Waitrose.