- Partnering together for a family focused campaign ahead of the release of Paddington 2
- In a first for M&S, the advert has also been turned into a storybook with all profits being donated to the NSPCC
London, 2017-Nov-08 — /EPR Retail News/ — This festive season, M&S has teamed up with a treasured British icon to create a truly special Christmas – as Paddington is unveiled as the star of Marks & Spencer’s Campaign for 2017, which will launch with the hashtag, #LoveTheBear.
The timely tie up follows the star-studded World Premiere of STUDIOCANAL and Heyday Film’s Paddington 2 this past weekend, with the family film going on general release this Friday (10th November).
The advert ‘Paddington and the Christmas Visitor’, created by Grey London, which airs today (Tuesday 7th November) is a festive, family focused tale that tells the story of how everyone’s favourite bear, Paddington, unknowingly saves Christmas for his friends and neighbours.
It’s Christmas Eve at Windsor Gardens and Paddington is fast asleep. However, his dreams of marmalade are interrupted by a loud thud on the roof. Upon investigation, he stumbles upon a burglar and despite the burglar’s protests that he is “not Santa” the determined and good-natured bear begins to ‘help’ him deliver the presents back to where they belong. Seeing the good in everyone, Paddington innocently helps the burglar see the error of his ways and as they place presents into personalised stockings and pause for mince pies, he unknowingly averts a crisis and ensures a truly special moment for neighbour Alice, and a happy Christmas for all.
In a first for M&S, the heart-warming story of the advert has been turned into a children’s Christmas storybook available in stores and online for £3. All profits will be donated to the NSPCC to help fund its vital Childline service over the Christmas season. To launch the book, M&S will also host a series of book readings for children at stores around the UK – starting at its flagship Marble Arch store on Friday (10th November).
The campaign retains the philosophy of M&S’ ‘Spend it Well’ brand platform launched earlier this year – encouraging customers to focus on the people, experiences and things that matter to them most, something that is never more important than at Christmas.
Paddington, who is named after the famous area of London where M&S is also based, will take a lead role in helping the retailer create a series of special moments for its customers and the communities it serves through partnership activity.
Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, Executive Director of Customer, Marketing & M&S.com said: “At M&S our customers are at the heart of everything we do and we know they love the magic of Christmas, most of all spending time with family and friends. Paddington has enchanted children and families all over the world for nearly 60 years which is why we couldn’t turn down the chance to bring the wonderfully endearing, much-loved British character and his world into the heart of our Christmas campaign this year. We always want to surprise and delight our customers; the timing is perfect as we’re partnering together just ahead of the release of Paddington 2.”
Rob Weston, Brand & Marketing Director at M&S said: “Paddington injects the sense of joy, love and neighbourly spirit that makes Christmas feel magical and our story reflects the inclusive, make the most of every moment approach that we take to our customer conversations.”
Partnership Activity
Cinema
M&S’ media partner, Mindshare, have worked with Digital Cinema Media to ensure the 90 second advert is shown before the start of every screening of Paddington 2. M&S is also running dedicated screenings of the film for Sparks members and their children, as well as in the ten communities it’s supporting through Plan A 2025.
In-store
For the first time M&S will host a dedicated campaign shop to support its Christmas advertising campaign. Bespoke signage will lead customers to The Paddington Shop – housing over 90 themed products, the majority in kidswear, and of course Paddington’s favourite marmalade will be available in M&S Foodhalls. In another first, the iconic bear will be the first ever film character to star in the M&S Christmas windows.
In to December, M&S’ team of in-store ‘Moment Makers’ will be surprising and delighting customers with Paddington-themed ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ – from a free marmalade sandwich in the café, to a cheeky Paddington chocolate at the till.
Online and Social
The retailer will bring Paddington’s iconic character to life for customers in a fully integrated cross channel campaign. The much-loved bear will take part in his first ever interview for M&S’ content hub Style & Living and there’ll be downloadable festive marmalade recipes suitable for all the family. Underpinning the entire campaign will be social support encouraging customers to #LoveTheBear.
Further Quotes
Dame Esther Rantzen, founder of the NSPCC’s Childline said, “Christmas is an exciting time of year, but for some vulnerable children and young people it can be very difficult which is why Childline is there for them 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. This, of course, requires a great deal of funding, which is why we’re delighted to be partnering with M&S and Paddington to support the Childline service and raise awareness of the work we do. At only £3, with all profits going to the NSPCC, the book is excellent value for money and the perfect Christmas gift.”
Vicki Maguire, Chief Creative Officer at Grey London said, “Two British icons coming together in a story of heart-felt redemption, at a magical time of year, is the brief that dreams are made of. Customer expectations for Christmas campaigns are always high, and for M&S this has never been truer than now following the positive response to ‘Spend it Well’. We cannot wait to see and hear the reaction as we spread the love, goodwill and marmalade this Christmas.”
Detail on M&S’s Christmas Campaign
The M&S and Paddington partnership is a fully integrated campaign, key activity is outlined below and will be supported by the hashtag, #LoveTheBear.
From Tuesday 7th November
- TV advertisement launches on TV and social media
- Over 90 Paddington products in-store and online including the story of the advert ‘Paddington and the Christmas Visitor’ (£3) with all profits to NSPCC
- A dedicated Paddington Shop in 78 M&S stores including selfie stations
- Localised emails to customers to share the Paddington advert
- Paddington windows in every M&S store
From Thursday 9th November
- Private screenings of Paddington 2 for Sparks members and in M&S’s Plan A communities
From Friday 10th November
- Digital Cinema Media to show the 90 second advert before the start of every screening of the family film
- Official launch of the charity book at M&S Marble Arch
- Book readings at selected stores across the UK
From December
- Paddington themed ‘Random Acts of Kindness’
Further Detail on ‘Paddington and the Christmas Visitor’
- Versions There are three versions of the advert (90”, 60” and 30”) to be played on television, social, in cinemas and on M&S’s own channels. There is also extra content for YouTube.
