Macy's Merchandising Group Internship: Current Event 1
Upon entering the Macy's Merchandising Group, I along with all of the corporate interns sat and learned about the new Macy's initiative for the 4th of July call the American Icon or "Americana Push".
This meant the push for red, white, and blue colors, the festive music, and promotional images of famous Americans. After learning of this initiative, I decided to research this campaign. The article I found by David Moin from Women's Wear Daily shed some more light on this campaign. His take on the Macy's initiative is one that is a counter attack to many of the large department store's themes. Lord and Taylor and JcPenney are two of the large department stores that Macy's is currently battling. Lord and Taylor is currently playing the star spangle banner in their flagship; while JcPenney is evoking Old Glory with their red, white, and blue logo. Though Moin is implicating Macy's actions, Chief Executive Officer of marketing , Martine Reardon, states that "[t]he campaign is to celebrate unique people, places, and celebrating American icons."
After reading the article and absorbing in the information, I then thought "Could this have bad implications since Macy's Americana campaign is not made in America?" I remembered Ralph Lauren's Olympic's scandal where the designer created our American Athletes clothes to evoke national pride, but instead the initiative created upset when found out that the outfits were produced in China. "Could this happen to Macy's as well since all of our clothes are primarily made overseas?"
I went and asked my boss and mentor these questions; both provided some interesting insight. What I did not know was that this program is not company wide. Many of the divisions in Macy's are not part of the campaign; this fact is due to the last years campaign featuring Brazil (which I was not familiar with). Apparently, Macy's attempted another campaign with Brazil models and icons which did not translate at all to the customers. This caused the initiative to be quickly cancelled and much of the product still being pushed on the floor today to redeem losses. Currently, Macy's is learning from the past by making the Americana push small, as a test, to ensure positive consumer response.
I also learned from their point of view about "Made in America". My boss states, "[p]eople will buy no matter what strictly because the bottom line always deals with price, and the question of - Am I getting a good deal?" This of course is their main cliental standpoint. My mentor also gave her in put by saying, "[t]hose who care about clothes made in America are only a small percentage compared to the masses…. Most of this percentage come from your generation, the Millenials (ages 13-25), who do not have the money nor resources due to your groups age." Macy's current market is directed towards the older generation of X's and Y's who have the bank flow to spend. That goes without saying that in the coming future anything is possible. With Macy's trying to reach the white space or open niche of the Millenials and with production prices going up all over the world, producing in America may become a viable option of "killing two birds with one stone" - being profitable/ time efficient along with satisfying the demands of fair labor practices from the Millenials. Only time and shifts in the economy will tell. As for now the motto of my boss still stands - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Moin, D. (2013, April 8). Macy's Americana Push. Retrieved on June 6, 2013 from:
http://www.wwd.com/retail-news/department-stores/macys-goes-american-6884147?src=search_links
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