Following the 2005 merger of Federated and May Department Stores, Macy's eliminated regional department store names around the country in favor of its new national brand, Macy's. Now, it is trying to
bring back those regional shoppers who may have been alienated by the move by focusing its advertising on local media.
The new initiative means Macy's will be spending more of its ad
budget on print, radio and newspapers, and less on TV. The move comes only a few months after the company connected with consumers with a splashy holiday TV campaign that featured celebrities such as
Donald Trump, Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey and Martha Stewart.
Those series of ads achieved high recall among consumers, but sales at Macy's stores nonetheless were down last year.
Hence the new approach to appeal at the local level.
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