Mission

The fashion retailer Aéropostale was launching a Back to School campaign that showcased a new fashion direction for the retailer and wanted to utilize digital signage in their storefronts. The goal of the campaign was to bring awareness to the new line and engage with Gen Z consumers in a unique, compelling, and immersive way.

Challenges

Brick-and-Mortar retail in the digital age presents some unique challenges because traditionally stores like Aéropostale relied on stagnant, antiquated signs that did not resonate with its younger target audience.

Strategy

Our strategy was to create a scalable, digital storefront projection solution that brings movement and life to the retailer's storefront. Grabbing the attention of the younger audience and drawing them to the store in a unique and memorable way. We achieved this by repurposing Aeropostales Back to School campaign assets with our cost-effective dynamic storefront window projection system.

Results

Aeropostale’s back-to-school product assortment, which launched on Monday, is heavy on denim, with a variety of new fits and washes in men’s and women’s. According to Natalie Levy, president and chief merchandise officer at Aeropostale’s parent company SPARC, denim was just a small part of the business when she joined the company in 2017. The sales ratio for tops-to-bottoms was three-to-one, with graphic tees being the biggest selling item. Now, denim is the brand’s No. 1 category, with current sales 50% higher than in 2019.

The focus on denim was a strategic decision, after several years of market research, said Levy. Aeropostale has been tracking Gen Z’s growing disinterest in skinny jeans, which were incredibly popular with millennials. Mom jeans, baggy jeans and “skater jeans” — all looser fits — make up 40% of Aero’s jeans sales for women, while jeggings largely account for the rest. Last year, it only sold one looser fit for women — the boyfriend jean. It accounted for just 7% of total denim sales in the category, which shows the sudden shift in trends. LINK

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