Thank You John Lewis

For all you ad critics out there, which encompasses just about anyone who sees or watches an ad, please have some sympathy. For those of us in the business, it really isn’t that easy to create a mediocre or even good ad. Creating a great ad is nearly impossible.

You see, it isn’t just one person with an idea. The ‘committee’ consists of a team of people with various opinions, from account execs, account planners, copywriters, creative directors – not to mention the clients – whose opinions matter the most because they are paying the bills. Few people in the process can push through something that is memorable, and for that matter, great. Typically, the fallback strategy is humor which can usually pacify just about everyone on the team if done right. But that is always the easy way out.

The other end of the spectrum is creating something that really touches your heart and draws you to the brand, not the ad. There have been endless studies of ads that stand out but the brand remains elusive, forgettable. But those ads that draw you in and capture a piece of you, they are truly the remarkable ones.

Take for instance this ad for the British company, John Lewis. You can’t not like this ad. I can understand why some may think it a bit sappy, but I’ll take sap with a meaningful and memorable storyline over some fast food crap commercial with teenage humor and fake food shots any day of the week.

Enjoy…