Macy’s Joins the NFT Game by Modernizing Traditional Approaches

Macy’s began its first-ever NFT series with an unique drop of 9,500 free NFT artworks utilising iconic balloons from its rich nine-decade past in favour of Make-A-Wish® last fall in honour of the 95th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade®. Macy’s was able to raise $300,000 for Make-a-Wish, with secondary sales continuing on a regular basis.

At Adweek’s Mediaweek, Sarah Kramer, CEO of Spark Foundry, and Anne Dunn O’Connell, svp of Media & Site Merchandising at Macy’s, sat down for a fireside talk to discuss Macy’s NFT debut and how the relationship will continue to move Macy’s into the future of consumer engagement.

Macy’s and Spark Foundry collaborated to use the burgeoning phenomena of digital collectibles to bring Macy’s into the holiday discourse in a completely new way. Macy’s wanted to be a part of Web3’s multitude of prospects, according to Dunn O’Connell.

“The sky’s the limit when it comes to things like AI to improve customer experiences, or new ways to allow customers to browse, shop, and buy in the metaverse, or even leveraging blockchain wallets and NFTs as portals to exclusive access and perks,” she said. “The NFTs were so popular last year, and the Macy’s Parade has always mirrored American pop culture, it seemed like a natural fit.”

One of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Procession’s goals, according to Dunn O’Connell, is to bring the parade closer to the audience each year.

“The parade has always been our present to New York City and the country, and as we began the holiday season last year, we wanted to add another method to provide a gift to our shoppers while generating funds for Make-A-Wish, our holiday philanthropic partner.”

The NFT campaign was the first generative art collection of NFTs distributed for free by any business, and it was also Macy’s first Web 3.0 promotion. All 9,500 free NFTs were grabbed in just one hour and six minutes, according to the duo. More than 4,000 of those NFTS were then sold on the secondary market, providing the seller and Make-A-Wish with a one-of-a-kind source of cash. The Macy’s NFT campaign also racked in over half a billion earned media impressions.

“With Web 3.0 and the metaverse, Macy’s is enthusiastic about the possibilities,” Dunn O’Connell said. “We’re excited to keep looking beyond the usual episodic/tentpole approach to marketing in order to build a lasting presence with both existing and new customers.” It’s about the brand showing up in a relevant way and demonstrating that a 160-year-old brand can develop and innovate.