- Advert Creative Team: ‘Paddington and The Christmas Visitor’ was created by Vicki Maguire (Grey London). Creative Directors: Jonathan Marlow, Henrik Ridderheim (Grey London), Art Director: Sam Daly (Grey London), Copywriter: Robert Greaves (Grey London), Writer: Simon Farnaby, Senior Producer: Thea Evely (Grey London), Assistant Producer: Serena Hodgson (Grey London), Assistant Producer: Leah Stolerman (Grey London), Group Business Director: Katie Jackson (Grey London), Business Director: Lucy Kozak (Grey London), Account Director: Sophie Mattacott-Cousins (Grey London), Account Manager: Hannah Austin (Grey London), Account Executive: Alice Lowden (Grey London), Planning Partner: Jonny Ng (Grey London), Senior Planner: Sarah Oberman (Grey London) Director: Daniel Kleinman (Rattling Stick), Producer: Johnnie Frankel (Rattling Stick), Editor: John Smith @ The Whitehouse, Music: Wake the Town, Composer: Alex Baranowski, Post Production: Framestore, VFX Producer: Chris Gray, VFX Supervisor: Ben Cronin, VFX Supervisor: Jordi Bares Dominguez, Sound: Wave, Sound Engineer: Jack Sedgwick
- Advert Cast: Ben Whishaw (voice of Paddington), Mark Benton (burglar), Olivia Dixon (Alice), Mikey Dixon (Brother), Olivia Lee (Mum), Denver Isaac (Dad), Angela Rippon (Newsreader)
- Book Creative Team: ‘Paddington and The Christmas Visitor’ was written by Timothy Knapman and illustrated by Becky Cameron (original story written by Grey London with Simon Farnaby)
Detail on Paddington 2
The much-anticipated sequel to the worldwide hit family film finds Paddington happily settled with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens, where he has become a popular member of the community, spreading joy and marmalade wherever he goes. While searching for the perfect present for his beloved Aunt Lucy’s 100th birthday, Paddington spots a unique pop-up book in Mr. Gruber’s antique shop, and embarks upon a series of odd jobs to buy it. But when the book is stolen, it’s up to Paddington and the Browns to unmask the thief…
A Heyday Films and STUDIOCANAL production, Paddington’s return to the big screen is helmed by BAFTA nominated director Paul King (PADDINGTON, COME FLY WITH ME, THE MIGHTY BOOSH) written by Paul King and Simon Farnaby (PADDINGTON, YONDERLAND and MINDHORN).
Materials are available at www.studiocanal.co.uk/press
For more information about the film visit:
www.paddington.com
https://www.facebook.com/PaddingtonBear/
https://www.instagram.com/paddingtonbear/
#Paddington2
Detail on Paddington
For almost 60 years, British-born writer Michael Bond has been entertaining children and families all over the world with his stories about Paddington, the bear from Darkest Peru famous for his love of marmalade. Since the first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was published by HarperCollins in 1958, a further 14 full-length novels and countless other formats have been published. Paddington’s adventures have been adapted several times for television and at the end of 2014 Paddington made his debut onto the big screen in a film produced by STUDIOCANAL, a Vivendi company. A second Paddington movie, also produced by STUDIOCANAL, Paddington 2, is set to launch globally on November 10th
In recognition of Paddington’s extraordinary popularity and success, Michael Bond was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from the Queen for services to children’s literature in 1997 and a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2015.
Today, there are over 150 book titles available in 40 languages and in more than 100 countries, book sales are in excess of 35 million. The PADDINGTON DVD released in 2015 was the fastest and strongest selling DVD of 2015 in the UK. Paddington has a growing online presence with over 600 thousand Facebook fans and over 20 thousand Twitter followers.
ABOUT STUDIOCANAL
STUDIOCANAL, a 100% affiliate of Vivendi’s CANAL+ Group, is Europe’s leader in production, right acquisition, distribution and international sales of feature films and TV series, operating directly in all three major European markets, France, the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
STUDIOCANAL owns one of the most important film libraries in the world, boasting 6,500 feature films, including the iconic Terminator 2, Breathless, Mulholland Drive and Belle de jour.
STUDIOCANAL has fully-financed recent box office hits like Paddington, Shaun the Sheep Movie and Non-Stop. Upcoming films backed by STUDIOCANAL include The Commuter featuring Liam Neeson, the highly-anticipated Paddington 2 by Paul King, and Aardman Studios’ stop-motion movies Early Man by Nick Park and Shaun the Sheep Movie 2.
STUDIOCANAL is actively developing and distributing high-end TV series through its network of award-winning European production companies, including Tandem Productions in Germany (Crossing Lines, Spotless), the UK’s RED Production Company (The Five, Happy Valley), Scandinavia’s SAM created by Soren Sveistrup and Adam Price (Borgen, The Killing), and Spain’s BAMBÚ PRODUCCIONES (Grand Hotel, Velvet). STUDIOCANAL has also stakes in the UK’s SunnyMarch TV, created by Benedict Cumberbatch, Urban Myth Films and Guilty Party.
Source: Marks & Spencer