When you hear the term 'local marketing' it's easy to immediately think of school sponsorships, strategically-placed billboards, targeted direct mail pieces, and crazy sign holders jumping up and down on the street corner. But as demonstrated by Macy's department stores, a smart local marketing strategy should reach beyond the specific advertising mediums that deliver the promotional messages. Macy's is part of a growing trend by national chains to tailor the goods and services they offer to the needs and preferences of local audiences. What's the point of driving traffic to your local business if you can't deliver on your promises and give your customers what they're looking for?

Macy's has been making a big push (and getting a lot of attention) in the last few years with their 'My Macy's' program, designed to fill shelves with retail goods that resonate with local shoppers. Their 1,600 district managers are tasked with working alongside store clerks and managers to track local preferences through purchasing patterns and cultural or regional traditions and habits. This initiative has allowed regional stores to offer unique goods that may not be available in their other stores. It also gives the managers more flexibility to stock up on items that are really popular in their city or region. The New York Times reports that a Macy's in Bellevue, Washington changed the style of their jewelry to appeal to their growing base of Indian customers. A Bloomberg article reports that Elvis Christmas tree ornaments are offered at numerous Tennessee locations.

Is Macy's pleased with the results from their new localization push? According to the Bloomberg article, Macy's CEO, Terry Lundgren, expects the initiative to play a strong role in their forcasted 3.5% increase in sales for the second half of 2010.  Further, Macy's shares have gained 36 percent this year and their new stores are experiencing 5% growth rates.

Apparently it pays to put the decision making power back into the hands of those most in tune with their customers. Hopefully, more and more national stores will follow suit, and look inside their doors to ensure that what they're selling is living up to the message of their local advertising.