As part of its branded content efforts, Macy’s has launched the “Help me, Clinton” social media initiative to reach women across Twitter and Facebook. At the iMedia in:focus Summit on What Women Want From Brands, Macy’s Jennifer Kasper, GVP, Digital Media & Multicultural Marketing, shared details of the program. Macy’s has worked with fashion and lifestyle expert Clinton Kelly since 2011, and introduced this expanded social media effort after Mother’s Day.
Fans can ask Kelly  lifestyle and fashion questions via Facebook or Twitter, Kasper explained. Common questions are often about skinny jeans, glassware, and how to pull off wearing color in one’s wardrobe. On Twitter, customers need to use the hashtag #helpmeclinton. Macy’s employs a moderation team to answer the questions based on a library of content and insights it’s already amassed from Kelly. “He usually gets the same 20 questions,” Kasper explained. But he also answers some of the questions himself. The goal is to answer all questions within an hour. The next step will be to bring this social media platform to mobile phones so that it can be used in stores while consumers are shopping with their phones in hand, Kasper said.
The effort is a natural outgrowth of Macy’s work throughout its history as a content creator, dating back to the Thanksgiving Day parade itself. “We are developing content, but we are also retailer and we need to sell things,” Kasper said.
Source: iMedia