John Lewis retains ‘Brand of the Year’ accolade for second year

John Lewis has won The Marketing Society's Brand of the Year accolade for a second year in a row.
The retailer was chosen to receive the award by more than 21,000 marketers and members of the public from a shortlist of four other finalists.

It comes as this year's much-lauded John Lewis Christmas campaign notched up more than 3m views on YouTube following its launch three weeks ago. John Lewis said that response to it had exceeded all its expectations.

The Marketing Society said the achievement was down to the fact that the department store retailer consistently came up with innovative ideas that grabbed the public's imagination.

Meanwhile, kitchen mixers are proving to be a highlight of Christmas trading at John Lewis. It said that many customers were baking ahead of Christmas Day, evidenced by the strong sales of mixers in the four days to the end of Wednesday November 30, up 35% on the same time last year.

Overall, sales during the period grew 10.5%. "The strong figures are up against weaker comparatives as the heavy snow this time last year began to impact parts of the UK," said director of selling operations Nat Wakely. "Nonetheless, good performances from home, gifting, fashion and beauty this week indicate that customers are well in the mood for Christmas at the start of December."

Other top homewares performers over that time were pillows, chairs, stools and candles, sales of which "soared", according to the retailer. Sales were up 18% on last year and 35% on the previous week, with one candle selling every 20 seconds and classic red proving the most popular colour.

Source : HousewaresLive.net
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