Dixons has initiated a marketing campaign that plays on its reputation for poor customer service and low prices.

According to Marketing Week, Dixons is positioning itself as a polar opposite of John Lewis with an ad that seems to make light of the department stores middle class approach.

A series of posters on the London Underground reads: “Step into middle England’s best loved department store, stroll through haberdashery to the audiovisual department where an awfully well brought up young man will bend over backwards to find the right TV for you – then go to Dixons.co.uk and buy it.”

According to DSGi’s marketing director Niall O’Keefe, the campaign addresses the fact that many customers do a considerable amount of online research on pricing before making a purchase.

“This campaign addresses that head-on and says, feel free to do your research, but make Dixons.co.uk your last port of call as here you will find all your technology needs and at low prices,” said O’Keefe.

John Lewis, however, appears to be fairly relaxed about this new approach from one of its rivals.

“Our customers value service above anything else,” said John Lewis’ head of brand communication Craig Inglis. “Whilst we wouldn’t normally comment on competitor advertising, we do find it a bit odd that another business would try to make a virtue of the fact that they don’t have anything like a comparable service.”