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American Eagle is taking a page from its past for the launch of a new brand platform, giving fresh energy to a 20-year-old \u201cLive Your Life\u201d slogan to promote self-expression, inclusion and acceptance. The platform, which debuted Thursday, coincides with the rollout of the brand\u2019s back-to-school campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cLive Your Life\u201d \u2014 a phrase trademarked by American Eagle for over a decade \u2014 made an appearance in the retailer\u2019s back-to-school marketing\u00a0in 2012. Today, the slogan is being modernized for Gen Z and will be ingrained in a fall campaign that includes a partnership with 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff. College football appearances, 3D billboards and a collaboration with Life on Film to capture disposable camera footage round out the effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur intent is that \u2018Live Your Life\u2019 will be with us for many, many years to come, so our team really views this as a jumping off point,\u201d said American Eagle Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers. \u201cBack-to-school really is our Super Bowl and we\u2019re spending a lot of money around talent and surprise activations and content creation to cut through initially.\u201d<\/p>\n
The revival of \u201cLive Your Life\u201d was\u00a0<\/strong>inspired by consumer research across Gen Alpha, millennials and the retailer\u2019s target Gen Z audience that sought to uncover how the generations regard American Eagle and what they look for in a clothing brand. Among the findings was the sentiment that the retailer is loyal to values like self-expression. Respondents more broadly also indicated a hunger for human connection and real experiences.<\/p>\nAmerican Eagle is leaning into both of those insights with \u201cLive Your Life,\u201d Brommers said, noting his belief that \u201ciconic brands run toward who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust like \u2018Just Do It\u2019 for Nike or \u2018My Calvin\u2019s\u2019 from Calvin Klein or even \u2018Aerie Real,\u2019 there\u2019s just some things that make sense,\u201d said Brommers.<\/p>\n
New energy, same denim<\/strong><\/h3>\nAmerican Eagle\u2019s fall campaign is headlined by tennis star Gauff, who is set to compete in the Paris Olympics, along with Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and actors Kristine Froseth and Nikki Rodriguez, who star in Gen Z-focused series \u201cThe Buccaneers\u201d and \u201cMy Life with the Walter Boys,\u201d respectively. Through its tie-up with Gauff, the retailer will unveil a Coco Gauff x American Eagle collaboration on Aug. 15 that includes a nod to the athlete\u2019s iconic U.S. Open quote, \u201cThank you to the people who didn\u2019t believe in me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talent featured in the retailer\u2019s campaign, who will appear in digital, in-store, social and out-of-home ads, were selected to better target the \u201cLive Your Life\u201d mantra at Gen Z. Brommers described the group as the \u201chustle generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are multi-hyphenated individuals who really encapsulate Gen Z,\u201d the exec said. \u201cThey\u2019re athletes, they\u2019re activists, they\u2019re communicators, they\u2019re business people.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ambassadors also satisfy what the marketer describes as American Eagle\u2019s \u201cpassion pillars,\u201d or the key interests of Gen Z, which include categories like gaming,\u00a0social media, sports and community impact. The retailer regularly leverages a customer panel consisting of around 2,000 people aged 15 to 25 to gather insights that drive culturally relevant marketing. A number of marketing efforts have been inspired by the panel, like last year\u2019s tie-up with Amazon Prime series \u201cThe Summer I Turned Pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe have the best damn jeans out there and all the market share data would showcase that, but I don\u2019t think you can be competing at the level we\u2019re competing at just on the rational, I think you actually do have to compete on the emotional as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Craig Brommers<\/p>\n
CMO, American Eagle<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n
American Eagle\u2019s latest move comes at a high point for the retailer, which reported record first-quarter revenue of $1.1 billion. The back-to-school season is a major opportunity for the brand to keep momentum rolling, though spending for the period is expected to fall slightly from $31.9 billion last year to $31.3 billion\u00a0in 2024, according to Deloitte. Other forecasts yield a sunnier outlook \u2014 JLL expects spending to surge nearly 22% \u2014 providing Brommers a sense of hopefulness.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that has been resilient over the years is that parents will, in fact, help their kids and put them first, so I think we\u2019re optimistic about this back-to-school season,\u201d the exec said.<\/p>\n\nOther elements of the back-to-school push include pop-ups at college football games to tap into Gen Z\u2019s sports fixation. American Eagle\u2019s partnership with Lawrence represents the first time the brand has had an NFL star fronting one of its campaigns.<\/p>\n
Emotional, not just rational<\/h3>\n
To engage Gen Z\u2019s appreciation for self-expression and authenticity \u2014 a tactic adopted by other marketers this season \u2014 American Eagle has teamed with Life on Film and over 200 people, including <\/strong>actors AnnaSophia Robb, <\/strong>Chris Briney <\/strong>and Jonathan Daviss, to capture disposable camera footage showcasing how they live their lives. The footage will be edited into a video montage that will be shared across both the talent and the brand\u2019s social media channels, representing a more candid form of content than the brand usually puts forward in its back-to-school marketing, Brommers explained.<\/p>\n\u201cI think that\u2019s why I\u2019m so excited by this campaign and how it differs from things we\u2019ve done in the past,\u201d Brommers said. \u201cIf you fast forward 30 days, if you fast forward 60 days, I\u2019m not sure where we will be with this campaign because we really want our customers to explore what \u2018Live Your Life\u2019 means to them, and we\u2019re going to follow them where they help take this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additional guerrilla-style marketing, like custom videos projected on American Eagle stores, invites customers to \u201cbe a part of the campaign,\u201d though full details are yet to be revealed. Three-dimensional billboards in markets like New York will complement a slate of outdoor activations that are intended to blow last year\u2019s back-to-school efforts \u2014 described at the time as the brand\u2019s largest outdoor push since the pandemic \u2014 out of the water.<\/p>\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve got some really crazy innovative things coming up in the outdoor space,\u201d Brommers said. \u201cI think we\u2019re in the entertainment business as much as we\u2019re in the retail business, so we should be challenging ourselves to be as entertaining as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The array of channels American Eagle is activating symbolizes the diverse interests of Gen Z, Brommers explained, while the nods to self-expression and inclusion are meant to strengthen its connection with consumers on an emotional level. That focus has helped the retailer stay in business for nearly five decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the best damn jeans out there and all the market share data would showcase that, but I don\u2019t think you can be competing at the level we\u2019re competing at just on the rational,\u201d\u00a0Brommers said.\u00a0\u201cI think you actually do have to compete on the emotional as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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