Hasta La Creative!

The New York Times looks at American Eagle Outfitter’s journey into branded entertainment.

Last summer, on its Web site, ae.com, American Eagle introduced a dedicated media channel called 77e, which plays music and videos. The idea was to make visitors intrigued enough by what they saw to entice them to click further and buy clothes. Much of the content on the channel has been commissioned specifically as entertainment and used the American Eagle brand almost incidentally.

“Our customers know about media. They are curating their own consumption of media — making their playlists of music, selecting their own video clips,” said Kathy Savitt, chief marketing officer at American Eagle Outfitters. “We thought more could be done than just another 30-second spot on television.”