Sainsbury's: a Fading Christmas Star?

It all started so well.  Sainsbury's launched their 2014 Christmas TV advertisement online on 12 November, and then premiered it on ITV the following day.  As we were first commenting on it, the ad was getting 150,000 hits an hour on YouTube.  At the time of writing (23 November) it has been seen 11.6 million times, an average of a million views per day.  Not as impressive as John Lewis's 17 million viewings, but streets ahead of all other supermarkets.  Even the companion film, the making of our Christmas ad has been seen over 300,000 times.

The Sainsbury's advertisement: image from the Metro

Sainsbury's announced the ad on their Facebook page on 12 November.  The reaction was immediate, with the post clocking up nearly 8,400 'likes' to date, 888 'shares' and 631 comments from fans. Once again, though, comparisons with John Lewis put these figures into perspective:  Monty the Penguin had nearly 150,000 'likes' on Facebook, 156,000 'shares' and nearly 13,000 comments.

So, what is the problem with this campaign?  As we noted at the launch, choosing the subject of war for an advertisement was always going to be risky. In the initial few days the critical reaction, in the mainstream press at least, was favourable, but there was little of the viral link sharing that we had seen around the John Lewis campaign.

Part of the problem may have been popular confusion: people just did not know how to react.  Most agreed that it was an emotional film with an uplifting theme.  But Monty the Penguin was a compelling, emotional narrative with a happy ending.

Within a few days a muted counter-reaction started becoming evident in the press.  The Guardian's Ally Fogg denounced it as "a dangerous and disrespectful masterpiece".  Ellen Stweart in the Metro called it "distasteful at best and exploitative at worst".  Sainsbury's were accused of hypocrisy by the Independent, the Daily Mail and the Metro.  

The Guardian's tweet about Fogg's piece was retweeted 114 times and favourited 69 times.  Stewart's article scored just 15 retweets and 12 favourites.  So although the original Sainsbury's campaign was muted by comparison to John Lewis, the counter-reaction was fairly slow coming also.

More worrying, perhaps, was the fact that by November 16, just 3 days since the ad was first broadcast, the Advertising Standards Authority had received 240 complaints from viewers,  "most citing the cynical use of 'World War One themes/imagery to promote a supermarket' as 'upsetting' and 'disrespectful'" according to Adland.

Sainsbury's itself seemed to lose interest in the possibility of the campaign going viral.  Although it reminded its Facebook fans of the campaign on 18 November, there was comparatively little re-engagement, with a mere 136 likes, 3 shares and 18 comments.  However, their piece on the same platform on that day about the campaign-themed chocolate bars drew 4049 likes and 513 shares.  Another reference to the ad on 19 November, the last to date, scored a dismal 56 shares and 280 likes on Facebook.

Since the launch the official Facebook postings have used the hashtag  #ChristmasIsForSharing just once.  By contrast, a 21 November posting about range of turkeys in store had 93 shares and 3245 likes, 59 comments.  Almost all postings from Sainsbury's on Facebook since 18 November have been food related.

The Sainsbury's campaign appears to have engaged on an emotional level with audiences, but that engagement has not translated itself into any of the sustained interactions with the brand that John Lewis has demonstrated.  Most of us like the advertisement, we think it is worthwhile, but we don't know what to do with it.  By contrast Monty the Penguin makes millions of us laugh and cry: we identify with him, and by extension with John Lewis.  Most importantly we want to tell our friends and family.

The Upstarts: Lidl, Aldi and #LittleSurprises

For supermarkets the Christmas season represents a chance to boost sales and profits at a time when normal rules are suspended.  According to market researchers Kantar, all of the top 5 UK supermarkets (with the exception of Asda) are losing market share.  While gains have been made by Waitrose and small multiple stores, the biggest gainers are Lidl (up 18% in the latest quarter) and Aldi (27% higher in the same period).

Jools Holland in the 2014 Aldi advertisement
Picture from MarketingMagazine

Both these stores are well established challengers to Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.  Each of these have now rolled out impressive-sounding TV advertising campaigns for 2014.  It is important to remember, though, that the biggest spender in 2013 was Tesco, who actually lost sales during the festive period.

Lidl's campaign for the end of 2014 is part of a much larger one, based around the theme of 'Lidl surprises'.  The overall campaign (not just the Christmas part) is costing the company  £20 million (according to The Grocer) - this looks impressive except when set against Tesco's spend last year of £25 million.  Lidl, like other supermarkets this year, intend to get more value out of their advertising by linking it to social media and other channels.

