Aeropostale has lost ground when it comes to youth culture markets, and as we’ve reported in our Youth Culture Studies, has been replaced by various brands that are far more in tune with this demographic than the $2.4 billion chain store/brand has been in the past couple of years.
In their latest revamp, the brand/store is taking a hard look at their young women’s collections and launching a new activewear line called Live Love Dream. From leggings to sweatshirts, the line includes pieces with a sporty edge, softer fabrics, and active themes.
They’ve also ramped their ecommerce strategy in order to engage with youth culture buying patterns and changed their international shipping structure in attempts to streamline costs.
However overall, the women’s apparel makes up about 65% of Aeropostale’s sales but has been weak since 2011 with out-of-touch styles—mostly in terms of basic T-shirts with oversized logos. They have since brought on a new designer and merchandise team and are moving to create a new range of styles featuring denim, authentic details in tops, softer flowing fabrics, and of course, their active line.
One of the biggest changes that seems to have been successful, has been within their marketing campaigns including their latest Summer Road Trips campaign. Similar to other brands such as H&M, the Summer Road Trips invites fans of the brand to send in their photos of personal summer roadtrips and events and share them online in an attempt at creating community around the theme and win various prizes from the brand.
With back-to-school around the corner, we’ll see how successful Aeropostale is with their latest changes.
Stay tuned for our Fall Youth Culture Study 2013. Also, check out our latest The Future Consumers Reports on T-shirts, Denim, Accessories, Action Sports Apparel, and Footwear.
