The John Lewis Partnership has kicked off the search for a new creative partner as part of a wider revamp of its marketing strategy.
It’s the first time the partnership has held a creative review for the John Lewis business in 14 years, and the first for in eight years for Waitrose. The retailer is inviting pitches from February and hopes to appoint a new partner by late spring.
Both accounts are currently held by the London-based agency Adam&EveDDB, which has also been invited to join the process.
“Adam&EveDDB’s expertise and dedication to our two brands has played a prominent role in the popularity of many of our campaigns and communicating what we value to our customers, but like all businesses it’s important we review our supplier relationships, including those we have with our key agency partners,” said Charlotte Lock, customer director for John Lewis and pan-partnership.
JLP is working with the marketing consultancy Oystercatchers on the selection process. It is not reviewing its JLP’s media agency partnership – which is currently with Manning Gottlieb OMD – nor its content production partnership.
Adam&EveDDB has been involved in several high-profile marketing campaigns since taking over the Waitrose account in 2015. Including a pivotal role in the supermarket’s major brand refresh in September 2022, aimed at showcasing Waitrose’s sourcing and quality credentials.
“The launch of the new Waitrose brand promise, ‘Food to Feel Good About’, highlighted Adam&EveDDB’s understanding of what matters to us and our customers – and how to celebrate that through our advertising,” said Waitrose customer director Nathan Ansell.
Ansell, who joined Waitrose in November, said that while the agency had been influential, now was the right time to reassess the business’s agency support.
Tammy Einav, chief executive of adam&eveDDB said: “To say we are immensely proud doesn’t begin to capture the feelings we have towards what we have achieved together over the years. We are therefore saddened that the team at John Lewis Partnership have decided to call a pitch. Whilst we appreciate being invited, we have made the extremely difficult decision not to re-pitch.
“We shall always be grateful for the opportunity to create work that has been so loved. We will continue to support Charlotte, Nathan and the team throughout this process and wish them all the very best for the next chapter.”
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