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The table's set. The food is out and now the turkey is put on the table. The family has gathered to dig in and the TV is on... no it's not the big game that has grabbed everyone's attention. Instead the screen is filled with people, giant sized balloons, floats and the streets of New York City. It's the well known Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that has captured everyone's attention. For over 80 years American's have been watching the parade. It has become the kick off of the holiday season.
Every year when the event is upon us you can find advertisements and commercials on TV and in newspapers. Promotional materials can also be found in Macy's stores as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0wwwXKm30U
Because the event has been ongoing for over 80 years now, it is something that the public has come to expect and look forward to. It's not an event that the company needs to work on promoting.
In 2006, Macy's celebrated the 80th year its Thanksgiving Day Parade. Information about the parade could be found all over the internet. For the 80th parade there were a number of appearances from famous celebrities and performers, including Julie Andrews, Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Gloria Estefan, Barry Manilow and many more. To celebrate Macy's 80th parade, The History Channel had a float. The float had important times and landmarks of New York's history. Not only was it the first year that the History Channel had a float in the parade, but after taking part of the parade, they also produced a documentary on the parade, called Inside Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The documentary aired November 22 at 7 p.m.
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-5854994/History-in-the-Making-The.html
Macy's does a great job of drawing people to their TV's or to the actual site of the event to watch the parade. Every year about 3 million people go to New York City to watch the parade live and another 50 million watch the parade in the comforts of the home on NBC or Telemundo. Because the event is well known it doesn't need to be changed or promoted any differently. I think the company is doing a great job already and they don't need to change anything.
http://www.nbc.com/Macys_Parade/
http://social.macys.com/parade2009/http://www1.macys.com/store/marketing.jsp
Like most business's, Macy's uses both Twitter and Facebook to communicate with their clients.
http://twitter.com/MacysInc
http://www.facebook.com/Macys?v=wall&ref=search#!/Macys?ref=ts
Currently Macy's is having a contest on Twitter, asking for fans to send in "sweetesttweets" and possibly win a prize. So both Facebook and Twitter are concentrating on trying to get followers to tweet their "sweetesttweets." But prior to the contest Macy's Twitter has tweeted to remind followers about sales, like the President's Day Sale, or special promotions the store was having, like customers wearing red on National Wear Red Day would receive 20% off that day.
Macy's Facebook also promotes the contests and sales the store is having as well as gives its followers more information about each promotion. In celebration of Black History Month Macy's is holding in-store events. Fans on Facebook can get information about the event as well as click on a link that directs followers to the Macy's website for more information.
http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=Macy%27s&init=quick#!/notes/macys/were-celebrating-black-history-month-with-exciting-in-store-events-hosted-by-she/300157627512
Macy's is doing a good job utilizing new media outlets. They update Twitter more frequently than Facebook, even though they have more followers on Facebook. They also do a good job of tying together the information on their website and what they post on their new media outlets.
However, I think Macy's could do more to utilize social media more effectively. I would update the Facebook page more frequently and give followers more up to date information about what's going on in the stores as well as with the company. Because Macy's isn't a new company they don't need to use social media as a way to build their brand, but they can use it to communicate better with customers. I think that Macy's should look at how their competitors are using Facebook and Twitter.
Red Star is a blog dedicated to the popular department store, Macy's. This blog will explore the different aspect that Macy's and Macy's Inc., the corporate website, have to offer not only its customers but the public as well. I'm blogging about Macy's because while it is a company that most of us know and even shop at, the company does so much more than just sell clothing, shoes and home and personal accessories.
First, a little history about the symbol of the company, the red star. The history of the red star dates back to the founder of the company, Rowland Hussey Macy's, days as a sailor. Macy was a sea captain and one day he was lost at sea and didn't know how he would return, until a star appeared in the sky. He was able to guide himself back to land using the star to steer. When he arrived safely back to land, he got a tattoo of a star on his arm to always remember that day. Once Macy opened his first store, in 1858, he decided to use a red star as the symbol of the company.
Macy's is, as I said, known for being one of the largest retail stores in the country. But their stores also help raise money for different charities. In past years Macy's has helped raise a record amount of money for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women movement, the National Park Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. It has also been named of of the top 20 partners by the EPA for generating the most green electricity on their site. http://www.macysinc.com/aboutus/sustainability/epapraise.aspx
Macy's has had a good reputation with its communities and the public. However, they don't really emphasize all the positive things they have done like complying with the government's policies on child labor laws, the recognition from the EPA and how diverse of a workplace it is, to name a few. You can find all this information on the company's corporate website, but most people either don't know to look there, or simply don't. I think that the company can and needs to do a better job with informing the public and the community about what they are doing and more importantly, what they are succeeding in. Thus far I don't think Macy's needs to improve its reputation so much as they need to inform the public about it.
