Getting the brand back together
First, a confession. The original Macy’s Inc. corporate identity didn’t represent the entire corporation. It was a simple adaptation of Macy’s retail identity, with colleague and corporate programs created ad hoc by each of its 3 retail nameplates over many years without an underlying unity.
In partnership with the enterprise communications team and C-suite leaders, we developed a new identity to represent Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and bluemercury in the lead-up to announcing a new CEO succession plan.
The logotype was designed with a bold custom font for digital impact and the iconic star over the “i” to emphasize the power of the collective.
A special monogram was created for the single-letter stock ticker and corporate social media icon.
The color “Sunshine” was added to the palette, representing the company'’s commitment to creating brighter futures for colleagues, customers, communities, and business partners. The full palette included a signature color from each of the three retail brands.
A graphic pattern derived from the “m” letterform was a reference to strength and flexibility, represented by individual threads joining into a single fabric.
In collateral and communications, a signature color bar was paired with graphic shapes also derived from the letter “m.”
Department identities were updated, including the mTech toolkit for specialized recruiting and conference materials.
A new recruiting campaign with the tagline “Bring your amazing self to work” celebrated individuality with fun personal facts and the colleague’s role in the company.
The impact
The project was created in 5 agile sprints leading up to the CEO succession announcement, and within 5 days, J.P. Morgan upgraded Macy’s stock. We’d like to think the new branding was a factor. Perhaps even more rewarding was the pride expressed by colleagues from all three brands seeing their teams represented for the first time.