American Eagle Goes Back to School With Snapchat In AR Campaign

The campaign, in partnership with cartoon avatar creator Bitmoji, highlights a variety of new denim offerings to further the brands momentum as a leader in jeans, and is aimed at getting young people excited about showing off new styles as they head back into the world together for a new school year. The campaign features current American Eagle headliners, influencer Addison Rae and actors Chase Stokes and Madison Bailey, as well as showcases the brand’s newest pair of ambassadors, Netflix stars Caleb McLaughlin and Jenna Ortega.

A key feature of the “Future Together, Jeans Forever” campaign is the digital clothing line American Eagle is launching simultaneously with the upcoming back-to-school offering in partnership with Snapchat and Bitmoji. The campaign’s digital doppelganger line features an innovative augmented reality experience that allows Snapchat users and American Eagle fans worldwide to outfit the Bitmoji avatars of American Eagle brand ambassadors Addison, Chase, Madison, Caleb, and Jenna in clothing from the retailer’s “Future Together, Jeans Forever” line, as well as use their phone’s self-facing camera to try on and shop select looks themselves. Users are also able to dress their own personal Bitmoji avatars in the American Eagle x Bitmoji back-to-school clothing collection using both the Snapchat and Bitmoji apps, and the Dress Yourself tool. 

Connecting with customers through augmented reality and other solutions that allow for a wide range of digital self expressions is becoming increasingly popular as consumers live more and more in curated online spaces and the metaverse at large. In PSFK's latest report about Exploring Social Media's Growing Commerce Ambitions, our research have noted the continued rise of avatar-outfit customization and personalized digital appearance options using augmented reality and virtual try-ons for consumers’ personalized avatars as a new space for fashion retailers, and tools like Snapchat’s “Dress Yourself,” to offer new marketing channels for brands to engage with their audience by providing fun and innovative features that surprise and delight. Combining appealing influencer personalities, both real-life and virtual-avatar-based, and the latest technological trends, like augmented reality, provides a potent way for brands to speak to and with their Gen Z, millennial, and younger customers. 

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This article originally appeared in PSFK’s research paper, Exploring Social Media’s Growing Commerce Ambitions