“Aerie” Brand Background: History American Eagle is a leading retailers that company that could strive during a time of change. In 2006 American Eagle was voted as the top brand College Students couldn’t live without (AEO History 2014). In the early 2000’s more and more girls wanted lingerie, not just for the sexual appeal, but also for themselves. While younger girls wanted lingerie options, American Eagle saw this as an opportunity to expand the market from one of the only options available—Victoria Secret. In 2006 American Eagle decided to take their already successful intimates that were in their stores, and start a sub brand, for their company. They started branding an even bigger collection of dormwear and targeted girls 15-25. They didn’t just see Victoria Secret as their competition, but they wanted to give girls what they wanted (Moin 2006). They went for a more romantic approach to their lingerie, instead of the sex-appeal Victoria Secret gave off (Maheshwari 2013). They labeled their intimates as simply “Aerie”, which means “bird’s nest”. The name “aerie” demonstrated the romantic flowy feel they were going for, and chose to keep it all lower case for an even more elegant feel. They started …show more content…
In October 2012 the company had opened 154 stores since 2006. They expanded their online shops and stayed true to their romantic nature (Dockterman 2014). In January of 2014 Robert Hanson, the CEO of American Eagle stepped down, and they appointed Roger Markfield as he had been with the company since 1993 (American Eagle Outfitters Names.. 2014). Following the change in CEO’s, Aerie launched a new campaign in Spring of 2014. They decided to stop the use of Adobe Photoshop in their marketing and advertising. They wanted to promote the natural look of real people, specifically those who buy their clothes (Dockterman 2014). This changed the company and was a key stage in their