Full-Funnel Innovation at Speed
Nordstrom | 2022 | Team Size: 12
The Ask
My team was tapped to help Nordstrom forge a deep connection with Gen Z customers with a social media strategy tailored to their values and desires.
While Nordstrom has been setting fashion trends and delivering high-end shopping experiences for more than a century, staying ahead today requires understanding what drives this influential demographic.
Challenge
Traditional marketing doesnāt work for Gen Z shoppers. Since they tend to multitask, they often ignore information that doesnāt catch their attention. This explains the popularity of TikTok, with 60% of its users being Gen Z.
At the same time, this generation requires a completely different approach than its Millennial predecessors, with an emphasis on product value and brand personality.
Approach
Traditional marketing doesnāt work for Gen Z shoppers. Since they tend to multitask, they often ignore information that doesnāt catch their attention. This explains the popularity of TikTok, with 60% of its users being Gen Z.
To break through to this audience, we needed a mix of paid and organic content that met the moment. Post COVID, we were all looking for joy, to celebrate getting back into the world again and resuming life (as close to how we knew it as possible.) We wanted to serve up inspiration and a depth of ways to see Nordstrom as a place to find the fashion, beauty, and accessories needed to step back into the world.
Nordstrom Anniversary Sale
The Context
It was 2023 and COVID-19 had devastated brick-and-mortar retailers, with many shifting permanently online. And as Nordstrom's first post-pandemic Annual Summer Sale was around the corner, we decided to capitalize on renewed in-person shopping excitement.
The Plan
We planned to supplement the Anniversary Sale promo with paid and organic executions that: brought a sense of wonder, joy, and inspiration, supported your key channels with native ideas that translate the campaignās ethos, and pushed campaign ideas further with creative tech.
Pre-Public Sale and Early Access
We supported Pre-Public Sale and Early Access with creator assets, instant experiences, feed overlays and Pinterest placements. Messaging highlighted cardmember access, new arrivals & top brands and leveraged the urgency of the deals.
Sale Support
We supported the campaign with Gen Z tailored content ranging from design led gamified stories to creator driven assets and rounded it out with some reactive concepts shot in-store.
AR OOH Lookbook
We took to the streets with an OOH activation in major cities that spoke directly to our younger audience. Taking campaign imagery, we created a collaged look book and turned it into an Instagram AR experience. With a QR link, users could look through a "3D" zine where each page rips away, showcasing three major categories of the sale: beauty, fashion, and accessories.
Growth Impact
Our paid media campaign that drove 16.2% brand lift among all demographics
Nordstrom saw a significant lift among Gen Z. (15%) *source Meta
Our TikTok campaign drove 605K+ users to Nordstrom.com
Nordstrom saw a huge improvement in top-of-mind brand awareness YOY, going from 26% in 2021 to 40% in 2022. *source Meta
About 5% of those users went on to visit Nordstrom retail stores after campaign exposure. *source TikTok
Product Category Support
We supported Nordstrom's Gen Z sales moments by creating 200+ social assets and 52 videos that brought a trend-driven, cultural lens to their product categories. By leveraging their ASOS partnership and deploying micro-influencers with high engagement rates, we drove over one million influencer reach and significant increases in impressions during key shopping periods.
@nazjaa Reflecting on my college experience as grad season approaches š¤ so grateful for this next stage in my life š„¹āØ #Nordstrom #NordstromPartner #ad ā¬ Acclaimed Disposer - DJ BAI
@gracienielson This dress from @Nordstrom makes me feel so comfortable and confident! #Nordstrom #NordstromPartner #ad ā¬ original sound - Gracienielson
@larsgummer which one was your favorite ??? #nordstrompartner #nordstrom #ad ā¬ Do u love me or your EX? - Official Sound Studio
@amara_artspots Replying to @nordstrom Getting my spring outfits ready with @nordstrom ! I love this color on me so I matched the ArtSpots & Iām obsessed. #Nordstrom #NordstromPartner #ad #vitiligo #artspots #bodyart ā¬ Peace - Amber Echo
@adelialaughs Are you more cozy in or cozy out these days?? Let me know with your favorite look! @nordstrom #nordstrom #nordstrompartner #ad #cozyathome #cozyoutfits ā¬ Lazy Sunday - Official Sound Studio