“In the old days of the Christmas ad, it launched in a big, peak TV moment and was more Super Bowl-esque. It doesn’t work like that anymore,” Lock said, citing factors like declining TV viewing figures, media fragmentation, and the influence of social media.
Last year’s John Lewis Christmas ad received about 100 million views, 50 million of which came from social media before it ever aired on TV, she pointed out.
“Our challenge is to keep the conversation going,” Lock said. “The thing we have to do the most is to be unexpected. Like a movie franchise, if you know what’s coming, it gets boring.”