The 'surprises' theme in the Lidl advertisement comes over in the reaction of the 'ordinary people' from Hertfordshire who are seen tucking into a Christmas meal prepared from Lidl groceries.  There is surprise at being served lobster at the start, and stollen for dessert. Most of all, the diners are surprised to discover the provenance of the food: they had believed that it was from Waitrose or Marks & Spencer (both named in the film).  This should come as no surprise as Lidl had named these as targets in the pre-publicity.

On social media Lidl has been promoting the campaign, and has succeeded in getting the advertisement seen nearly 300,000 times to date.  Of course this is a small figure alongside the 12 million views that Sainsbury's has achieved.  Lidl is far less active on Twitter than all its competitors with a mere 16,500 followers.  Here there seems to be a great deal of confusion, with the official Twitter feed using numerous hashtags including #LidlChristmas, #Lidler and #LidlSurprises.  The social media channels are very effective at getting over the 'surprising' new Christmas goodies in store.

Lidl has 750,000 Facebook fans, where is uses the same range of hashtags.  The campaign launch was somewhat overshadowed by Lidl introducing what was popularly believed to be a "ban" on the use of any language but English by staff in Lidl stores.  

Aldi, unlike most retailers in 2014, has opted to feature a celebrity: Jules Holland and his band appear at the end of commercial.  The theme of the advertisement, "everyone's coming to us" is a witty poke at the way Aldi is growing at the expense of established competitors.  The TV advertisement itself, launched on Novemer 5, is nowhere near as popular as Lidl's, gaining just 50,000 views to date, despite the celebrity endorsement.  However the company outscores its German rival on Facebook with over 800,000 fans.  It also has a far larger Twitter following.  Both high scores are probably attributable to the company's successful ways at 'incentivizing' its fans with competitions and offers.  There is just one mention of the TV campaign, though.

The success of Aldi and Lidl should not be overstated: much of it is attributable to locational effects - both firms are opening new stores steadily across the UK.  Their campaigns in broadcast media and online stress product quality over low prices.  But the market share figures speak for themselves: everyone is going to them.

Sainsbury's declaration of war: #ChristmasIsForSharing

Commemorative WW1 chocolate: picture from The Guardian

What can we say about Sainsbury's 2014 Christmas TV commercial?

1. It has almost no product placement (like John Lewis);
2. At nearly 4 minutes, it is much longer than John Lewis);
3. It tugs at the emotional heartstrings (like John Lewis);
4. It "might not drive footfall directly, but it will build brand love and strengthen the consumer connection" (Marketing magazine), (just like John Lewis).

Or, as The Independent's headline put it, "Sainsbury's Christmas advert is like a 4-minute 'f*** you' to John Lewis and Monty the penguin".  At the time of writing the video on YouTube is being watched around 150,000 times every hour. In the 24 hours since the ad was screened 100,000 people have 'liked it' on Facebook.  There are 200 comments being posted about it on Twitter every hour.

The 2014 Sainsbury's Christmas advertisement replays the episode, almost 100 years ago, when enemies on the front line in World War I suspended hostilities on Christmas Day and joined in spontaneous acts of friendship with 'the enemy'.  It taps into growing public interest in the anniversary of the start of the war, and builds on a long-term 'Corporate Social Responsibility' (CSR) link that the company has with the Royal British Legion.

So is this all about John Lewis?  According to the press, yes.  Sainsbury's learned from John Lewis in 2013 that when you build brand, trust and emotional engagement, this translates into sales.  Sainsbury's shares the same sort of customer demographic as John Lewis, but has been losing market share throughout 2014.  The biggest spender on advertising in 2013 was Tesco, but their sales dropped over the crucial Christmas period.  Sainsbury's will engage with its audience: that's the plan, at least.

The small piece of product placement in the advertisement is a bar of chocolate.  It is available in stores for a modest £1.  The chocolate is made in Ypres, Belgium, the centre of some of the most bloody fighting in WW1.  All profits are being donated to the Royal British Legion which has historically looked after the interests of ex-servicemen.  The gesture looks generous alongside John Lewis's merchandising of Monty the Penguin.  Their £95 replica of Monty sold out in hours, but there was no associated charitable giving.

No doubt this stunning piece of film is going to win Sainsbury's and their creative team some advertising awards.  It is likely to win the hearts and minds of many who watch the advertisement.  The choice of war is a risky one: who wants to be reminded of its horrors?  But, as the press reminds us, supermarkets are engaged in their own battles and this campaign is one that Sainsbury's hope will go their way.

Postscript: in the hour that it has taken to write this post, Sainsburys's advertisement has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube.