Not everybody was a fan of American Eagle’s back-to-school marketing campaign starring Sydney Sweeney, with some critics going so far as to say the adverts promoted the long-disproven principle of eugenics in drawing a connection between the “Euphoria” actor’s “nice” genes and selection of denim. Discussing the hassle on a Q2 earnings name Wednesday, CMO Craig Brommers did not sweat the backlash.
“The brand new American Eagle historical past has simply begun,” mentioned Brommers.
The celebrity-led advertising technique has been a boon for enterprise in an in any other case difficult retail surroundings beset by tariffs, executives emphasised. As entrepreneurs attempt to navigate interesting to customers in politically fractured instances, the Gen Z-focused attire maker is demonstrating that staying the course regardless of intense blowback can repay.
By the numbers
40B
Variety of impressions generated from American Eagle’s current superstar campaigns, together with its pot-stirring Sydney Sweeney collaboration
700K+
Buyer depend improve for American Eagle throughout Q2
-3%
Decline in year-over-year comparable gross sales for American Eagle throughout Q2
Two current American Eagle campaigns centered on A-listers — the one that includes Sweeney, which launched in July, and a separate capsule collaboration with NFL star Travis Kelce’s Tru Kolors model that landed forward of Labor Day weekend — generated round 40 billion impressions, executives mentioned. That degree of consideration, described as “staggering,” could possibly be attributed to the nationwide firestorm that enveloped the Sweeney push (even President Donald Trump chimed in). Extra importantly for American Eagle, these advertising ploys have generated “unprecedented” new buyer acquisition, with buyer counts up 700,000 over the summer season interval.
“The American Eagle Sydney Sweeney marketing campaign was meant to be a model and enterprise reset, and it has,” mentioned Brommers. “To be clear, that client acquisition is coming from each single county within the U.S. This momentum is nationwide, and it’s pervasive.”
Reaching an ‘inflection level’
Each the Sweeney and Kelce partnerships heart on limited-time attire that has flown off cabinets, comparable to Sweeney’s sold-out wide-leg denims with butterfly particulars. The work with Kelce debuting proper forward of a protracted vacation weekend additionally led to American Eagle’s greatest Labor Day gross sales thus far.
That’s to not say the high-wattage partnerships have instantly turned across the enterprise. Web income at guardian American Eagle Outfitters, which additionally owns Aerie, was down 1% yr over yr to $1.28 billion within the Q2 interval ended Aug. 2. Comparable gross sales declined 3% for the flagship American Eagle model. However executives emphasised that the sturdy response to its superstar collaborations supplies momentum heading into the thick of Q3 and the vital vacation interval.
“Second quarter comps declined but demand improved all through the quarter, and I’m assured that we’re at an inflection level,” mentioned Jennifer Foyle, president and govt inventive director, on the earnings name.
American Eagle will proceed to increase the Sweeney marketing campaign by the top of the yr whereas a second drop with Kelce’s Tru Kolors is slotted for Sept. 24, as soccer season shifts into excessive gear. The problem for the model is changing a lightning-in-a-bottle advertising second into long-term progress and sustaining its new followers amid mounting macroeconomic uncertainty. A minimum of for advertising executives, the tone stays optimistic.
“We all know that buy intent is considerably and meaningfully up, and we’ll be trying to convert this buzz into enterprise all by the again half of the yr,” mentioned Brommers.
