Macy's: Using Compelling Storytelling as Marketing

 Joe Polizzi from content matching site, Junta42,  recently said that in order to successfully compete in today's marketplace you need one of two essentials:

1) Manufacture a killer product (think: Apple and Google)

OR

2) Have a compelling story [and tell it well] (think: Procter & Gamble, Starbucks and General Mills).

A great example of compelling storytelling is Macy's and their campaigns full of "stories." Think about it - Macy's merchandise is mostly not exclusive and can be found elsewhere: online, individual shops, malls, etc. Why people go to Macys? The main reason is, that "magical experience" when you go into any store: the displays, the window arrangements, the background music, the all-black sales with perfume samples, etc. Add to this all the other "magic moments" "brought by Macys:" 4th of July NYC fireworks (which welcomed me to NYC last year as I arrived to the city from Miami the day before), Thanksgiving Day Parade (which I've watched in TV for most of my life with my family when I go for thanksgiving to Puerto Rico) and the now-annual "magical" Christmas campaign "BELIEVE" (which funny enough is the word tattooed in my left wrist). VERY magical.



 This time, Macy's 2010 Fall campaign "Find your Magic" or "Encuentra tu Magia" in Spanish have included  "magical" elements include: dedicated microsite for consumers (www.macys.com/findyourmagic) that offers Fall fashion trends, multimedia and fashion challenges, press release, TV commercial, pictures of their celebrity designers, giftcard online giveaways and in-store fashion events. They have also posted the TV commercial and shared campaign updates and promotions via their social media properties:

- http://www.youtube.com/Macys
- http://www.twitter.com/macysinc
- http://www.facebook.com/macys

Our goal, as marketers is for consumers to interact with brands that they will buy - and continue buying; While in today's Information Age, consumers want to interact with content that is relevant to them. So the holy grail for marketers then should be create relevant content that can be leveraged in order to create demand, awareness and interest to our brands. Macy's has done just that with "Find your Magic" - content that is engaging and most importantly, relevant to their core brand AND that of their consumers: cherishing magical moments.                 

TV commercial that is currently currently played in English and Spanish, which features celebrity designers P. Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Martha Stewart, Rachel Roy, Tommy Hilfiger and Donald Trump