🔖 Are you reading American Eagle's new newsletter?
How Newsletters Become Your Brand's Content Platform
I have fond memories from high school of American Eagle, but I didn't expect the brand to come up in conversation today.
Well, American Eagle is launching a new Substack newsletter called "Off The Cuff," which is a real interesting move.
Most brands treat newsletters as a "tick the box" exercise, an excuse to build out their CRM with deeper customer data and in exchange send random coupons and lazy product updates once a month.
Newsletters are definitely not a new invention, but the way they are used is evolving. And with platforms like Substack or Beehiiv, newsletters are becoming more like customizable content platforms delivered via e-mail.
Smart brands should treat newsletters like a creative canvas for content and I'm hopeful that's what American Eagle plans to accomplish.
There's also a subtle, but clear talent strategy here. American Eagle has hired Casey Lewis to co-author the newsletter. Casey writes a solid newsletter on cultural trends called "After School," which is geared towards the intersection of youthful marketing professionals and pop culture observers.
From what I can see, Casey has written the first issue of "Off the Cuff" as commentary on social media fashion trends. It's obviously focused on American Eagle products, but it's not an in your face advertorial. It's a more subtle examination of fashion trends.
In other words, it's solid branded content. It feels natural and I'm sure some people will find this interesting enough and feel more connected to the brand.
The beauty here is...American Eagle have created a format - a snackable piece of content on youth fashion trends that is sent out every two weeks with a revolving list of guest editors.
This could easily be adapted into an episodic show on YouTube/Instagram/TikTok, with narratives and guests picked strategically throughout the year to correspond with a cultural calendar and American Eagle's own promotional roadmap.
If done well, THIS is how brands should be thinking about content - as a repeatable content format that can flexibly exist and be adapted ACROSS different platforms.
We love creating repeatable content formats with brands at PWR House and we hope this American Eagle example can inspire others. If this type of content gets you excited, let's talk.