Watch Macy’s holiday anthem spot

Halloween is not even here yet, but retailers are already jumping into holiday advertising in a competitive year when savvy marketing could mean Ho, Ho, Ho instead of No, No, No. Old Navy recently unveiled a series of ads featuring new spokeswoman Natasha Lyonne, and last week, Kohl’s revealed its holiday strategy involving more front-of-store seasonal gifts and products. Now, Macy’s is releasing its holiday anthem spot; the 30-second version aired Sunday during Fox’s National Football League games. The video, created with BBDO, shows a young boy who appears to be searching at Macy’s for the perfect gift. Strangely for a child, he shuns the Toys ‘R’ Us toy aisle, as he peruses the assortment of colognes and cookware. The end is a twist as the spot reveals just who the small customer was shopping for. A 60-second version will run in theaters beginning Oct. 29 and also on broadcast TV during Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade next month. This year’s campaign is on the early side; last year, Macy’s began running its holiday marketing on Oct. 31. A spokeswoman said the timing is “comparable” and noted that Macy’s has seen consumers starting to browse and look for inspiration early in the season. Indeed, experts are predicting early marketing and a heavily promotional holiday season amid mixed consumer signals. Most sales forecasts have been positive, but show tempered growth that is not as robust as previous years. For example, Deloitte expects holiday retail sales to increase between 3.5% and 4.6% this year; last year, sales rose 7.6% during the same period. Recent declines in sales reports from former high-flying retailers, such as Target, have also contributed to more measured expectations. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs The landscape is putting pressure on marketers such as Macy’s, which is already struggling with weakened sales. Macy’s reported an 8% drop in second-quarter net sales, to $5 billion—the decrease included declines in both brick-and-mortar and digital sales. The department store chain is beginning to test smaller format stores and recently debuted a new initiative in the metaverse as a way to connect with customers. The new campaign is the first holiday work under Macy’s interim chief brand Abigail James, who took over such duties from Richard Lennox, Macy’s former chief customer and brand officer who left earlier this year to work at AutoNation as chief marketing officer.

Watch Macy’s holiday anthem spot

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