-By Todd Wasserman

Citing a “challenging” holiday shopping environment, Macy’s is launching a campaign themed “Believe” which emphasizes the spirit of Christmas over value messaging.

The campaign, via JWT, New York, draws inspiration from the famous “Yes, Virginia” letter that ran in the New York Sun in 1897 in which a little girl wrote the newspaper asking if Santa Claus was real. “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus,” responded journalist Francis Church, who made the case for believing in things like love, beauty and joy, which are invisible yet exist nonetheless.

The retail chain, which spent $637.6 million on U.S. measured media last year (not including online spending), per Nielsen Monitor-Plus, will begin its holiday blitz on Nov. 9 with newspaper ads reprinting the original letter and a star-studded TV effort with Jessica Simpson, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart and Carlos Santana, among others. Spending on the new campaign was not disclosed.

As part of the effort, Macy’s stores also will host “Believe Stations” which will include a “Believe Meter” to measure holiday spirit. The stations also will be receptacles for letters to Santa. Macy’s has pledged to give one dollar for every such letter—up to $1 million—to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to chronically ill children.

Peter Sachse, Macy’s CMO, said the chain had considered the Believe idea before economic turmoil began to surface in September. “We think we have a very powerful platform with our Believe campaign,” he said. “Macy’s has a a heritage in its DNA to bring this to the fore. We truly—no pun intended—believe in what we are doing.”

The effort comes after the company stopped issuing same-store results in February, asserting they were not a clear measure of the chain’s performance. Macy’s plans to resume monthly reports on Nov. 6, when it will report October sales. Macy’s stock price has also dropped about 70% in the last year, a figure on par with others in the department store segment.

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services predicted “the most difficult holiday season in memory” for retailers this year as consumers keep a tighter hold on spending. In a separate survey by consultant BDO Seidman, CMOs from leading US retailers forecast an average drop of 2.7%.

Nevertheless, Candace Corlett, president of WSL Strategic Retail, a New York-based consulting firm, called Macy’s marketing plan “brilliant” because it plays to the brand’s strengths. “Shoppers are planning to scale way back, so the only ace they have left is service and the emotional connection to the shopper,” Corlett said.