Empty Chair: The Sage Holiday TV Spot (2016)

Inspired by the UK’s beloved annual John Lewis Department Store holiday TV commercials, the first outing of Sage’s Business Builder positioning was a Christmas TV spot produced in a marathon 6 weeks.

In 2016, Sage revealed the new Business Builder brand positioning via TV in the UK with the purpose of celebrating the sacrifices of small business owners, those who make other people’s holidays so special, but sometimes missing out on their own. So whether they are the shopkeeper open late or the accountant closing the end-of-year books, we honor them, the Business Builder, at this holiday time, by making sure they have the right financials software to run their shops, close their books, get employees paid on time, and head home. In other words, we are there for those who are there for us.

Executionally, this was an exciting opportunity to pull together all the heartstring tugging visuals of the holiday season, layered beneath a snowy, wintery Christmas Eve setting. And like a great John Lewis Department Store tv spot, we cast about for the the most soulful rendition of a classic Christmas carol, eventually recording our own, to frame our bittersweet story of longing.