Sofa retailer DFS has continued its march down the emotional road after its first foray away from price-led advertising earlier this year.
The 90-second TV advertisement shows a young boy as he goes through his day, usually in the shadow of his elder brother.
It reflects the recent trend for retailers to choose a more brand-led, emotional approach, and if there’s one criticism to be made, it is that it isn’t enough of a departure from similar, earlier efforts by retailers including John Lewis and Halfords.
The idea is for the story to engage viewers and enable them to relate to the situation, and in a broad sense it works.
But throughout the ad it is not quite clear whether the boy is just having a bad day, or whether the brothers’ relationship is meant to be the focal point, and the viewer is left waiting until the end for clarity.
This lack of clarity is quite different to a John Lewis-style plot twist – such as the moment we realise the boy was waiting
to give rather than receive presents – and there is added guesswork for viewers in that there is no indication of who the retailer is until the very end, when the boy finally sits on a sofa.
It could be argued that all of this will keep the viewer guessing and interested until the ad’s conclusion. However, 90 seconds is a long time to wait for the end of an advert if a certain sense of confusion means that you are not gripped from the beginning.
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