By Erika Wheless | Link to article

American Eagle’s partnership with Twitch to create a docuseries focusing on some of the platform’s biggest streamers, is the latest example of brands finding their footing in the gaming world in an effort to connect with Gen Z audiences.

To read the full article, click here.

Each year, AEO honors one associate who has achieved significant accomplishments, personifies our values and who has left an indelible impact on our company and people. Over the next several weeks, we will spotlight the top three finalists for the 2021 AEO ICON.

AEO is excited to introduce Cara, Sr. Director, Social, Public and Influencer Relations, as a 2021 AEO ICON Finalist!

Cara joined AEO in 2020 and quickly became a driving force behind AE’s high-ranking reputation as a social and influencer brand. In her role, Cara is responsible for conceptualizing, driving and executing across all business-critical areas for our social first digitally native audience.

The work of Cara and her team is embedded throughout social media, as they create “thumb-stopping” content that puts AE at the forefront of youth culture and beyond. Additionally, Cara is at the heart of AE’s talent strategy, where she casts relatable and aspirational talent representative of our customers’ passions across music, gaming, pop culture, fashion and social responsibility.

She leads with an inclusion and diversity filter, partnering with people such as Addison Rae, Caleb McLaughlin, Coco Gauff, Chase Stokes, Jenna Ortega, Madison Bailey and MXMToon. These partnerships amplified the AE brand and most recently delivered one of AE’s best campaigns ever.

Cara’s advancements in the online space have pushed AEO to nothing short of viral: she launched two collaborations with gamers this year, put AE at the center of the metaverse and created AEO’s first line of AE NFTs that sold out within 30 minutes ..the second sold out in 3 minutes … and the third in just 90 seconds!

Cara’s strives to ensure that AE leads with innovation, while remaining rooted in what our customers care about – including mental health and sustainability. She is a creative driver who makes certain our mission-based marketing efforts come to life in a compelling and meaningful way. In partnership with AE stores, Cara led the charge on the myAE Ambassador program – developing an outlet for our Brand Ambassadors to create on-demand style content representative of our REAL AE customers, ultimately leading to more organic relationships with our consumer audience.

What can we say – Cara makes our brand cooler. She constantly shows up with a kind heart, an enthusiastic spirit and a passion for leadership. Congratulations on your nomination, Cara!

Each year, AEO honors one associate who has achieved significant accomplishments, personifies our values and who has left an indelible impact on our company and people. Over the next several weeks, we will spotlight the top three finalists for the 2021 AEO ICON.

AEO is proud to introduce Jon K., Sr. Director, FP&A supporting Supply Chain, Technology and Production, as a 2021 AEO ICON finalist!

In a year of unrelenting pressure on the worldwide supply chain, Jon worked side-by-side with leaders at AEO to drive creative solutions for the business which had a direct impact on our ability to deliver such outstanding results in 2021. Jon served as a key partner in the acquisitions of AirTerra and Quiet Logistics and continues to work with them closely as AEO builds our industry-leading supply chain capabilities.

Jon has been a valuable partner since day one – starting his career at AEO in 2013 with the internal audit team before moving to FP&A in 2020 supporting operations. Jon soon became Sr. Director, and is now seen as THE key financial leader on all things related to supply chain. In 2021, Jon helped to manage escalating inbound shipping costs, rising distribution and warehousing expenses, and a mountain of service agreement negotiations with external partners. His efforts led to best ever results within metrics; like shipment per order and overall delivery expense as a percent of revenue.

Outside of work, Jon is dedicated to his role as a loving father of two girls and a devoted husband. While he can tell you all you need to know about tech, Jon can also tell you the best spots in Las Vegas, his prediction for the next Heavyweight UFC Winner, and where to find the best tasting bourbon – all while rockin’ a fresh pair of kicks.

Thank you, Jon, for your leadership and contributions to AEO! Congratulations on your nomination!

Congratulations to Steve Davis, Independent Director and member of the Audit, Compensation and Nominating, Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Committees, on being named one of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Top 100 for 2022! The annual listing recognizes leading corporate directors, corporate governance experts, policymakers, and influencers who significantly impact boardroom practices and performance.

Steve joined the AEO Board of Directors in October 2020 and his wealth of experience has proved to be a tremendous asset to AEO. His deep consumer knowledge, operational and marketing expertise, and track record of scaling growth brands complements our strategic priorities, while his passion for building strong communities and cultures through diversity of people – along with his commitment to giving back – perfectly aligns with our corporate values.

Steve is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bob Evans Farms, bringing more than 30 years of experience leading iconic consumer brands. He previously served in a variety of executive and management roles with YUM! Brands and Kraft General Foods, where he led the successful launch of new products and marketing campaigns for long standing American brands. Steve’s background provides significant capabilities across marketing and branding, strategy, finance and corporate development. He also serves as a director of PPG Industries, Inc., Marathon Petroleum Corporation and Albertsons Companies, where he serves as Chair of the Finance Committee.

