San Francisco Seminar 2009 Day 4
Macy's, Saks and Emotional Branding in a Time of Crisis
Introduction and context
On Day 4, the seminar moved into one of the most complex topics in retail history:
How does a large department store chain navigate through an economic crisis – and what happens when online and in-store go in different directions?
Macy's and Saks represented two different strategic paths:
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Scissors: severe cuts, downsizing, deferred investment, focus on survival
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Macy's: investing in digital growth, emotional branding and local adaptation
The documentation you uploaded makes this abundantly clear. Saks' dramatic measures - a 9% reduction in its workforce, a halving of capital expenditures, a halt to pension benefits, and a pay freeze - are described directly in the BNET article Saks, Macy's Make Cuts at Stores...
Macy's, on the other hand, reported 15.5% growth in online sales in January, 24% growth in Q4, and 29% growth for the full year 2008, according to their official press release
Macy's, Inc. Press Release
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Where Saks cut back, Macy's invested.
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Where Saks talked about survival, Macy's talked about identity, hope, and community.
Day 4 therefore made a strong impression:
Digitization is not technology – it is strategy under pressure.
Program overview
The seminar day was built around four main components:
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The macro image:
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How the financial crisis hit American department stores (BNET article documents decline in luxury demand and bankrupt shopping malls.
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Scissors, Macy's Make Cuts at Store…
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Case 1 – Saks Fifth Avenue:
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Drastic cost cuts, downsizing and defensive market choices.
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Case 2 – Macy’s:
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The “My Macy's” strategy + the national Believe campaign → a new digital brand logic.
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Discussion:
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What can Norwegian businesses learn from how two giants took completely different paths?
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Main academic topics
A. The psychology of crisis and the brand value of hope
The BNET articles are clear: customers bought less, were more price-sensitive, and were willing to switch brands for better value. Scissors, Macy's Make Cuts at Store…
Where Saks responded with cuts, Macy's responded with:
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storytelling
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community
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emotional involvement
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digital accessibility
This culminated in Macy's Believe – documented via the campaign page (promo and PDF) .
Here they connected Christmas tradition, children's storytelling (“Yes, Virginia”), charity and technology in a way that was completely new in 2008–2009.
B. Restructuring and cultural change
The official press release from Macy's reveals something crucial:
My Macy's – a massive restructuring of local responsibility – significantly boosted sales in pilot cities
Macy's discovered that:
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customers buy locally
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assortment must be adapted to local culture
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digital communication can enhance local relevance
This was radical for a national department store chain.
C. Online growth as a strategic rescue
The figures from Macy's (29% growth in online sales for the year 2008) stand in stark contrast to the decline in store sales. This is directly confirmed in the press release: "Online sales (macys.com and bloomingdales.com combined) were up 29% for the full year.”
The internet was the savior.
Case studies
Case: Macy's “Believe” – digital emotional branding
Two versions of the online campaign page
Both show:
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interactive Christmas balls
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"Believe Meter"
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links to Santa's post office
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The Make-A-Wish link
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strong visual staging of “faith” and magic
Believe wasn't just a campaign. It was a cultural event.
It was a digital space where you could:
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write a letter
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share stories
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express hope
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participate in something bigger
At a time when people were afraid of the future, Macy's provided a space for optimism
Case: Saks – a luxury brand in economic storm
The BNET article documents a business in crisis:
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the luxury customer disappeared
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the cost base was too high
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they were forced to take drastic measures
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investments were stopped
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even 401(k) matching was removed
Scissors, Macy's Make Cuts at Store…
Where Macy's invested in digital development and emotional capital, Saks attempted to “cut itself clean.”
Reflections and discussion:
Based on the documents, the group discussed:
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Why do some companies succeed in crises while others fail?
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Why do some brands use storytelling while others use discounting?
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How can technology pull a traditional brand through a financial crisis?
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How do you build emotional relevance digitally?
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Can Norwegian actors do the same – and should they?
The main conclusion was clear:
Macy's won on vision, not on cost-cutting.
International perspectives
USA: emotional branding as part of national identity.
Europe: more product and price-oriented communication, weaker storytelling power.
The Nordics: high trust, but less tradition of emotional marketing.
What do we take home with us?
Stories create lasting value – numbers alone do not.
Emotional campaigns can unite national and local levels.
Online and store must be seen as one ecosystem.
Values must be activated, not just communicated.
Social responsibility brings authenticity when integrated naturally
Relevance today
More than 15 years later, Macy's Believe still stands as a textbook example of emotional digital branding. The principles—connecting technology, community, and meaning—are just as relevant today in public sector, travel, and education. Macy's understood early on that human belief and digital action are not contradictory, but mutually reinforcing.
Peder Inge Furseth
Peder Inge Furseth was a central academic driving force behind the San Francisco seminars and helped make the meeting with Silicon Valley relevant for Norwegian and European businesses. Through his role as professor at BI and as academic director of the program, he helped the participants put the lectures into a larger context – where technology, innovation, business development and people had to be seen in context.
In San Francisco, participants met entrepreneurs, researchers, technology leaders and investors from some of the world's most innovative environments. Furseth's strength was his ability to connect these experiences to practical challenges and opportunities in Norwegian businesses. He helped translate Silicon Valley's ideas and working methods into a Nordic context where collaboration, trust and long-term value creation are strong.
Throughout the entire seminar series, he was an important bridge builder between research, business and technology. For many participants, he therefore became more than a professional leader – he also became a mentor who inspired new thinking about innovation, digitalization and commercialization.
Read more about Peder Inge Furseth here
From studies and seminars to today's professional universe
The studies, seminars and field trips documented on this page are part of the knowledge base behind The Invisible Capital. Topics such as customers, technology, innovation, digitalization and value creation have followed developments over several decades – but the disciplines have also continued to develop.
At The Invisible Capital, we are therefore continuing to work on these questions in our own subject series. Here, we connect previous theory, research and experiences with newer knowledge, new technologies and today's challenges for people and businesses.
Innovation
Innovation is not just about new ideas. Value is created when knowledge, technology and ideas are developed into products, services, processes, organizational forms and business models that are actually used. The series on innovation goes from Schumpeter to modern innovation research and covers, among other things, incremental, radical, disruptive, open and user-driven innovation.
→ Explore the Innovation Series
The customer
The customer is not just the recipient of what the business produces. In a competitive market, the customer is a crucial determinant of whether the business actually succeeds in creating value. The series about the customer goes deeper into customer orientation, customer insight, customer experience, satisfaction, loyalty, trust and the encounter between people.
→ Read the customer series
Value creation
What does it really mean to create value – and who creates it? The series on value creation moves from economic theory and key researchers to a broader understanding of how people, expertise, institutions, businesses and the public sector contribute to value creation.
→ Read the series on value creation
Digitization
Digitalization has evolved from stand-alone technologies to a fundamental part of how businesses work and create value. The Digitalization from A–Z series follows developments through internet, web, e-commerce, search, UX, social, mobile, omnichannel, cloud, data, platforms and digital transformation – up to today’s AI First developments.
→ Read the series Digitization from A–Z
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence represents the next chapter in digital evolution. In our own AI universe, we investigate how artificial intelligence works, how AI finds and uses information, how it evaluates sources and websites, and what the development can mean for people, businesses, and value creation.
→ Go to the articles about artificial intelligence
Recommended literature
Good Strategy Bad Strategy
Richard P. Rumelt explains why successful businesses create competitive advantage through clear priorities, long-term thinking, and the ability to meet challenges head-on. The book shows how strategy is about choice, direction, and understanding the market—especially in times of rapid change and economic pressure.
