John Lewis takes aim at Debenhams with Alice Temperley push

The retailer is running a £2m multichannel campaign for its 'Somerset by Alice Temperley' range from today (3 September), to raise awareness of tomorrow’s launch of the exclusive collection. 

The collection marks the first time Alice Temperley has designed a collection for the UK high street and comes as John Lewis increasingly pushes its designer credentials. 

Marketing activity comes a week after Debenhams launched the latest instalment of its Life Made Fabulous campaign, which draws attention to the brand's designer-focused credentials. 

Creative from the John Lewis campaign was shot by fashion photographer Tom Craig and stars UK model Lily Donaldson. It will run in magazines, national press, outdoor and in-store. 

John Lewis has also created a 90-second film for the collection that will be seeded through social media and has been made compatible for the iPad and mobile phones. 

The campaign was created by Adam & Eve DDB, with media planning and buying by Manning Gottlieb OMD. 

John Lewis' flagship store in Oxford Street, London, is opening an hour early, at 8.30am tomorrow, to mark the launch of the collection, while the first 500 members of the John Lewis rewards programme who spend £50 or more on the collection will receive a limited-edition scarf designed by Alice Temperley. 

Meanwhile, the retailer will spend £1m on a campaign to support its biggest private label brand ‘House by John Lewis’, which includes 600 "affordable" products for the home. 

The activity will push John Lewis as a destination for "great design" and feature press, outdoor, digital, direct mail and in-store activity alongside a 16-page catalogue being carried in Stylist magazine.

Craig Inglis, marketing director at John Lewis, said: "The launch of Somerset and House marks a seminal moment for the John Lewis brand and these campaigns celebrate the strength of the collections through stunning creative work and innovative use of media."

The news comes on the same day Debenhams announced it was aiming to take on John Lewis, M&S and Next by doubling its furniture business by 2013. 

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This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk