Dec 28, 2013 02:47 PM EST
"[The department stores] have always launched seasonal advertising campaigns, but this year they are more intense," Marisol Huerta, a retail analyst with brokerage Banorte-Ixe in Mexico City, told WWD.
"Point-of-sale campaigns are also more aggressive, and the department stores are definitely going to increase their marketing investment this year and next."
Department store sales are slated to grow 8 to 10 percent this year, compared to the annual average growth of 10 to 15 percent since 2008.
Huerta said that this economic slowdown is expected to last until 2015. On top of the dip in the growth of sales in stores, Congress also approved a fiscal reform, which capped personal income taxes at 35 percent from 28 percent.
"We don't see a clear economic growth dynamic for next year, and Mexico is going to suffer from higher taxes," Huerta said.
Sears de Mexico's marketing director, Edgar Smolensky, said the promotional efforts by Mexico's department stores are very ambitious, adding that while Sears has also increased its marketing efforts, it has taken a different approach than other companies.
"The latest campaigns are indeed more aggressive than last year, and we can see the competition doing very strong and unprecedented promotions," Smolensky said.
For some stores, such as luxury chain El Palacio de Hierro, social media has played a major - and unprecedented - role in the marketing efforts.
Meanwhile, Sears has focused its attention on TV advertising with its "Falling in Fashion" initiative, and Liverpool, Mexico's largest department store network, is using a celebrity-inspired campaign starring actress Milla Jovovich.
"We feel very confident about digital," said El Palacio's communications director, Françoise Lavertu.
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