Inside American Eagle’s “Live Your Life” Brand Platform and Fall Campaign

American Eagle is drawing on its past to launch a new brand platform, injecting fresh energy into its 20-year-old “Live Your Life” slogan to promote self-expression, inclusivity and acceptance. The platform, which debuts Thursday (July 25), coincides with the launch of the brand’s back-to-school campaign.

“Live Your Life” — a phrase trademarked by American Eagle for more than a decade — has long been a part of the retailer’s marketing, first officially debuting during back-to-school season in 2012. Now, the slogan is being modernized for Gen Z and will be solidified in a fall campaign that includes a partnership with 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff. College football appearances, 3-D billboards and a partnership with Life on Film to capture disposable camera footage round out the effort.

“Our intention is for ‘Live Your Life’ to be around for many, many years, so our team really sees this as a launching point,” said American Eagle Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers. “Back to school is really our Super Bowl, and we’re spending a lot of money on talent, surprise activations and content creation to break through early on.”

The renewal of “Live Your Life” was Inspired by consumer research among Generation Alpha, Millennials and the retailer’s target audience, Generation Z, to discover how the generations perceive American Eagle and what they look for in a clothing brand. One finding was that the retailer is committed to values like self-expression. Respondents also cited a broader hunger for human connection and authentic experiences.

As Brommers said, American Eagle draws on both of these observations in its book “Live Your Life,” emphasizing that it believes “iconic brands tend to gravitate toward who they are.”

“Like Nike’s ‘Just Do It,’ Calvin Klein’s ‘My Calvin’s,’ and even Aerie Real, some things just make sense,” Brommers said.

New energy, same denim

American Eagle’s fall campaign is fronted 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-oriented series “The Buccaneers” and “My Life with the Walter Boys.” Through its partnership with Gauff, the retailer will debut the Coco Gauff x American Eagle collaboration on Aug. 15, which includes a nod to the athlete’s iconic U.S. Open quote: “Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me.”

The talent featured in the retailer’s campaign, which will appear across digital, in-store, social and out-of-home ads, was selected to better target its “Live Your Life” mantra to Gen Z. Brommers described the group as the “rush generation.”

“These are multi-dimensional individuals who truly embody Generation Z,” the executive said. “They are athletes, activists, communicators, business people.”

The ambassadors also cater to what the marketer describes as American Eagle’s “passion pillars,” or core Gen Z interests, which include categories like gaming, social media, sports and social influence. The retailer regularly taps into a customer panel of about 2,000 15- to 25-year-olds to gather insights that drive culturally relevant marketing. Many of its marketing efforts have been inspired by the panel, such as last year’s Amazon Prime Series tie-in, “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”

“We have the best jeans on the market and all the market share data backs that up, but I don’t think we can compete on the level that we compete on, just on a rational level. I think you really have to compete on an emotional level as well.”

Craig Brommers

Marketing Director, American Eagle

American Eagle’s latest move comes at a peak for the retailer, which reported record first-quarter revenue of $1.1 billion. The back-to-school season is a big chance for the brand to keep its momentum going, although spending during the period is expected to decline slightly from $31.9 billion last year to $31.3 billion in 2024, according to Deloitte. Other forecasts are more optimistic — JLL expects spending to increase by nearly 22% — giving Brommers a sense of hope.

“One thing that hasn’t changed over the years is that parents are actually helping their children and putting them first, so I think we’re optimistic about this back-to-school period,” the principal said.

Other back-to-school elements include pop-ups at college football games to tap into Gen Z’s sports obsession. American Eagle’s partnership with Lawrence marks the first time the brand has had an NFL star front one of its campaigns.

Emotional, not just rational

To encourage Gen Z to value expression and authenticity—a tactic adopted by other marketers this season—American Eagle partnered with Life on Film and more than 200 individuals, including actors AnnaSophia Robb, Chris Briney and Jonathan Daviss to capture disposable camera footage of how they live their lives. The footage will be edited into a video montage that will be shared with both the talent and the brand’s social channels, representing a more candid form of content than the brand typically features in its back-to-school marketing, Brommers explained.

“I think that’s why I’m so excited about this campaign and how different it is from what we’ve done in the past,” Brommers said. “If you fast forward 30 days, if you fast forward 60 days, I’m not sure where we’re going to be with this campaign because we really want our customers to discover what ‘Live Your Life’ means to them, and we’re going to be there for them to help lead that campaign.”

Additional guerrilla-style marketing, such as custom videos played in American Eagle stores, invites customers to “participate in the campaign,” though full details have not yet been released. The 3D billboards in markets like New York will complement a slew of outdoor activities that aim to push last year’s back-to-school efforts — described at the time as the brand’s biggest outdoor push since the pandemic — out of the water.

“We have some really crazy innovative things coming to the outdoor space,” Brommers said. “I think we’re in the entertainment business as much as we are in retail, so we should challenge ourselves to be as fun as we can.”

As Brommers explained, the range of channels American Eagle activates symbolizes the diverse interests of Gen Z, while the nods to self-expression and inclusivity are designed to strengthen connections with consumers on an emotional level. That focus has helped the retailer stay in business for nearly five decades.

“We have the best damn jeans on the market and all the market share numbers show that, but I don’t think you can compete on the level that we compete on, only on a rational level,” Brommers said. “I think you really have to compete on an emotional level as well.”