U.K. retailer John Lewis, known for its iconic heartwarming Christmas ads, is parting ways with its agency of 14 years, Adam&Eve/DDB. The retailer has called a creative agency review and Adam&Eve has declined to repitch for either the main John Lewis or its Waitrose supermarket accounts.

The news marks the end of an era in U.K. advertising. John Lewis arguably kicked off the tradition of heartwarming holiday ads in the U.K., with its 2011 ad “The Long Wait,” which Ad Age voted its third-best ad of the decade.

The spot set the stage for further John Lewis commercials that have become classics, including “Monty The Penguin,” “Buster the Boxer” and “The Bear and the Hare,” as well as inspiring rival brands to create their own heartwarming holiday fare. Adam&Eve/DDB's campaigns for John Lewis have won multiple awards for both creativity and effectiveness: Monty the Penguin won the Cannes Grand Prix for Effectiveness in 2016.

The 2022 John Lewis offering, “The Beginner,” took a different turn with a more purpose-based approach highlighting foster care; however, it was still widely praised.

The review, which is being handled by the intermediary Oystercatchers, follows swiftly on from management changes at John Lewis. Earlier this month it announced that it was reducing the number of customer directors in its business from three to two, with Customer Director Claire Pointon stepping down after three years leading marketing for the John Lewis brand. Pointon had overseen the recent advertising campaigns. She had taken over from Craig Inglis, the previous marketer who had forged a strong relationship with the ad agency, who departed in 2020.

Pointon was replaced by Charlotte Lock, who took over as customer director in addition to her role as pan-partnership customer director.

Lock said in a statement: “Adam & Eve/DDB’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.”

Campaign reported news of the review earlier on Wednesday.

Adam&Eve/DDB has handled advertising for Waitrose, the John Lewis-owned supermarket chain, since 2015. Waitrose marketing is overseen by Customer Director Nathan Ansell.

“To say we are immensely proud doesn’t begin to capture the feelings we have towards what we have achieved together over the years,” said Tammy Einav, CEO of Adam&Eve/DDB, in a statement. “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.”

Like all department store retailers, John Lewis has suffered from changing retail habits and more recently from inflation and the cost-of-living crisis. It lost £99 million in the first half of 2022 compared to a profit of £69 million the previous year, blaming unprecedented cost inflation. It has yet to announce its full-year 2022 results. 

Revisit 2022's holiday marketing and Christmas campaigns