Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Magic of Macy's is Revealed in Word Association

A new ad caught my attention yesterday. It was a 60 second compilation of pop culture references to Macy's, with clips of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade interwoven through the ad in chronological order. It ended with a short but powerful quote:

Only one store has been a part of your life for 150 years-Macy's.

 

Shortly after I saw the ad,I realized Macy's may have an incredible asset that no other store can claim.  While I don't have any survey results or hard facts to back my theory.  I believe that, through the power of word association, Macy's has developed a deep-seated word association with a major holiday (Thanksgiving). And that association has withstood the test of time.

Certain holidays, such as Halloween and Christmas, have general word associations. When we hear "Christmas" we think of presents,bows,Santa,reindeer, the nativity scene,etc. Halloween has pumpkins,candy and ghosts When you hear "July 4th" you think of fireworks, barbecue, picnics and parades.  When you hear "Thanksgiving", you think of turkey,gravy,family,football, and, of course, the most popular Thanksgiving Day parade in America- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which marches down the cold and crowded streets of New York City.

When I hear the simple phrase "Thanksgiving parade", the word Macy's eventually comes to mind, unlike July 4th, when I think of a  "parade", but don't attach a company or brand name. Maybe it's just me, but I firmly believe Macy's name has been settled  into our subconscious from watching the parade every morning since our childhood.

You may consider our word association as a disturbing sign of overexposure to branding, or the commercialization of yet another holiday,but perhaps it's simply one of many innocent connotations that we develop over time.

Posted By Matt O'Hern at 07:18 AM
Permanent Link: Magic of Macy's is Revealed in Word Association | Comments (1)

(1) Comments on Magic of Macy's is Revealed in Word Association

I saw this commercial too, and instantly had to google it to find a page like this one that reaffirmed what I heard. And as powerful as one might think this quote is, nothing could have been in my life for 150 years. Not only am i simply 24 years old, but no human has been documented to live 150 years. And if so, and he were still alive, and the same age as Macy's - well...god help us all.

Comments by Will : Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 02:57 PM

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