Second ad causing some upset today…..Dixons.
The online electricals retailer has launched a series of ads on the London Underground which use the signature colour and font of rival electrical goods department store retailer John Lewis. The copy states: “Step into middle England’s best loved department store, stroll through haberdashery to the audiovisual department where an awfully well brought up young man will bend over backwards to find the right TV for you.”
It then says: “Then go to Dixons.co.uk – the last place you want to go,” using Dixons’ red and white font.
It’s an interesting idea. It calls up several prejudices and brand perceptions at once:
1. That John Lewis offers great customer service.
2. That Dixons doesn’t offer great customer service.
3. That Dixons online is cheaper than John Lewis offline (the famous “never knowingly undersold” promise from JL only applies offline).
4. That in a recession, smart shoppers do their research and then choose the cheapest option at the end of the process.
5. That Dixons is embracing competitor advertising with gusto.
Hm. Good campaign?
I’m not sure that comparative advertising is always a good idea, particularly if it suggests another brand’s customer service is better than yours. Sure, it makes you think that Dixons is cheap but given how often electrical items need some sort of aftercare, it also suggests that you might be better off with John Lewis. It rams home the message on value, but perhaps at the expense of the online retailer’s brand. And it reminds me – when viewing a Dixons ad – that JL will give me good service, which probably isn’t the intention.
What’s your view?
UPDATE: Here’s another Dixons ad that references department store Selfridges.
September 21, 2009 at 1:59 pm |
Completely agree with you, Ruth. And ‘an awfully well brought up young man’ is a) not always accurate and b) patronising. Thumbs down from me.
September 21, 2009 at 10:26 pm |
[...] folk at M&C Saatchi and Creative Review err reviewed the creative. Ruth Mortimer then had a wee pop at the strategy and today it got a bit of coverage in the [...]
September 23, 2009 at 9:05 am |
[...] and ‘Pierre’ at Harrods are an inspired touch of copywriting. However, the campaign seems to have attracted criticism focused on the John Lewis version of the advert, with John Lewis themselves questioning why you [...]
September 28, 2009 at 11:24 am |
Like others I think it’s an extremely risky strategy.
I can see the truth in the fact that people will browse and browse at stores before going home and logging in. But it also makes John Lewis seem like an jolly nice place to visit, and could drive people in store – even out of plain curiosity. If John Lewis are smart enough they could turn the extra footfall into sales. And Dixons could be the losers big time. Particularly as JL also have a low price guarantee.
September 28, 2009 at 12:06 pm |
like: understanding savvy shoppers, the cheeky tone, the original way of promoting low-price.
not sure about: the long term effect of this campaign. (I agree with you ruth, especially with medium/large elec goods, aftercare is an important decision-making factor.) It would be dangerous to be associated with “cheap electronic goods supplier”, how do you come back from that?
September 28, 2009 at 1:21 pm |
Bold, but seems very risky – researching electricals on the high street and then purchasing online isn’t exactly new, but if you’re going to purchase online to get a better deal, why would you go to Dixons unless they’re the cheapest? And given that Dixons are spanking £££ on an ad campaign, I’d imagine their overheads mean they probably can’t beat the more nimble online retailers on price – so seems a route potentially fraught with danger. If you’re trying to compete on price, can you really deliver on that?
September 28, 2009 at 10:09 pm |
John Lewis, Harrods and Selfridges should be rubbing their hands in glee that someone else has given them so much free publicity. I’m sure that they will have checked Dixons prices out and trained their staff to convert all those people doing their research in their stores at Dixons’ invitation. I’ve got a post on this article on my blog at http://thetrainingpack.wordpress.com/2009/09/23/is-this-the-last-place-you-want-to-go-to/ with a poll inviting people to vote on whether this campaign would drive them to Dixons website and so far it is 100% no. This risky strategy could backfire.
October 4, 2009 at 8:58 pm |
just checked your blog glendams. seems you havnt checked it yourself recently! your readers poll is 63% saying YES.
October 5, 2009 at 5:03 pm
True the vote has swung in favour of Dixons since I wrote my comment. I’m leaving the poll open for another week so we’ll see what happens.I’d love to know what’s happening to their sales!
September 28, 2009 at 10:23 pm |
Bold, yes. And very good.
Cringe-worthy copy aside, the ads cleverly suggest the choice variance. Even if Dixons are unprepared to compete with other online offerings (which they have to be, if they boldly match prices online.) they are probably going for the very audience that is reassessing (and considering the economic climate, reassessing they are) the value of high street department stores.
Which leads me to a second observation. What if they are in fact suggesting that Selfridges’ customer service is better than theirs? Everybody is aware of how department stores work, as they surely are of the limitations of online customer service… So why dress up the facts? I am also pretty sure that JL’s price guarantee does not stretch far enough…
People are smart, and will certainly respond well to an ad that acknowledges the time they invest in evaluating their options. Fair play to Dixons and M&C.
September 29, 2009 at 8:04 am |
[...] Posted in Uncategorized by matt on September 29, 2009 … in this ad – read about it in this branding blog. Dixons vs John Lewis leave a comment « [...]
September 29, 2009 at 6:10 pm |
Once the intelligent shopper has visited John Lewis and realsied there they will also get a 5yr guarantee; Dixons.co.uk will indeed be the last place they want to go!
September 30, 2009 at 4:14 pm |
Its a brave ad, bold and I really like it, the chap responsible for the ad worked at John Lewis, so makes it even more funny!
October 13, 2009 at 2:17 pm |
These type of ads always draw criticism (see the Argos ‘Crazy Wrapping’ ad) from last Christmas, but are actually a pretty good bet.
None of the shrill voices complaining that Dixons is associating itself with poor customer service would seriously think that online customer service is likely to be as good in customer service in John Lewis/Selfridges, so why fight them on that territory? There would only be one winner.
Instead, this ad lasers in on Dixons core market, as well as try to attract those who may be reassessing their priorities in a recession. The kind of people that would like to have lavish customer service, and a fantastic retail experience, but are damn sure they don’t want to pay for it.