John Lewis Invites Us to 'Give Knowingly' This Christmas

Today, John Lewis launched the second campaign in its trilogy. ‘Give Knowingly’ celebrates the wisdom and wise choices of its customers, as they search for the perfect Christmas gift for their loved ones.  It reinforces John Lewis as the home of gifting and showcases the breadth of the retailer’s offer. 

It’s the second chapter of John Lewis’s much-cited trilogy for the Golden Quarter. Chapter One announced the return of Never Knowingly Undersold in September and Chapter Three will launch its always-anticipated Christmas Ad later this month.

The fully integrated campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, comprises the Top 100 Gifts for the season, eight films that will run across TV, BVOD, digital, social, a large-scale out of home and print campaign, and social media and radio.

The campaign lands ahead of the all-important Black Friday trading period, which takes on a new significance with the revival of its Never Knowingly Undersold price promise. 

As part of its price promise, it will be matching 25 key competitors using AI technology, so that customers can be assured that they are getting highly competitive prices alongside the quality and service that John Lewis is renowned for.  

November has become a key gifting period - with nearly two-thirds of all purchases made over the period bought as Christmas gifts - so Chapter Two will offer gifting inspiration. It will showcase a breadth of gifts, ranging from beautiful and affordable cashmere to the latest gadgets from brands such as Nespresso, Apple, Ninja, Samsung and skincare from Charlotte Tilbury, who provides the voiceover for her own ad herself. The strapline transitions gracefully from ‘Live Knowingly’ in Chapter One to ‘Give Knowingly’ in Chapter Two.

Once again John Lewis is collaborating with BAFTA-winning Samantha Morton as the voice of the campaign and is also celebrating a new partnership with the winner of Channel 4’s The Piano, Brad Kella, who accompanies the campaign with a piano rendition of the iconic Bob Dylan song “Make You Feel My Love”. Products designed by Izaac, a care-experienced designer from the MxC range also appear in the campaign, with proceeds from the sale of products going to care-experienced charities.

Charlotte Lock, customer director John Lewis, said, “At John Lewis we recognise the changing dynamic in Christmas shopping. As Black Friday builds and our customers focus on finding the right gift for their loved ones, this campaign offers them inspiration. It also reminds them that they can always buy the right gift at the right price at John Lewis, not just over the Black Friday period. After all, John Lewis knows more about giving great gifts than any other retailer - we’ve been doing it for 160 years.

“We’re delighted that this includes our MxC range. John Lewis has a long-standing commitment to the care-experienced community through its employability programme and fundraising, and we are thrilled to be featuring incredible care-experienced talent in this campaign and showcasing gifts made by care-experienced designers.”

Franki Goodwin, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, said, “Though we’re a few weeks out, the journey to finding the perfect Christmas present really starts now. It was essential we captured this insight in this second chapter and brought our amazing supplier brands into the story.  

“There is so much beauty in the wisdom of knowing our loved ones at this time of year and knowing how much the right gift can feature in their lives for years to come. We’re excited to see this chapter in the real world, driving to real products and putting John Lewis at the heart of thoughtful gifting.”