John Lewis – Stratford
PR campaign for a flagship store opening
Context and Objectives
Opened in September 2011, John Lewis is the only department store at Westfield Stratford City and the first full line John Lewis shop to open in London in 20 years. LCA was brought in to develop and deliver a PR campaign in the 12 months to store opening and first four months of trading to maximise consumer awareness and drive footfall and sales.
The LCA Role
LCA developed a rolling creative PR programme to reach the shop’s target customer groups and build interest and profile for John Lewis with local media in a part of London not typically seen as their target market. Two months before launch, we organised a highly successful stakeholder event securing the Planning Minister and Mayor of Newham, to cement strong relations with the Council and the local communities and set out the John Lewis approach to local employment and training. Towards the opening and during early trading the campaign focused on promoting new retail concepts, product placements and highlighting the link to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We organised features and photo-calls and reached out across local press, consumer media and key bloggers to secure volume coverage, also utilising bespoke shop experiences for targeted journalists.
Results Delivered
The opening of John Lewis Stratford City was a roaring success. The shop is now firmly established with higher than forecast turnover and the brand values successfully communicated to new target audiences.
