American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney and Travis Kelce Campaigns Drove More Than 700,000 New Customers

The numbersMore than 700,000: New clients 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 revenue through the second quarter, up 2% year-over-year.3%: Aerie’s comparable gross sales improve in comparison with final yr’s Q2. American Eagle’s comparable gross sales additionally slid 3% year-over-year.$255 to $265 million: Anticipated working revenue for the fiscal yr.The watercooler talkAmerican 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 set 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 replicate the affect of the Kelce marketing campaign, they do embody first-week gross sales from the Sweeney marketing campaign. In response to CMO Craig Brommers, each campaigns drove greater than 700,000 new clients to the model “from each single county within the U.S.,” whereas producing a mixed 40 billion impressions. Throughout an earnings name with buyers, executives caught by each campaigns, which is able to proceed by the yr. 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 supposed to be a model and enterprise reset.” “This momentum is nationwide, and it’s pervasive,” he mentioned. 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 objective now’s to show new guests into repeat clients.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 can be “introducing new parts of the marketing campaign” later this yr, Brommers mentioned.“It is a second to take massive swings—we now have massive expertise, we now have massive amplification, the world is speaking about us,” he mentioned.