Waitrose to launch Christmas ad featuring soundtrack sung by the public
This weekend Waitrose will launch its long-awaited Christmas TV advert that features a soundtrack sung by members of the public.
Rather than use a high profile star, the supermarket decided that an employee should play a lead role in this year’s advert, which focuses solely on the Waitrose brand. Launching in the evening of Sunday 9 November, it will aim to convey how the supermarket is owned by its employees and how this has a direct impact on the service and care that customers receive.
In October, the supermarket launched its ‘Donate Your Voice’ campaign urging singers across the UK to sing the soundtrack for the advert. In an advertising first, music producer David Kosten has mixed the recordings from the public to create a virtual choir.
The choral version of the song, made up of the public’s voices, is the official soundtrack for the advert, but is also available to download as a single from 9 November – with 100% of the profits going to charity. The song for the soundtrack is Dolly Parton’s hit ‘Try’ taken from her latest album.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Rupert Thomas, Waitrose marketing director, said: “Because our Partners own the business, they are motivated to go that little bit further for customers – and that’s what we want to portray in this advert. The extra dimension of the soundtrack means customers can also give something back. When they donated their voice, they also had a chance to support three worthy charities who will be receiving the profits from the song when it goes on sale as the ad airs.”
When members of the public donated their voice online, they were asked to put a virtual green token in a box to support one of the three charities involved, Age UK, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and The Trussell Trust. It worked in the same way the ‘Community Matters’ scheme works in Waitrose stores, with the votes of those donating their voices determining how much goes to each charity.
The advert’s story focuses on a little girl trying to make gingerbread biscuits for her school fayre, and after disastrous attempts, she goes to Waitrose for advice. After successfully making the biscuits, she sells them all but saves one back for the Waitrose partner. The campaign line running through all of the advertising is ‘When you own something, you care a little more. Everyone who works at Waitrose owns Waitrose, so they care more.’
The Waitrose partner in the advert is 25 year old Adejumoke Sanusi who works at the Canary Wharf Waitrose. Known to her colleagues at Waitrose as ‘Jummy’, Sanusi has worked for Waitrose for a year.
The creative was produced by BBH with direction from Tom Tagholm.
