Store gallery: John Lewis debuts experiential summer campaign 'National Treasures'

To call something a national treasure is to signal an undisputed agreement that the thing in question has been tried, tested and is almost universally admired.

From fish and chips to ice-cream vans dishing out 99s, there are things that most people would regard as an integral part of being British and a fair number of them would fall under this label.

With this in mind, John Lewis launched ‘National Treasures’ last week across all 48 of its stores.

The aim is simple. As John Lewis director of customer experience, Peter Cross, says: “People know us and want to be part of our Christmas campaigns and this is about making this the case during the rest of the year.”

A British summer

According to Cross, the move is a visual merchandising step-up for the department store and, standing outside the windows on launch day, what was most apparent was the lack of product being merchandised.

Instead, the overwhelming majority of the displays were scenes featuring 2D cartoon-style figures that have been animated.

The result is a long frontage with scenes showing people queuing up for the eponymous 99s in front of a pier, as white clouds scud across an otherwise blue sky.

“The overall the message of each is simple and easily understood – this is what a British summer is all about”

Another window has assorted tea-drinkers forming a vista entitled ’All you need is tea’.

The overall the message of each is simple and easily understood – this is what a British summer is all about.

There is also the matter of an animated picture on the wall of the Queen with swiveling eyes, and dogs (moon)walking in the park that raise a smile.

Head indoors and wherever the shopper looks there are more cartoon figures, all of them the work of British illustrator Paul Thurlby. In the main atrium, at the front of the shop, a crowd is suspended in the void.

Elsewhere, figures are positioned around the various departments on each floor and wallpaper has been applied to the columns closest to the escalators, picking up on the ‘National Treasures’ theme.

“There is a sense of British resignation, compromise and uncomplaining enjoyment about many of the scenes depicted across the store”

A sign observes that “There’s nothing quite like summer” and on the day of visiting it was nothing like summer as a chill north-easterly kept the mercury at around 9C with May just around the corner.

That, however, is rather the point of this promotion. There is a sense of British resignation, compromise and uncomplaining enjoyment about many of the scenes depicted across the store – the sentiment “Mustn’t grumble” would most definitely apply.

All of which is in keeping with what being British is all about and anyone native to these isles visiting a John Lewis store until August 20 will recognise what is being done.

And there will also be a shared understanding that we are ‘All in this together’ (perhaps John Lewis might have taught a thing or two to the originator of that phrase, former Chancellor George Osborne), which offers a feeling of group unity.

‘Creating a moment’

Head of store design, Kim Morris, sums things up: “This is about creating a moment and a reason why customers might want to come into our shops. A part of it, of course, is about being able to talk about products, but it’s also a great banner for us to put together all of the experiences that we share and which can be found in our stores.”

She adds: “Increasingly, we have to find reasons to bring shoppers into our shops”, an observation that chimes, given John Lewis’ online ambitions.

The final point is waiting on the roof of the store, where shoppers will have the chance to cool down with a drink and admire the view from the surroundings of a garden that has been created for the promotion.

This is the handiwork of the John Lewis Gardening Society and is about that most British of expressions, taking a ‘breather’, or perhaps ‘taking the weight off your feet’.

A programme of in-store events, 2,000 of them during the course of the promotion across all stores, is intended to keep shoppers engaged with the whole process and to get ‘buy-in’ in the same manner as happens with the retailer’s Christmas windows.

John Lewis is a more integrated organisation these days and for those without the time to head off to the nearest branch, a savour of what’s happening can be found online at johnlewis.com/nationaltreasures, but this is second best.

For the next few months, as far as this campaign is concerned, the store is the star.