Michael Krans is trying to pull retail media out of the margins and into the center of the marketing playbook. The head of retail media at department-store chain Macy’s is on a mission to turn the Macy’s Media Network from a transactional afterthought into something closer to a marketing nerve center.
“We are attempting to move beyond Macy’s Media Network being a transactional line item,” Krans said in this interview with Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein.
The goal is to integrate campaigns across everything from in-store experiences to social and influencer efforts, he said.
Translation: your banner ad is no longer allowed to sit in the corner and behave. It now has opinions, ambitions and possibly a seat in your next brand strategy meeting.
Endemic advertisers get full-funnel treatment
Krans is particularly focused on convincing Macy’s core brand partners in home and apparel that retail media is not just for clearing inventory or chasing last-click conversions. “We’ve got a big opportunity there to activate more of our vendors… and do more from a full funnel approach,” he said.
That means upper funnel storytelling, mid funnel persuasion and lower funnel conversion all working together, rather than politely ignoring each other like distant relatives at a holiday dinner.
Non-endemic brands invited to the party, snacks included
Non-endemic advertisers are also getting more attention, with Macy’s experimenting across onsite, offsite and even post-purchase moments. The retailer’s partnership with e-commerce technology company Rokt powers ads in order confirmations, which sounds like the digital equivalent of being pitched a vacation while you are still admiring your new shoes.
Krans noted the focus is on relevance, not randomness.
“Always serving up hyper-relevant offers for our customers that our customer sees the value,” he said.
There are also tests on bag pages and digital screens in stores, suggesting that if you can see it, Macy’s may eventually monetize it.
Storytelling and sales call a truce
Asked about the classic tension between brand storytelling and performance marketing, Krans rejected the premise entirely.
“We don’t see storytelling and sales as competing forces,” he said, adding that the two fuel each other through demand creation and demand capture.
In practice, that means using high-impact placements to build brand equity while relying on lower funnel tactics to close the deal. It is less a tug-of-war and more a relay race, assuming everyone agrees on where the finish line is.
Influencers, video and the rise of the mid funnel
Macy’s is also embracing influencer content and video, particularly in the often neglected mid funnel. Krans highlighted the company’s Style Crew, an in-house influencer network, as a key piece of the puzzle.
“We’re creating combined programs using Style Crew influencers and then repurposing that content for MMN paid social campaigns,” he said.
In other words, one piece of content now works multiple jobs, which may be the most relatable thing in advertising right now.
Personalization gets smarter and slightly creepier
On the data front, Macy’s is doubling down on personalization and predictive signals to reach customers at just the right moment.
“We want to be serving ads… at the right moment when they’re in market,” Krans said.
With improved search relevancy and better alignment between advertiser targets and Macy’s priority audiences, the goal is to make ads feel less like interruptions and more like helpful suggestions. Or at least interruptions with better timing.
2026 innovations focus on making it easier to spend money
Looking ahead, Krans said innovation will center on simplifying how brands buy into Macy’s media ecosystem. A partnership with Amazon Retail Ad Service allows advertisers to use Amazon’s platform to run campaigns on macys.com, which is either very convenient or mildly surreal depending on your perspective.
Macy’s is also launching its own ad center, designed to unify campaign activation and measurement in one interface. The pitch is simple: fewer dashboards, more clarity and hopefully fewer frantic emails asking where the report went.
All told, Krans is betting that retail media’s next chapter is less about isolated tactics and more about integration. And if he has his way, that humble line item may soon start acting like the main character.
