ndm article

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/06/john-lewis-unveils-christmas-ad-starring-monty-the-penguin

John Lewis unveils Christmas ad starring Monty the penguin



This article is about how the John Lewis Christmas advert has become very popular and will be an on going feature of the store every year. The advert cost £1 million to make and the campaign is running for £7 million. It has now become one of the biggest media events of the year. After last years success of the advert gaining 10 million views on YouTube, this year it will be shared all over social media.

• Social media is now a central part of most retailers’ ad campaigns. Rival department store Debenhams, which unveiled an ad last week.
• Last year Marks & Spencer allowed viewers to vote on the name of the dog in its Christmas ad via social media, while Burberry, which is running its first ever Christmas TV ad this year, is simultaneously streaming it via 10 social media platforms including Tumblr and YouTube.
• Street said last month that John Lewis wanted to avoid over-hyping this year’s ad because it believed last year’s launch, which included a glitzy premiere at a London hotel, had irritated some customers.
• How the penguin was created:

It may look real enough to get animal lovers calling the RSPCA but it’s pixels not feathers that make up the penguin in John Lewis’s Christmas ad. Post production house MPC, the group behind CGI animations in Planet of the Apes, World War Z and the First Direct Platypus, created the penguin by mapping the movement of Adélie penguins in the wild.
Film of a penguin building its nest, for example, was used to help create the animation of Monty the penguin playing with Lego. The shot of a penguin peeking from behind a tree was rather more easily created, however – with the aid of a model penguin moved by a member of the crew.

In my opinion the advert is a really good way to entice viewers to visit the Christmassy store and get individuals in the Christmas spirit. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook are a clever way to get consumers to share the advert and talk about it using UGC and increase the views from last year.