Neiman Marcus Holiday Campaign Shows How to 'Make the Moment'

At Neiman Marcus, the directive for Holiday Shopping Season 2022 was crystal clear: Experiences are the ultimate luxury. For the retailer, that could mean anything from spending the season gathering in celebration of the holidays with (impeccably dressed) loved ones, or a getaway to a five-star resort in Napa Valley with friends for a weekend of golf, massages, fine dining and cooking classes with the chef of a Michelin-starred eatery, or simply using a fun filter to digitally insert your face into one of the most iconic books of the season and share it on social. They have something for everyone—even someone who might not be familiar with the Neiman Marcus experience at all. For its “Make the Moment” holiday ad campaign, the retailer tapped photographers Guy Aroch, Tom Schirmacher, Tiffany Dawn Nicholson, Blair Getz Mezibov and Jennifer Livingston to capture the spirit of the season and the sometimes unconventional ways we celebrate it. Shot on location in New York and surrounding areas, the ebullient campaign picks up where "Live Your Luxury"—the previous season’s campaign—left off, with a high-end but low-key approach to gift-giving that the retailer encourages shoppers to define based on their own individual lifestyles. The retailer also brought back its popular style adviser videos, featuring its all-knowing stylist doling out expert gifting (and in-law-avoiding) suggestions. Christmas Ads 2022: How Brands Are Celebrating the Holiday Season Season’s (augmented) greetings This year, The Christmas Book, Neiman Marcus’ hotly anticipated annual catalog, not only comes chock-full of unique gift ideas in all price ranges, but fans can also scan a QR code to access a special AR filter allowing them to insert personal images into the Polaroids featured on the book’s cover. Users can also personalize a virtual Neiman Marcus Christmas Tree, which the filter inserts into their surrounding environment, and share the results on Instagram. “We’re letting the customer jump into the cover in a virtual way,” CMO Daz McColl told Adweek. “[The IG filter] is a way that customers can interact and connect with the book in a new and fresh way through bringing themselves into it.” He called the ability to add oneself as an ornament on the Christmas tree a “way of manifesting the interaction with the joy of Christmas.” From Fantasy Gifts to real-life experiences McColl also took Adweek through the famed Fantasy Gifts list, a curation of covetable items that have become as notorious for their uniqueness as their hefty price tags. Past items have included seats from Ebbets Field (home of the Brooklyn Dodgers) and a $20 million submarine. Among the year’s most notable (and more modestly priced) items: a weekend in Napa Valley for $175,000; a basketball matchup with NBA legend Scottie Pippen and his son Scottie Jr. for $333,333 (a nod to the six-time champion’s jersey number, #33); and a one-of-a-kind 2022 Barbie Maserati Grecale Trofeo SUV for $330,000. All the gifts—which can be purchased through the brand’s website and a dedicated hotline—include a charitable component, with a percentage of the proceeds donated to select organizations. Pippen will reportedly donate 100% of his proceeds—$278,000—to the Chi Prep Academy. “The team’s always building [the list] years ahead through conversations with partners, and then we curate. We spend a lot of time building and creating opportunities and ideas, but [ultimately] curating around what’s appropriate for this year,” said McColl. “[The gifts] are really about having great experiences with other people, which connects to the idea of ‘Make the Moment,’ and the campaign idea and logic, which is the connection back to traditions and those experiences you’re going to have but put your own individual twist on." The retailer is also opening Ski & Snow-branded shops online and in select stores. The largest installation will be in its NorthPark store in Dallas, with McColl calling the shop “a chapter within the overall story of holiday.” How Data Is Driving More Than Revenue for Publishers Rich with data While the brand is well known for its dazzling fashion, must-attend events, visually arresting and lighthearted content, and occasionally opulent product assortments, McColl again stressed how key customer data is to its successful formula. “What you don’t necessarily always see in the outcomes of what we create is the underlying strategic application of many varied data points to inform our actions,” he said. “For example, the book is very, very powerful and very, very important to our loyal customers. But if you’ve never been introduced to Neiman Marcus, it’s probably not the way to get introduced to the brand because in some ways it could be the ultimate gift list… but it could also be overwhelming.” That’s why understanding how to get new customers to engage is so important. “That’s where our stylist videos work very hard for us, creating that connection, that belief around both the inspiration and the solution that we provide through our services,” McColl added. “Giving people access to that—making that not only aspirational but approachable in a sense of if you really want luxury, we’re here to help you with that. And doing it in a way that suits you as an individual. I think that helps that journey, and each of these choices are made based on our understanding of the customer through the data.”