The numbers
Greater than 700,000: New prospects pushed by advert campaigns starring Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce.
40 billion: The mixed impressions from the Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce campaigns.
$103 million: American Eagle’s working earnings through the second quarter, up 2% year-over-year.
3%: Aerie’s comparable gross sales improve in comparison with final 12 months’s Q2. American Eagle’s comparable gross sales additionally slid 3% year-over-year.
$255 to $265 million: Anticipated working earnings for the fiscal 12 months.
The watercooler discuss
American Eagle’s second-quarter earnings embody the primary indicators of success from its controversial advert marketing campaign that includes actress Sydney Sweeney.
When it launched in July, “Sydney Sweeney Has Nice Denims” was criticized for selling a “pro-eugenics” message by leaning into the wordplay between “denims” and “genes.” In a single advert, Sweeney, decked out in denim, declares that “my physique’s composition is decided by my genes.”
As soon as the furor died down, American Eagle adopted up the Sweeney marketing campaign in August by partnering with NFL star Travis Kelce and his model, Tru Kolors, on a 90-piece assortment to be offered in American Eagle shops. To advertise the partnership, Kelce stars in an advert together with his associates and rising athletes like Anna Frey and Azzi Fudd. The partnership had fortuitous timing, rolling out days after Kelce introduced his engagement to Taylor Swift.
Whereas American Eagle’s Q2 earnings don’t mirror the impression of the Kelce marketing campaign, they do embody first-week gross sales from the Sweeney marketing campaign. Based on CMO Craig Brommers, each campaigns drove greater than 700,000 new prospects to the model “from each single county within the U.S.,” whereas producing a mixed 40 billion impressions.
Throughout an earnings name with traders, executives caught by each campaigns, which can proceed by the 12 months.
CEO Jay Schottenstein referred to the Sweeney marketing campaign as “iconic,” saying it “affirms that we’re the American denims model.”
Brommers repeatedly made the case for each campaigns, saying that the Sweeney marketing campaign “was meant to be a model and enterprise reset.”
“This momentum is nationwide, and it’s pervasive,” he stated.
Nonetheless, he cautioned that the complete results of each campaigns can’t but be measured. Whereas early metrics like consideration and buy intent have elevated, American Eagle’s aim now could be to show new guests into repeat prospects.
A second drop of Kelce’s assortment is deliberate for this fall, when the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs tight finish will play in NFL video games. With Sweeney, the model will probably be “introducing new components of the marketing campaign” later this 12 months, Brommers stated.
“It is a second to take huge swings—we’ve huge expertise, we’ve huge amplification, the world is speaking about us,” he stated.