“This year’s honorees—each of whom has been nominated by a peer—have demonstrated their individual excellence in governance by serving their organizations and communities during the most challenging of times,” said Peter R. Gleason, president and CEO of NACD. “These directors exemplify accomplishment and integrity and inspire others with their dedication to enhancing board leadership.”

Honorees will be recognized at the 2022 NACD Directorship 100 Awards Gala in June. They will also be highlighted in the NACD Directorship magazine’s annual list of the Most Influential People in Boardrooms and Corporate Governance.

By: Evan Clark | Link to article

Shekar Natarajan is using the specialty retailer as a base to Uberize the supply chain with a sharing mentality.

Shekar Natarajan is trying to start a revolution — taking on retail logistics giants like Amazon and Walmart from his base at American Eagle Outfitters.  

But as Natarajan gathers other revolutionaries to the cause, he’s having to overcome some of the deep-seeded competitive nature that has always hindered cooperation between retailers. 

And cooperation is what’s needed if midsized players are going to compete with the giants when it comes to getting goods to consumers, he said.

A little myth busting might be in order, too. 

“It’s a common myth, people think supply chains are a competitive advantage,” Natarajan said. “Supply chains at hyper scale are a competitive advantage.”

While many companies talk about “owning” their supply chain, Natarajan argued that they only own a small part of it — like a distribution center — but don’t, for instance, control the temp agency that brings in people to keep packages flowing during peak season. They also spend a lot money maintaining capacity to handle the peak shipping season before the holidays and then only use that capacity for a month each year.

Natarajan is executive vice president and chief supply chain officer at American Eagle, but also leads the Quiet and Airterra logistics businesses the retailer acquired last year. 

American Eagle paid $350 million in cash for Quiet, describing the deal as “the next step” in its “supply chain transformation.” Quiet uses “state-of-the-art technology and robotics” and “a network of modern centers, currently operating in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, St. Louis and Jacksonville” to move goods closer to consumers. Together with Airterra, a logistics and supply chain platform, it forms the center of the company’s supply chain platform, which supports the retail business, but is operated independently. 

It’s a budding enterprise that relies on a sharing mind-set. 

“Everybody has a vertical pipe for themselves and that pipe doesn’t talk to the next guy,” Natarajan said, describing the global supply chain as a vast plumbing network. “We make products in the same factory, but we don’t share containers, we don’t even share the vessel.”

That kind of inefficiency was maybe less of an issue when companies were all playing in the same league. 

“It’s not a level playing field,” Natarajan said. “American Eagle is a classic example of that. I worked for Walmart, I worked for Target, Coke and Pepsi Co. They are able to invest disproportionately into supply chain to compete in the future. Walmart moves about 50 billion units a year, American Eagle moves 225 million a year. What Walmart does in a day and a half, American Eagle does in a year. So the scale advantage of those big companies is simply ginormous.

“If you project the world into the future, what happens with e-commerce growth and the need for labor and capacity, it’s just taking off in a direction you cannot control,” he said. “The best way to bring back influence and control to the market is by creating that sharing mentality.”

In short, the retail supply chain needs to borrow a page from Uber’s playbook, sharing capacity and pulling resources from the broader marketplace. 

Already American Eagle uses the distribution system along with about 50 other companies, including Peloton and Mack Weldon. Natarajan said the goal is to add another 200 brands to the system to get “a good last mile economic number” that puts midsized companies on a collectively better footing as they meet Amazon in the market. 

“Two hundred-fifty is the magic number,” he said. “What we are trying to do right now is create a supply chain movement. The movement leads to a revolution and revolution is not overnight, it takes a lot of energy, it takes a lot of work.”

It’s important work, Natarajan said.

“You cannot have big retail and very small retail, you need to have mid retail,” he said. “That’s how the diversity of the system is maintained and restored.”

And Natarajan sees the market coming his way. 

“Everyone in the network is understanding that they are not the ecosystem, they are part of the ecosystem,” he said.  

With COVID-19 scrambling up the business of moving goods from factory to the consumer’s doorstep or the sales floor, more companies might be ready for a change.

“Supply chains today are anything but peace of mind,” Natarajan said. “You’re trading the supply chain competencies that you have for peace of mind that it’s going to run very efficiently” by buying into a bigger, sharing system.

But while COVID-19 might have sped things up, Natarajan said he and the supply chain were already moving in this direction. 

“This has been an idea in the making for the last four and a half years,” he said. “American Eagle was the best place to begin the journey for us. And it also gave us the access and support of the senior leadership team to go experiment with this model. This is not a COVID[-19] reaction.” 

