Michael Krans, head of retail media at Macy’s, is leading an initiative to shift the Macy’s Media Network from a transactional line item to a central component of marketers' advertising playbooks. This strategic push aims to integrate retail media campaigns more deeply across a brand's entire marketing efforts, connecting digital advertising with in-store experiences, social media, and influencer collaborations. The move signals a significant evolution in how major retailers are positioning their advertising platforms, moving beyond simple product promotion to offer comprehensive, data-driven marketing solutions.
The initiative matters because it reflects a broader maturation of the retail media sector, where first-party customer data is becoming an increasingly valuable asset for advertisers. By encouraging brands to adopt a full-funnel approach, Macy's is positioning its media network as a strategic partner capable of building brand awareness and driving consideration, not just securing last-click conversions. The immediate consequence is a fundamental change in how advertisers are expected to engage with the retailer, with a new emphasis on holistic, omnichannel campaigns. Macy's plans for 2026, which include simplifying the ad-buying process, underscore the urgency and long-term vision behind this strategic shift.
What We Know So Far
- Michael Krans, Macy’s head of retail media, is spearheading the effort to elevate the Macy’s Media Network from a simple transactional purchase to a core element of a brand's marketing strategy, according to reports from beet.tv and MediaPost.
- The company's stated goal is to achieve a seamless integration of retail media campaigns across multiple consumer touchpoints, including physical in-store activations, social media content, and influencer marketing programs.
- Macy's is reportedly encouraging its endemic brand partners—those that sell products in its stores—to utilize its media network for full-funnel marketing objectives, moving beyond traditional uses like inventory clearance, according to beet.tv.
- A key component of the strategy is the delivery of "hyper-relevant offers" to customers, ensuring that advertising provides tangible value and enhances the shopping experience, as Krans noted in comments reported by MediaPost.
- Looking ahead, Macy's is planning significant technical innovations for 2026 to make its media ecosystem more accessible, including a partnership with Amazon Retail Ad Service and the development of its own proprietary ad center.
What is Macy's retail media strategy?
Macy's is actively working to redefine the role of its retail media network for its advertising partners. The core of the strategy is to transition the Macy’s Media Network from a tactical, bottom-of-funnel tool into an essential, strategic component of a brand's overall marketing plan. "We are attempting to move beyond Macy’s Media Network being a transactional line item," Michael Krans stated in an interview with beet.tv. This statement encapsulates a move away from advertisers simply buying ad placements to clear inventory and toward forming deeper partnerships focused on long-term brand building.
This strategic pivot encourages advertisers, particularly endemic brands already selling through Macy's, to adopt a full-funnel approach. "We’ve got a big opportunity there to activate more of our vendors… and do more from a full funnel approach," Krans added. This means using Macy's first-party data and advertising channels not only to drive immediate sales but also to build brand awareness, influence consideration, and foster customer loyalty. The objective is to create integrated campaigns that tell a consistent story across Macy's digital properties, its physical stores, and external channels like social media.
Central to this vision is a commitment to improving the customer experience through relevant advertising. The emphasis is on using rich shopper data to serve personalized and valuable content. According to Krans, the goal is to be "always serving up hyper-relevant offers for our customers that our customer sees the value." This customer-centric focus is designed to make advertising feel less intrusive and more like a helpful part of the shopping journey, thereby increasing engagement and effectiveness for brand partners.
How are retail media networks transforming advertising?
The strategic evolution at Macy's is emblematic of a wider transformation occurring across the advertising industry, driven by the explosive growth of retail media networks (RMNs). These networks, operated by retailers like Macy's, Amazon, and Target, leverage vast stores of first-party data—information collected directly from their customers about their browsing and purchasing habits. This data allows brands to target consumers with high precision at the point of purchase, a capability that has become mission-critical as third-party cookies are phased out across the web.
Initially, RMNs focused primarily on sponsored product listings and display ads on retailer websites, targeting shoppers who were already close to making a purchase. However, the industry is rapidly maturing. Leading retailers are now expanding their offerings to create omnichannel platforms that can influence consumers at every stage of the buying journey. Macy's goal to integrate campaigns across in-store, social, and influencer channels is a clear example of this trend. This approach recognizes that modern consumer behavior is not linear and that effective advertising requires a consistent presence across multiple touchpoints. This shift is one reason why traditional campaigning methods are failing in the TikTok age, as integrated, data-rich strategies become the norm.
Furthermore, the ambition of RMNs is growing to include non-endemic advertisers—brands that do not sell their products directly through the retailer. According to beet.tv, Macy's is actively experimenting with this expansion, exploring onsite, offsite, and post-purchase ad placements for new categories of advertisers. A reported partnership with Rokt, a company specializing in e-commerce marketing technology, to place ads on order confirmation pages is a concrete example. This allows a non-competing brand, such as a travel company or a financial services provider, to reach Macy's valuable customer demographic immediately after a purchase, opening up significant new revenue streams for the retailer and new advertising avenues for brands.
What Happens Next
Macy's retail media strategy for 2026 focuses on simplifying brand investment through execution and technological advancement. A planned partnership with Amazon Retail Ad Service and the launch of Macy's own ad center are key initiatives. These platforms are designed to lower technical barriers for advertisers, making it easier to plan, purchase, and measure campaigns across the Macy's network. Their success will be critical for attracting a wider range of brands and enabling the seamless, integrated campaigns central to the strategy.
The primary open question is how quickly and completely brand marketers will adapt to this more holistic view of retail media. Shifting from a transactional, performance-based mindset to a strategic, full-funnel approach requires changes in budgeting, team structure, and success metrics. Macy's and its media network team will need to demonstrate clear return on investment for upper-funnel activities, proving that their platform can effectively build brand equity as well as drive short-term sales. The adoption rate among both endemic and the newer non-endemic advertisers will be a key indicator of the strategy's success.
Macy's developments are a bellwether for the retail media industry, signaling the next evolution for RMNs: moving beyond bottom-funnel metrics to prove value across the entire marketing ecosystem. The company's push to become a central pillar of a marketer's playbook hinges on its upcoming technological rollouts. The advertising community's response to these will determine if Macy's can successfully transform its media network into the strategic partner it aims to be.
