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Library/Campaign/John Lewis: The Long Wait
Grade B19 sourcesHIS-01669

John Lewis: The Long Wait

Campaign · 2011 · Notable

47Editable slideCertificate

John Lewis's Christmas gift story drew 8.3 million YouTube views in a later report.

Original · John Lewis / Adam & Eve / Dougal Wilson
Clip · Blink on Vimeo
John Lewis' TV ad song twinkles in this week's Official Chart Update
Official Charts

Spread Score

How it works
ReachNo data yetContagion45Breadth60Velocity65Longevity1547

Numbers

Milestone date
Week of Nov 18, 2011
Nov 11 ’11 to Week of Nov 18, 2011
Platforms
7
Started on YouTube
Origin
Mixed
Retail

Mechanics

  • Response chain
  • Controversy
  • Platform jump
  • Press loopPrimary
  • Pairing

How it spread

Trace the origin

John Lewis released The Long Wait online before its paid TV debut. Twitter discussion, horror recuts and press coverage followed. The soundtrack charted and sold 86,000 UK copies by the next year; later coverage described a Christmas-ad formula copied by retailers.

Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Google searchesJun ’11OctDecMay ’12NovApr ’13OctJun ’15May ’17Apr ’19Mar ’21Apr ’22MilestoneYouTubeTVPressOpen webAudioXRetail
YouTubeTVPressOpen webAudioXRetail

13 more events on this chart

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Timeline (16)

  1. November 2011

    John Lewis seed · Nov 11 ’11

    John Lewis released the boy's Christmas gift story online before its television debut.[1][2][3][4]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. John Lewis / ITV1 platform jump · Nov 12 ’11

    The paid television campaign first aired during The X Factor on Saturday night.[1][2]

  3. The Independent press · Nov 14 ’11

    The Independent reported 400,000 YouTube views in two days and a weekly increase in retailer sales.[1]

  1. platform jump · Nov 14 ’11

  2. platform jump · Nov 16 ’11

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Why it worked

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Origin
Mixed
Sector
Retail
Region
GB
Reported figure
—
Evidence
Grade B

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