Dive Brief:
- American Apparel has exited bankruptcy and is set to launch a new marketing campaign to rebuild its brand and promote a line of $30 "luxury" T-shirts.
- The brand plans to spend a modest $500,000 on the marketing campaign and a new crowdsourcing initiative, after spending virtually nothing on marketing in 2015.
- Since his takeover bid was rejected last month, ousted founder Dov Charney has outlined plans to launch a competing company.
Dive Insight:
Freshly out of bankruptcy, basics brand American Apparel plans to launch a new marketing campaign to reintroduce itself to consumers after the outré antics and ouster of founder Dov Charney, an increasingly indefensible ad strategy, and poor merchandising decisions nearly destroyed the company.
Instead of depicting seemingly-underaged models in pornographic poses, which the company was criticized for in the past, American Apparel’s new campaign will tap celebrity photographers, artists, and social influencers to promote a new line of “luxury” T-shirts in print, digital, outdoor, and social media. The company will also branch out into housewares and accessories with an initiative that underscores its American-made positioning by selling limited-run goods from small makers.
The brand has pledged to continue its “edgy” advertising strategy to attract young, hip consumers, however, saying that just 10% of its ads went beyond the limits of taste. It will have to do so on a shoestring budget, however, since its planned budget for 2016 is just $500,000. The 109-store chain lost $25.6 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30.
