#06 – 2020 Holiday Marketing: Not Cancelled

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Nothing says “holiday cheer” like shopping, material exchange and capitalism.

2020 has been one giant dumpster fire. I think we can all agree on that. A few things that haven’t been cancelled by the pandemic – at least here in the U.S. – is online shopping and one of our favorite holiday traditions, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

We’re kicking off this holiday season with an intro into one of the biggest marketing events of the year – the parade is a giant ad, don’t try to change our minds – and some helpful tips you can use to advertising this holiday season

Thanksgiving Day Parade: How It Started

RH Macy & Co., founded by Rowland Hussey Macy (RH Macy), opened in 1858 as a dry goods store in NYC. The first day of sales totaled $11.06. After the first year, they made $85K sales and had an advertising budget of $2.8K.

By 1877, RH Macy & Co. was a full-fledged department store. RH died in 1877. The store passed through a few owners until 1879 when it was sold to Isidor and Nathan Straus.

In the roaring 20s, Macy’s – now an iconic department store in NYC – expanded their flagship store to an entire city block. To showcase it’s now 1M sq. ft. retail space, and the start of the holiday shopping season, they decided to throw a parade on Thanksgiving morning.

On November 27, 1924 Macy’s held their first ever parade. Starting at 9AM, it is perfectly slotted between two other American priorities – church service and football games.

The parade route was 6 mi long (woof) and featured 3 floats, 4 bands and a variety of zoo animals from the Central Park Zoo. It quickly became a holiday tradition.

Other Historical Fun Facts

• The first balloon to debut at the parade was Felix the Cat in 1927
• They used to release the balloons at the end of the parade and offer a reward for their return; this didn’t last long as it became quickly apparent this practice was dangerous (duh)
• First broadcast via radio in 1932, first televised in 1946 in NY and then nationally televised in 1947
• The first celebrity appearance was by singer Eddie Cantor in 1934

Thanksgiving Day Parade: How It’s Going

The parade has grown to include 8K participants, over 3M onsite spectators and more than 50M TV viewers. Thanks to COVID, 2020 will be the FIRST time EVER the parade will be televised ONLY. The route will be reduced from 2 mi to 1 city block and the role of balloon handlers will be handed over to motorized vehicles.

The event will feature pre-filmed segments along with the televised parade. There will be 18 balloons, 6 balloonicles (yes, that’s what they’re called), 35 floats, 20 performers (think Dolly Parton & Patty Labelle), street performers who will be wearing masks and socially distanced and clowns.

Why, clowns. Always say no to clowns.

Listen to the episode for more fun facts – what, you think we’re going to give it all away here? Don’t think so. And, for more on the 2020 parade, visit macys.com/social/parade

2020 Holiday Advertising Tips

For everyone else who didn’t make the Thanksgiving Day Parade cut this year, here are some quick tips to help you advertise for the 2020 holiday season.

• If you’re e-commerce and using product feeds or catalogs for Google, Facebook, etc., PLEASE PLEASE make sure your feeds are up to date. It is super annoying – and just an all-around bad consumer experience – if a user gets to your site and that shit is out of stock.
• Limited Time Offers and freebies! Run discounts, offer freebies, extend promotions longer than your competitors to capture those last minute shoppers.
• Get your ads uploaded and scheduled sooner rather than later. Ads can take up to 24 hours to get through the approval process in most systems. Take advantage of your platform’s automation tools to get your ads up and ready at least two days BEFORE they need to run. Also keep an eye on disapprovals (looking at you FACEBOOK, you toxic devil) this will give you time to correct any issues.
• Use REAL photos of your products. As in, showcase your product IRL. So many consumers will be avoiding physically going to stores – so they won’t be able to see, touch and experience the product before purchase.
• Use remarketing. Use remarketing audiences to capture cart abandoners, past purchasers and or site visitors.
• Consider CTV. Connected TV is a great way to get in front of users where they stream – from sports content to Hallmark-like Christmas classics.
• Emails. Whether they’re yours or an ad in contextually-relevant content or brand partnerships, email is still relevant this season. 
• Focus on your creative. Your ads/posts/emails are going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting to break through the social din. Give your creative a little strategic love before posting.

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Vodka Soda

Citations:

• https://www.facebook.com/business/news/preparing-your-business-for-the-holiday-season/
• https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/10/08/holiday-advertising-best-practices-2020
• https://choozle.com/blog/preparing-your-holiday-advertising-in-2020/
• https://www.facebook.com/business/m/guide-to-2020-holidays
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2020/10/26/the-holiday-season-will-look-very-different-this-year/?sh=22c86b902313
• https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/11/10/boost-holiday-sales-and-revenue

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/28/nyregion/macys-thanksgiving-parade-balloons.html
• https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/holidays/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-2020-all-you-need-to-know/2717253/
• https://www.history.com/news/the-first-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade
• https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-feat/index.html

• https://www.chiefmarketer.com/macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-morphs-into-marketing-tool/
• https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/1920s-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-marketing/
• http://amabaltimore.org/dev/3828/can-you-spot-all-the-marketing-techniques-in-the-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade/ 
• https://time.com/3594677/balloons-thanksgiving-history/
• https://www.history.com/news/quirky-vintage-photos-of-the-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade
• https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/how-the-macys-thanksgiving-day-parade-ballooned-into-a-cherished-holiday-tradition/