Known and loved for cultural events such as the Macy’s Parade and 4th of July Fireworks, noted above Macy’s was facing increasing competition from direct-to-consumer and online retailers. They risked losing relevance with today’s Fashion shoppers. Macy’s desired to transform from America’s last great department store, to the consumers’ first fashion stop.

To do this, Macy’s had to stand out to consumers as the “Fashion Authority,” and provide curated fashion expertise to inspire shoppers to buy products for every occasion from Macy’s stores, website, or mobile app. As we began working with Macy’s, we discovered an under-leveraged asset – “The Edit.” This was editorial written by Macy’s Fashion Office, published on Macy’s website. It provided excellent advice, but was not receiving the recognition or readership it deserved.

We set out to raise awareness and relevancy of the “The Edit,” to establish Macy’s fashion authority while increasing brand recognition and shopping

We uncovered the insight that, when it comes to Fashion, Macy’s target audience overwhelmingly looks to “the experts” for inspiration and guidance.

Approaching the fall season, we needed to help Macy’s truly “walk the talk,” and go beyond interruptive advertising to prove their “Fashion Authority” with relevant value-exchange. We would develop custom Fashion content that would not only resonate with shoppers and encourage reappraisal of Macy’s, but build desire and drive purchase intent.

This led to the transformation of “The Edit.” Since fashion bloggers and editors held the power of influence, we decided to connect straight to the source. By partnering with Hearst editors we knew this would give “The Edit” the exposure and credibility it needed to break through to our audiences.

“The Edit” would be more than just a static destination: It would be a shoppable, editorial distribution network, supercharged by respected Fashion magazine editors and influencers.

Macy’s needed to build its Fashion Authority with compelling content featuring curated looks relevant to its target audience. “The Edit” was the perfect platform to demonstrate this, and reposition Macy’s as not just a beloved store with great brands, but as the must-go first call for fashion shopping.

By partnering with nine of Hearst’s editors, our target audience started to see and hear about Macy’s stunning array of fashion looks and products in curated “It Lists”. These came to life in their favorite Fashion magazines, Instagram, Snap and – in a first for Macy’s - within the pages of “The Edit” alongside Macy’s own editorial.

We launched a seven-week multimedia program - with 150+ new content pieces developed by nine Hearst editors, across print, digital and social. Our editorial partnership was rooted in groundbreaking in-book content and true editorial integration for “The Edit”, not just via standard “marketing” tactics. This was an industry first for the Hearst group, and came to life in ELLE, ELLE.com, Marie Claire, MarieClaire.com, Cosmopolitan, Cosmopolitan.com, and BAZAAR.com.

Editors dished on the hottest trends, beauty tips and exclusive designer collaborations only available at Macy’s. The interactive site made fashion advice, and instant purchases, just a single click away. Notably, ELLE’s editor and Macy’s Fashion Office appeared on two “Good Morning America” morning show segments, which included live fashion shows. The program also included the use of Hearst editorial social handles to distribute content.

Our launch garnered such outstanding results, that “theEdit” continues to evolve and expand season after season.

Significant lifts in key metrics include:

• Favorability +39%

• Recommendation intent +48%

• Purchase intent +49%

• Store traffic +6%

• 82MM earned media impressions

• CTR beat benchmark by up to +200%

• Consumer visits to Macys.com +500%

• Strong third quarter with comparable sales up 3.3%

• (Source: Hearst Study Women 25-44 exposed v. unexposed, Macy’s web analytics Q3 2018, Macy’s Shareholder report Q3 2018)