Rather, it’s a movement on its way to a revolution. Or that’s the plan. Regardless, there seems to be much more to come. 

“We are barely getting started,” Natarajan said.

By: Kellie Ell / Link to article

Aerie has found its happy spot online amid an increasingly negative social media backdrop. 

This spring, the innerwear, swimwear and loungewear brand, which is part of the American Eagle Outfitters family, has created a campaign that focuses on reversing the negative effects of social media. The initiative includes a three-day TikTok hashtag challenge; PSAs (or “positive scrolling always” moments) that will be broadcast across both TikTok and Instagram; some new Aerie ambassadors and change-makers (as well as some returning fan favorites), and an IRL “Happy Spot” spring break event in Miami, where Aerie fans can snap photos and share the brand’s positive vibes across their own social media channels. 

“Our main goal is to flood the feed with positivity,” Stacey McCormick, senior vice president of Aerie brand marketing, told WWD in an exclusive interview. “We like to call it reeling in the rhythm, which is bringing more ‘real’ to the algorithm. We want to create a safe and good place for social media, because we know that she’s going to be on her social. They are going to be — if not shopping — scrolling all the time. These PSAs are really there to help break that feed and deliver some great messaging.”

The PSAs will feature tips and tricks of how to combat negativity on online, such as how to walk away from social media and take a break when needed, or positive affirmations that individuals can use to block some of the negative noise on the internet. 

“This initiative is very important to us and we do think it works,” McCormick said. “We do see that when given positive content, and content that’s unfiltered and real, it can help someone feel better about themselves. And we hear from our community, loud and clear, that we are a safe place.” 

Aerie’s spring lineup of changemakers and ambassadors includes TikTok personalities Erika Priscilla, Hannah Schlenker and Elyse Myers; actors Alisha Boe and Carlacia Grant; Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, and singer, songwriter Kelsea Ballerini, all women who McCormick said are “bringing that positivity into their communities. They’re all very synonymous with being real through their social and through their world.”

That’s been in the brand’s ethos since 2014, eight years after the brand was created, when Aerie launched its first Aerie Real campaign, starring role model Iskra Lawrence, proudly posing in Aerie products. Except there was no airbrushing and all the features that would have historically been considered flaws — including stretch marks and cellulite — were on display.

Since then, other brands have followed. While McCormick said she’s encouraged by how the movement has helped shape the industry, she said there’s still work to be done. “We know that we started the movement and the responsibility that we have to keep pushing it and to drive it,” McCormick said. 

Jennifer Foyle, president and executive creative director of both the American Eagle and Aerie brands, added: “The hashtag AerieReal movement revolutionized the industry, bringing inclusivity to the forefront and empowering young women to love their real selves inside and out. As we build on the strength of Aerie, we are committed to helping our community find their happy and prioritize positivity. We know social media can have a negative impact, which is why we are creating a safe and happy space that fosters healthy conversations and cultivates a positive social [media] scroll for our Aerie community.”

Asking users to limit their time on social media by way of various social media platforms might seem strange. But Ballerini pointed out, “It’s the easiest way to get messaging to people. It’s obviously the way of now, of marketing and of getting what you want people to know to the people who you want to know it. I definitely feel like there’s no fault there. 

“But also, like, when you’re scrolling through your feed and you’re following all kinds of people, and you’re also following Aerie, you’re going to see an unfiltered photo with stretch marks. Or an unfiltered photo with all kinds of body types,” Ballerini said. “And I think that in itself is combating the rut of what’s wrong with social media. Just because I feel like that [positivity] is what we’re missing. That’s part of the toxicity of social media. 

“I’m constantly in a back and forth relationship with social media, just trying to get my own mental health around it to a good place,” she added. “We’re all looking to these standards [on social media] that aren’t even real pictures or real people. I just think about these young girls who are thinking, ‘Am I supposed to look like that?’ ‘Is that what pretty means?’ That term is so broad.” 

McCormick added that in-person activations are an important part of the yearlong anti-negativity initiative, so people can connect IRL, outside of social media. The first of which will be Aerie’s “Happy Spot” pool party at the Good Times Hotel in Miami’s South Beach on Wednesday. Shoppers will have a chance to meet and greet the Aerie ambassadors while they browse the new spring collections. Ballerini will also perform her latest song, “Keepin’ It Real,” a song she created in partnership with Aerie. Ticket proceeds will benefit the Miami-based nonprofit Style Saves.

“We like to call it our take-a-break event, instead of spring break,” said McCormick, who added that additional in-person events will likely roll out later in the year as more brick-and-mortar Aerie and Offline stores pop-up throughout the country. “We know our customers need a little bit of levity and need to take a break. And bringing Aerie to more people in real life, so they can experience the store and the connection they have with our brand, is just as important as the digital and social things that we do.”