Aerie’s Feeling-First Approach to Music

Since launching in 2006 as the first sub-brand of American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), intimate wear and lifestyle brand Aerie has proven that it really knows its audience. Breaking industry standards in 2014 with the launch of Aerie REAL, the retailer was the first to openly reject image retouching, instead opting to celebrate real bodies, encouraging consumers to love themselves wholly and authentically.

Growing in popularity and revenue year on year, Aerie is far from a side character to its parent company, AEO. With over 300 Aerie stores worldwide, 1.7 million followers on Instagram, and close to 300,000 on TikTok, the brand achieved record revenue on comparable sales growth (5%) in the 2024 fiscal year.

Aiding all of this is the brand’s commitment to connecting with its community – primarily women between the ages of 15-30 – through multiple channels: in store, online retail, marketing and social media. In addition to its underlying commitment to REAL, the brand’s presence across touchpoints is underscored by its use of music, building a 360-degree brand experience at every entry point.

Speaking with Music and Strategy’s co-founder and president, James Alvich, and partner and EP, Gabe McDonough, chief marketing officer Stacey McCormick and Torrey Acri, vice president creative strategy and brand voice, who were both part of the team behind Aerie REAL discuss how music helps to chase feelings and connect with the wider Aerie community.

^{​Above: Music and Strategy's James Alvich and Gabe McDonough}

MAS> How did your relationship with music start, and what role does it play in your lives?

Stacey> I'm an ‘80s kid, and some of my core memories of growing up are of listening to my dad play music in the garage when I was super young. He would grab the guitar and play to Peter, Paul and Mary – really ‘70s vibes.

I had an aunt that was really Beatles-heavy, so she turned me on to The Beatles when I was probably seven or eight. I thought she was the coolest hippie lady ever. I started loving The Beatles and became obsessed with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and in the ‘80s, when Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees took on the movie, it became my life.

I realised it wasn't athletes that I was inspired by, it was musicians. Those were the people I wanted to be. So in 1981, when MTV dropped, it literally changed my life. I would sit in front of the TV with my tape recorder, and I would wait for the changing of the hour so I could see the rocket ship go and the songs that were coming on next. That’s how I got into music, developing not just a ‘crush’ on it, but an obsession with it.

Torrey> I think of the influence of fashion (fashion and music have always intersected for me). When I think of music from when I was little in the ‘80s, it has a visual connection. For example, New Romantic alternative music is evocative of my brother and his skateboard friends, and the style relating to that.

And then, as we entered the ‘90s, I moved to New York to go to college, and music was part of everything – what were runway shows playing, and what were models walking to? It was all so connected.

These style moments came from cultural moments – like grunge being so related to style and music – and that was transformative in my senior year. There's so many emotions, but the intersection of the visual and the music really stands out. You can connect this to certain events – like concerts and festivals becoming fashionable moments. I think as we move from TV towards TikTok and social media, this has been enhanced, and there’s a greater synergy now between music, fashion and emotion.

MAS> How would you describe Aerie’s overall relationship with music, and how does it fit into the overarching brand story?

Stacey> The two of us love music. So, when we set out to do something, we're looking for that emotional connection upfront. When a piece of music hits me, I can recognise the moment that it happens. I get the chills – it’s a feeling from head to toe, and usually that's my filter with the wider team.

When I feel that moment when the beat drops and the edit happens, and it's like a perfect symphony coming together; it creates that emotion and that connection, so I'm looking to literally grab that feeling through a screen. It’s like saying on the first date that you're looking for ‘the one’, but we really do look to make those connections.

Torrey> That feeling is so key, and we know that we’ve got a concept that works for us when we get that feeling: it's chills, or it gives you tingles or a rush. So, we look for music that relates to that. When we start to get past concept development and we're thinking about what the piece or the campaign needs, we look for music that makes us feel the same way and is evocative of the emotions that we're trying to convey.
But it’s dictated by our community in a big way too. We want to make sure we connect with what makes sense to them (we live in such a musical world now that we're not afraid to use things that we don't know, and don’t necessarily worry if our customer likes it or not – we know that if it makes sense with the piece it will be a love). So, it's fluid and it's pretty open.

We also have our social team that’s very tapped into our audience. It’s a group that we call ‘AerieSpeaks’ that we get two way information from, and it’s great because we'll tap them on what their favourite artists are, and we're constantly listening in on who they’re streaming, what they’re listening to, and who they’re following.

We’re really listening on that level, and it’s good to understand their sensibilities. But, when you break it all down, our audience base is very mainstream – from the Gracie Abrams to the Taylor Swifts – so we like to mix that up in our musical choices.

MAS> Does the Aerie brand have a particular soundtrack, or is it something that is figured out based on feelings and the individual requirements of a campaign?

Stacey> We have a soundtrack in mind when we start to put the audio to the visuals; we're looking for a sense of optimism in the music that helps to pull through the feeling and energy from the campaign.

But, I don't think there's ‘rules’ anymore – people are inspired by anything they hear. I mean, I'm inspired by just hearing ASMR background noises of birds chirping. There’s certain circumstances that require a particular type of sound, or trends can set the tone for what you’re looking for, or things stand out simply because they sound ‘different’. So, we used to have a more prescriptive or strategic approach to the type of music we used, but not as much anymore.

MAS> Have you ever had any specific feedback on music from customers, or is it implied that if sales are good, that the brand’s music choices are working well?

Stacey> That's a good question. We really haven't put AB testing behind music – we've done it once – so to me, it's still very subjective. What one person likes is not what the other person likes, and we're not looking for that mass appeal.

I will say, the most feedback we received was through the ‘I Want Aerie’ recall, which was a play on ‘I Want Candy’. When we thought of the song, we thought of Bow Wow Wow and the New Romantics, but this generation related the song to an artist called Aaron Carter, who had recently passed away.

From a recall standpoint, we did want to see how it measured in-season, and it was so high. It drove volume to us, generated clicks, and people stuck with it. So, we look at that side, but we don't really take our pieces and run them through focus groups to get direct feedback, because we change our approach pretty frequently anyway. For example, I’d hate for us to get in our heads and think, ‘you can't do female-led anthem rock’, as yes, that might not be trending today, but what if it starts trending in a month’s time?

MAS> Do you ever get any feedback from consumers about the audio experience that Aerie provides in its physical stores?

Torrey> That’s a place where we do get consistent feedback – people love to make comments on our in-store playlists.

Stacey> It’s something we really care about. We filter and put together playlists with our younger team members that are listened to by a diverse audience. We want to identify what you would feel like when you're in an Aerie store, but we also don't want to exclude people from things they might want to hear. Music is part of the 360-degree experience when you're in the store. We don't buy it off the shelf, and the playlist is curated by someone on the team who listens very closely and makes sure that what's on there is right for the brand and the store experience too.

Torrey> Associates always have feedback too. If you go into a store and ask them questions, they’ll definitely have music suggestions, because it's personal. People always contribute. There's a group that we've connected together who primarily work on it, and then everyone gives monthly feedback; it’s super collaborative.

MAS> Now for a music and fashion question. Do you think there’s a current artist who is really representing fashion in the music world right now?

Stacey> When you hear Olivia Rodrigo, she kind of portrays ‘riot girl’: kind of punk – something her stylist has reinforced in the way she’s styled too. I also feel that way about Taylor Swift, as everything she wears represents the album that she's in. During ‘Folklore’, she was very boho, whilst for ‘Midnight’, she was more contemporary. So, I feel like fashion is still a big part of an artist's identity.

Lana Del Ray really brings in an Americana influence, and now she's moving into a country theme, but she's always worn a Western boot with her pretty dresses. So, she kind of symbolises music and trends crossing over. Billie Eilish, of course, is very visual when you hear and think of her, but it's not the way she sounds – she’s completely different from what you expect when you see her.

That's why I think there's not as many boundaries as there used to be. I feel like artists don't want to associate with a visual identity as much now, because then it excludes people from listening to their music. They want to almost be like on ‘The Voice’, where they’re not defined by a visual identity.

Torrey> I think that speaks to new generations. Because when we grew up – and I think we can all attest to this – if you listened to alternative music, for example, and you were not really in that group, you got called out for being a ‘poser’.

Today, those lines are all blurred. Look at Lady Gaga – one day she can show up looking goth, and the next day she shows up with Tony Bennett. It doesn't matter, no one questions it, and that’s the beauty of today.