Saks Focuses Digital Initiatives on Mental Health for May
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Saks Fifth Avenue is getting ready to launch a digital mental health initiative as part of its “Saks at Home” campaign.
The mental health initiatives, which launch Tuesday, will highlight some of the organizations that Saks is partnering with in May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month. The Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation aims to increase understanding of the issues around the topic, improve access to care and promote skills that build positive mental health.
On May 5, the charity spotlight will be Glenn Close’s organization Bring Change to Mind and will feature Close herself on Saks’ Instagram Stories. She will share information on her charity as well as some self-care tips on how to promote mental and emotional health during the COVID-19 pandemic. She will also speak about ways the community can help others.
On May 12, Hunter McGrady, a Curve model and body positive activist, will take over Saks’ social platform for the day on Instagram Stories and the Instagram feed for the Jed Foundation.
On May 19, Jewel will perform on Saks IGTV for the Never Broken charity. She will be singing one new song and one hit, and also explain the importance of mental wellness. Lana Condor, an actress from the Netflix hit “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “X-Men: Apocalypse,” will participate on behalf of New York-Presbyterian Youth Anxiety Center on Saks’ Instagram Stories on May 26.
Emily Essner, senior vice president, marketing and digital at Saks, said, “During these challenging times, we’ve adapted our marketing strategy to fit the current climate while continuing to support our customers and business. We introduced our #SaksAtHome series based on polling data from our followers and we are providing inspiring content across our digital channels.
“In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we are working with our Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation partners to share messages on the importance of mental wellbeing, tips for self-care and ways to support friends and family,” Essner said.
“The Saks Fifth Avenue Foundation is committed to increasing awareness and improving access to necessary tools and resources. Now more than ever, it is important for Saks to use our platform to make mental health a priority in every community and continue to lessen the stigma often associated with mental health issues,” she added.
The “Saks at Home” series, which launched in March on Instagram and e-mail, has seen some healthy upticks in performance across all the retailer’s digital platforms. The series features home-centric content, such as cooking, self-care, fitness, organization tips and cozy fashion. Average Instagram Stories impressions for some stories have nearly doubled, and they are seeing an increase in completion rates. Some of the store’s more “self-care” online sales categories have also seen double-digit or triple-digit growth. Sleep/loungewear, for example, is up double digits and beauty/fragrance has seen triple-digit growth, said a Saks spokeswoman.
Since 2017, the foundation has invested more than $3 million in U.S. mental health initiatives and reached nearly 2 million individuals. Saks has recently given more than $900,000 in donations to various organizations to support COVID-19 relief, including New York-Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center, Girls Inc., Bring Change to Mind and A Common Thread.
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