Macy's bets on celebrity Web videos to build fashion brands

Brandweek: Macy s most recently launched a series of irreverent web videos and daily fashion challenges on its new Fashion Director site. What s the thinking behind this?
Martine Reardon: Actually, it was based on a great deal of consumer insights and research we had done to try to understand what would motivate [our consumers] a little more and what they were looking for from a brand like Macy s to help them with their fashion editing, if you will. And hands down, what they told us was that they love to look to Macy s for fashion advice, but they wanted more than just fashion advice. They are almost looking for us to help them put some looks together. They kind of know what they like, but sometimes, they are a little intimidated. So, we came up with this idea of helping them put it all together, which is what the campaign is about, and from there, we asked ourselves, What tools can we give them to help them put it all together?

MR: You ll see a lot of it in store. You ll see a lot of new mannequins present mannequins that show you an entire look, tables that show the accessories that go with a certain outfit. It s not just about an outfit anymore it s about the handbag, the hat and the accessories that go with it. And, [when it came to actually executing the campaign], we [turned to] online. It s such an important part of our media mix. We know the consumer likes to play games. It s a fun activity for them. We came up with the idea of the fashion challenge from paper dolls how you could put together one look for them and, how, if you just changed the top or bottom, it d create a new look. So, we built a pretty robust web site on Macys.com and we built the rest of the technology out to create this microsite, called Fashion Director. We shot all of our hot trends this season, and there are over 400 items on that site. It s the most important fashion trends. We call them our Hot List items. They re the key pieces you need to look hot this season, but they can also [be paired] to create different outfits.

MR: Because our brand is very approachable and a little whimsical, and because we ve got a lot of celebrity designers we work with, we thought, Let s make sure we re involving them in this campaign, so there are various videos that are up online now Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, [Clinton Kelly] and Rachel Roy and the idea behind these little Webisodes is that each one of these folks takes on a challenge of how to put something together. [It ties in with the idea of] our 30-day fashion challenge, where, each day, we put a new challenge out there. It s really to get all of our online viewers to help folks with these fashion challenges: One might be, You re meeting your ex-boyfriend for coffee. You haven t seen him in two years and you want to look your best. What should you wear? So, the idea is, you go out and start to put these outfits together and you share them with your friends, they vote on them and [the one that receives the most votes] that day wins a $500 gift card. [The Fashion Challenge launched March 8.]

MR: It s an evolution of the celebrity brand spots we ve been running. Our celebrities have predominantly been featured on TV, but this is the first time we went into the online space with them. The one great thing about this campaign is it s a combination of online and TV and it has a really funny kind of approach to it.

MR: The webisodes are just a fun way to get consumers into that mindset of helping you put it together, so Martha, in one video, helps a frat house get their home together because it s Parents Week and all the parents are coming up. Rachel helps a group of three young women who are bowling, but may not know the right kind of fashion clothing to wear that night. Rachel helps them find the latest and greatest outfits. Clinton helps people prepare for their passport photos. His idea is, if you have to live with a photo of yourself for the next 10 years, you ve got to look very good. Donald, [meanwhile], as only Donald, the business entrepreneur, can do, helps a little boy put together his lemonade and cake stand at school so he can become this big business entrepreneur [and helps him get together] all the things he needs to put this together. So you see this little boy[come out] in a pair of shorts and flip flops and a navy suit and red tie and he s looking very powerful.

MR: We have supported the campaign in print and we ve actually supported it with 15-second TV spots, but for the most part, this is the first time we ve taken a fashion campaign and just really told the story online.

MR: It s mainly because that s where the consumer is. We listened very hard to our consumers over the last year and a half, and we do a great deal of research and insights. We re out in the field all the time listening to what she is telling us, and consumers are telling us that they ve really moved into this online space, and we re seeing her be there a lot more often than she was a year and a half ago.

MR: The target consumer is about 69 percent women, ages 25 to 49. That s our real target. It doesn t mean we don t dip down to the 16-24 year old age group, and that doesn t mean we don t go after men, because 31 percent of our customers are males. You ll see us quite often in male-targeted programming ESPN, GQ, Esquire but the [bulk] of what we do is targeted to that female consumer.

MR: We re seeing lots of new insights, from the amount of people who are actually playing the game every day to the amount of votes some of these outfits are getting. It depends on which day it is and which fashion challenge, but we ve seen over 10,000 votes just on one look someone put together. Consumers are looking for something that not just entertains them, but is also fashion-related, and it s all behind this idea of putting it all together.

MR: What the consumer has been saying to us is that if we can really be relevant to her, then she is very interested and will listen and shop at that store a little bit more. As I said earlier, she loves what we do from a fashion perspective, but she wants advice on how to put it all together whether it s redoing her home or preparing for the holidays. And if you can help her with those pieces whether it s her wardrobe, her husband s or her child s if we can give her some tools to really help her put it all together, that s the most relevant thing we can do for her. And, she ll be pretty loyal and want to shop at Macy s.