Creating a unifying brand for John Lewis Partnership, that pays homage to its heritage in haberdashery while reflecting its unique Partnership model; made of many Partners, stronger together.

John Lewis Partnership

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#### In brief
The John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is a stalwart of British retail culture, home to two of the UK’s most beloved retail brands, John Lewis and Waitrose, owned in trust by over 74,000 Partners. 

Despite the advent of e-commerce, raising the bar for customers on price, range and speed, putting brick-and-mortar incumbents under unprecedented levels of pressure, the revolutionary idea upon which John Spedan Lewis formed the partnership nearly 100 years ago has remained a constant: that the business should be owned and run in true partnership by its staff. 

United by a refreshed purpose and this shared responsibility, JLP’s partners have created an industry-leading culture of service, adding unique value to each customer experience, unrivalled by digital disruptors. 

As JLP enters its next phase of evolution to expand and diversify its offer beyond retail, we developed a refreshed brand identity that modernises its strong legacy, expressed JLP’s core pillars of partnership and social purpose, and unifies all its partner brands — driven by its two power brands John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners — to strengthen the emotional connection its its loyal British consumers across its brands and store experiences. 

#### What we did
Our creative strategy was inspired by JLP’s revolutionary business model that is rooted in its Partner-owned structure and provided the foundations for the iconic British brand. As well as reflect the brand’s significant position in society today, as a business committed “to working in partnership for a happier world.”

The visual identity used the ‘Thread’ as a visual representation of the new JLP brand, as it pays homage to John Lewis’ heritage in haberdashery dating back to the 1860s, while being symbolic of the Partnership business model; made of many Partners, stronger together. It reflects the powerful ecosystem of new propositions that consumers can buy across a growing array of touchpoints, all connected by JLP’s commitment to building partnerships founded on human kindness that create a “happier world”.

The iconic 1960s monogram developed by Hans Schleger has been reimagined to reflect the core thread concept running through the identity. The brand also includes guidelines for a refreshed tone of voice which is reflective of its people; being warm, human to the last full stop, and which can be understood by anyone and everyone. 

The visual assets will be used across a range of media including communications, merchandise, internal system branding such as desktops and socials. We developed a toolkit which can be adapted and filtered down through the organisation over time to create a closer association between its existing power brands. 

As JLP seeks to grow awareness of its unique services beyond John Lewis and Waitrose, the new brand identity is a unifying signpost for consumers and audiences. This includes growth plans for its financial services and the recently announced build-to-rent offer, with an increasing focus on the prominence of its JLP brand that will be used to communicate to all its diverse audiences. 

> “The John Lewis Partnership is home to two of the UK’s most loved brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. They’ve risen from a rich heritage steeped in innovative thinking and a desire for a better way of doing business. Today, we’re the UK’s largest employee-owned company with a powerful purpose, “Working in Partnership for a Happier World”. With this refreshed purpose, we needed a strong brand to bring together the threads of our unique story. Working with Design Bridge and Partners, we have looked back through our history to bring back and modernise our brand assets. This has resulted in a brand platform which truly reflects and effectively communicates our purpose and supports the exciting growth plans we have for JLP.”
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> *— Charlotte Lock, Pan-partnership Customer Director at John Lewis Partnership*

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> “Working on the new visual identity for John Lewis Partnership was an exciting challenge — we needed an idea that placed ‘togetherness’ at its heart, and could engage with partners and consumers alike. Leaning into the rich heritage of JLP felt like a natural fit — the reimagining of the monogram works elegantly alongside the thread as a bigger idea that has room to develop as the JLP world grows. Each individual thread representing the partners and the strength they create together was key to creating a simple visual language.”
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> *— Graeme Haig, Senior Creative Director, London*

The John Lewis Partnership is home to two of the UK’s most loved brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. Nearly 100 years since it was formed, the revolutionary idea upon which JLP has been run remains a constant: that it should be owned and run in true partnership by its staff. We developed a refreshed brand identity that threads together its strong legacy, expresses its core pillars of partnership and social purpose and unifies all its partner brands – to reflect its significant position in society today, as a business committed “to working in partnership for a happier world”. 

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Design Bridge and Partners creates a unifying brand for John Lewis Partnership, that pays homage to its heritage in haberdashery while reflecting its unique Partnership model; made of many Partners, stronger together.

Design Bridge and Partners | John Lewis Partnership

Superunion and Design Bridge come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.

Design Bridge and Superunion come together to create Design Bridge and Partners. Redefining what design is and what design can do for brands, businesses, people and the planet. We are a revolutionary design partnership.