For retailers looking to claim their share of more than $1.5 trillion in expected holiday retail sales, the next few weeks represent the most wonderful time of the year. That is certainly true for Macy’s as it attempts to finish 2024 strong and get back on track amid declining sales and a failed takeover attempt.
To celebrate the season, Macy’s last month kicked off a holiday campaign that anthropomorphizes its annual gift guide as a human Gift Guide. The expert curator role is played by actor Alison Brie (“GLOW,” “Community”) in a series of ads airing across TV, digital and social channels, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
“From a consumer standpoint, these beginnings of the seasons represent so much hope and excitement, but they're also pretty stressful,” said CMO Sharon Otterman. “Since we are known for our humanity and relatability, why not make it a gift guide in terms of a person versus just a paper form to really be able to bring it to life?”
The holiday campaign and the retailer’s iconic Thanksgiving Day parade are the first under Otterman, who joined Macy’s nearly a year ago after stints at Caesars Entertainment, the Madison Square Garden Company and NBCUniversal’s news division.
Marketing Dive spoke with the executive about the how this year’s holiday season is different than previous ones, how the retailer is working to engage with consumers and what’s on her marketing watch list for 2025.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
MARKETING DIVE: What were you were looking for in a brand ambassador to bring the holiday campaign to life?
SHARON OTTERMAN: The excitement that Allison Brie represents in terms of the Gift Guide, but also the relatability, was very important for us. Every spot has that moment where we break that fourth wall, turn to the camera and relate how we really feel. I think we've all had that feeling of wanting the holidays to be perfect. That thought that goes into these gift giving moments matters, but it is tiring, and you want it to be relatable.
Coming out of a divisive election, how is this holiday season different from past years?
With the shorter holiday period, there's going to be a lot of messages out there, and we wanted to make sure that we had one that was uniquely Macy's. We feel like we do something a little bit different in the holiday season, that we kick off not only with our great value and sales, but we throw a little parade to the whole country. So everything that we do has that spectacular nature to it.
It was very important that these stories that we're telling in our advertising have multiple chapters to them. We're in chapter two — Black Friday — right now, but there's actually five chapters. We have written them like stories. We're keeping the messaging fresh. We're on a set that's very uniquely Macy's. We wanted to make sure that we had a chance to really break through, because we know that consumers do have a lot of choice during this period of time.
With your background and that of new hires to the marketing organization, how are you approaching storytelling across channels?
There are so many stories to tell. When we get to see all of the amazing products, we're going to put on the journalist hat like, “What story do we want to tell?” Whether it's about the textile design or the great value or which brand it came from. We have staffed our team with inquisitive storytellers that want to make sure the excitement that they have for the things that we're going to sell, the experience we have in our stores and the value that we have, that they can translate that to our customers.
This year’s parade has new floats from brands like Rao’s Homemade, Haribo and Netflix. What do you look for when bringing new partners to the parade?
We keep saying that we're more than a store, we’re a story, and that we like partners that want to tell their story, as well. Rao’s is a perfect example: that float tells an entire story of Pasta Knight. All the amazing products come to light, but there’s also a bit of entertainment. Each one of those floats, balloons, marching bands or clowns, they all tell a story, and so we want to partner with people that want to tell their story at this really emotional, exciting time of the year.
The Parade of Deals sales event is online and app-only. How crucial is it to connect with consumers on those channels, especially around the holidays?
Parade of Deals represents that storytelling continued: every day is a new chapter in that story. We're lucky that we can leverage the intellectual property of the parade, and you'll see that very vividly this year — the Gift Guide will be cutting the ribbon. It was important for us to tell one cohesive interactive marketing story, and that whether it was a sales event or a sign in our stores or a manifestation online, that they all had those chapters to the story.
While we’re often focused on how data affects a retailer’s media network, how is the data coming from digital channels helping your own marketing efforts?
As the world continues to evolve with technology, the best thing is we get to know our customer and what they want better. Good stories are crafted because we really understand the customer. Each chapter is about a need and want, because we know by looking at all the data, what are the things that people need [no matter the situation]. We base everything around consumer insights, and that's what helps pull together all the different parts of a company to make it one integrated campaign — we focus on the customer first.
Beyond the next week and next month, what is on your radar for 2025?
I think about the impact of AI and gen AI on everything from being a more efficient marketing department to allowing us to get to market quicker. I think about the changing landscape of media and how we want to show up with our storytelling. And I think the consumer continues to keep getting smarter, so we have to keep engaging them with more experiences and bringing those stories to life versus having advertisements or transactions with them.
