Hello everyone!
My name is Courtney and I'm a junior Accounting Major at Saint Michael's College. For my marketing class, one of our assignments is to keep a blog throughout the semester. I've never blogged before, so we'll see how it goes!
For my first post, I would like to talk about one of my favorite stores: American Eagle. I'm sure most of you have heard of it. It's my go-to place for buying everything, from sweaters, to jeans, to scarves and other accessories. If you've wandered through one of their stores recently, you've probably seen their new line of clothes, called Soft & Sexy (if not, click here). It was introduced in 2015, and consists of tops and dresses. When I first walked into the store and noticed their new Soft & Sexy tees, I couldn't believe how incredible soft they were. The material is a spandex jersey fabric and comes in a variety of colors. I bought two tees that day, and since then my inventory has tripled (see my latest purchase below).
American Eagle strives to deliver great products to their consumers, often times with great deals. Every time I check out their website, there is a sale, whether it's for free shipping after you spend a certain amount, or buy one, get one 50% off (my personal favorite). But occasionally in the mail, American Eagle will send me cash cards. I believe this is a very valuable marketing tool. For one, these cash cards generally arrive in the mail around Christmastime, when I do much of my spending. It also pushes customers to spend money. For example, the cash card below states "$10 off $50 or $20 off $75". Many people will push to spend $75 in order to take $20 off their purchase (that's not a hard thing to accomplish). Overall, this increases American Eagle's revenue and awareness of their company.
In the marketing textbook, one of the key terms that's often talked about is target market. A target market is one or more specific groups of potential consumers toward which an organization directs its marketing program. American Eagle's target market is teens and young adults, both males and females. Most of the people I see wearing American Eagle fit this target market, although there are still mothers out there who buy American Eagle clothes (no judgment there). I believe American Eagle markets perfectly toward their target market. If you take a look at their website, the clothes range from casually cozy to skin-bearing and edgy. You don't see many adults wearing crop tops and jeggings, do you?
Lastly, one of the 4 P's of Marketing that I pay attention to most is price. Obviously as a college student, I must keep tracking of my spending and try to keep it under control. American Eagle's clothing runs on the expensive side, but considering their product's high quality, I understand why jeans generally cost between $40 and $50. The Soft & Sexy tees that I've been buying range from $20-$30. However, if I take advantage of their online deals and cash cards, my overall total costs can be reduced substantially.
While we're on the topic of American Eagle, I might as well check out their website for online deals. I'll see you next week!
Courtney
Sources:
https://ae.com/web/browse/category.jsp?catId=cat7280003
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/business/a-new-look-and-label-for-american-eagle-outfitters.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/22/American_Eagle_Outfitters_logo.svg/703px-American_Eagle_Outfitters_logo.svg.png
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/78/74/77/787477a11b6834da7d9444af3f84d9f4.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CVuajF7XAAA-rC3.jpg
