From Yamal to the Mall: How American Eagle Is Positioning Its Back-to-School Marketing

American Eagle began rolling out its key back-to-school marketing campaign this Wednesday, with details shared with Marketing Dive. The campaign will span social programs, experiential events, and brand advertising, including 30-second ads on YouTube and paid social platforms. The overall marketing will focus on mall culture, campus life, and sports.

The sports angle is especially timely: Spanish football star Lamine Yamal, who signed a five-year global ambassador deal with the brand in January, just helped his national team win the World Cup gold medal on Sunday. The 19-year-old rising star launched his first ad campaign with the brand last month and will now play a bigger role in the back-to-school push.

"I don't say this as a CMO who sometimes exaggerates: This is our most exciting talent partnership on the horizon, and we can't believe all the stars aligned and everything we dreamed of is happening in real time," American Eagle Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers told Marketing Dive. "This reflects what happens in modern marketing: you plan the best you can, then exciting things happen, and you pivot and try to make the most of it."

After Spain won the World Cup, American Eagle quickly celebrated Yamal's achievement by temporarily changing its brand name to "Lamine's Eagles" and declaring its Instagram page a "Lamine Yamal fan account." The brand also launched social ads featuring Yamal and football themes, adding CGI effects to ads recently placed on a Times Square billboard.

"This American Eagle marketing team is working around the clock to ensure we amplify Lamine's impact during back-to-school," Brommers said. "The team hasn't stopped coming up with new tricks and surprises, and we're preparing for a product collaboration launch around Labor Day weekend."

American Eagle seems adept at finding the right celebrity partner at the right time. Last year, the brand's campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney was memorable, and despite controversy, it helped attract new customers and briefly reversed a sales decline. In February, American Eagle partnered with country singer Ella Langley, whose song "Choosin' Texas" just topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a 14th consecutive week. Both Sweeney and Langley will appear in the back-to-school campaign.

"I never think talent should define a brand, but the right talent can certainly amplify it," Brommers said.

Gen Z Returns to Malls and Campuses

Beyond heavyweight brand partners, American Eagle will also engage Gen Z in other areas through the back-to-school campaign, most notably the mall. According to PwC data cited by the brand, this demographic's share of mall foot traffic increased 57% year over year—a behavioral shift that also informed competitor Aéropostale's recent campaign.

"We're basically back to pre-pandemic mall traffic levels... and that traffic is driven by young people who want to return to real life and connect with others authentically. We'll have more in-mall activations this season than at any time in my five years as CMO," Brommers said.

To capitalize on Gen Z's return to malls, American Eagle will offer in-store events, discount days, store-exclusive denim collections, and more. During the first week of August, customers who try on jeans in-store and scan a QR code will have a chance to win jeans for life, and the brand will also encourage its creator community to visit local stores for product discovery and content creation.

"When someone takes the time and effort to drive, pay for gas, park, and walk into a mall, it's no longer a transaction. They want an experience," Brommers said. "That's now as important as thinking about creative campaigns or media strategy. It's now about planning how to engage Gen Z in real time, in real life."

To bridge the online-offline gap, American Eagle will launch a social-first, influencer-led content series called "Mall Diaries," aiming to capture the spontaneity and social connection of malls, with a touch of Y2K nostalgia—a strategy proven effective in engaging Gen Z consumers.

Beyond malls, the brand will also hit college campuses in August, focusing on sorority chapters at schools like the University of Alabama, Arizona State University, the University of Florida, and Ohio State University. These influencer-led partnerships will include product showcases, giveaways, and room makeover content, as the brand seeks to tap into #RushTok, the social media trend around sorority recruitment.

"RushTok isn't just about young women going through sorority recruitment. It's really about people watching the outfits, drama, and excitement of sorority recruitment almost in real time," Brommers said of the trend.

Overall, American Eagle's back-to-school marketing aims to help the brand stand out in a season where consumer spending is expected to remain flat, according to Deloitte's latest back-to-school survey. Planned spending is expected to peak in late July and early August, returning to pre-pandemic trends.

"Back-to-school is now a long season. It's not just the first two or three weeks of shopping and it's over. Kids go back to campus, see what everyone's wearing, then they return to the mall to buy more, and then the weather changes," Brommers explained. "We're really ready this year to capitalize on the 10-week back-to-school sprint."