Revolutionizing positive impact across Neiman Marcus Group’s brands

Neiman Marcus Group

Neiman Marcus Group (NMG) and its brands — Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call, and Horchow — are dedicated to revolutionizing luxury experiences by advancing sustainable products and services, cultivating a culture of belonging, and leading with love in their communities.

In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the ensuing pressures caused the company to restructure. NMG’s new owners – all signatories of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) – prioritized a comprehensive Environmental, Social, and Governance strategy as central to the company’s transformation.

The challenge

NMG's transformation required demonstrating progress on material ESG issues to investors. The company had begun to identify and improve its performance on these issues through strategic partnerships and investments, but needed help communicating those initiatives in a way that both aligned with the brand and reflected authentic ESG progress. This meant the ESG report had to both emulate the classic, luxurious look and feel signature to NMG, while also demonstrating progress on ESG goals by incorporating all relevant data, metrics, and frameworks.

Our solution

The company’s first-ever ESG report brought together NMG's commitment to revolutionizing luxury alongside its commitment to sustainability leadership. Working closely with the NMG team, we employed visuals and narrative to roll out a strong execution of the corporate identity that reflected the high caliber of NMG products and practices across its portfolio of brands.

In developing this first report, we sought to partner with NMG to compile and analyze its ESG data with the same rigor and oversight it employs for its financials. We are both proud that the company’s first report aligns with external frameworks from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and provides investors with comparable and decision-useful information about the company’s ESG performance. It is our hope this will help investors share the Board’s confidence in the strength of this company and its future.

The key to our success was prioritizing partnership above all else. Our teams collaborated to co-create and execute the creative vision for the project, iterate multiple concepts, and ultimately empower each other to leverage the magic of partnership to bring it all to life.

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Key outcomes

Demonstrated authentic ESG progress through a visually engaging PDF report

Engaged the C Suite and investors via compelling graphics, imagery, and messaging

Surpassed expectations, including those of the CEO, who mentioned it “far exceeded” what he thought possible

“As we initiated our ESG journey at Neiman Marcus Group, we were in search of the perfect partner: one that could both offer strategic guidance and bring our ESG efforts to life through creative storytelling. The thinkPARALLAX team was a dream fit: they worked alongside us to create a beautiful ESG report that expertly communicated our goals and progress on climate, circularity, belonging and more. We couldn’t be more proud of the end result.”

Ali Mize, Senior Director | ESG, Belonging, & Corporate Philanthropy