The food and fashion worlds continue to collide, and American Eagle on March 21 and 22 activated its own spin on the concept with the Denim Deli, a pop-up in Nashville that highlighted the brand’s signature denim collection while feeding consumers a complimentary signature sandwich from Music City’s iconic Mitchell’s Deli. Designed for an extended engagement, consumers placed orders, hung out with friends in the communal seating, customized their giveaways, and checked out live music.
“We often oversimplify Gen Z and say that because of social media, because of phones, that they really do want to be home and behind the screen, but our mall traffic was up 4 percent to the overall mall traffic in Q4,” says Ashley Schapiro, American Eagle’s vp-marketing. “What does that mean? It means that young people want to go out and experience something. It’s also really special when a big brand shows up in your hometown.”
A Mix of Analog and Digital Promos
To spread the word about the pop-up, the team posted old-school tear-off flyers on bulletin boards around Nashville and on college campuses. The brand also partnered with new media platform, Saturn, which high school and college students use to aggregate their schedules in one place, to geotarget consumers with the event, so when Nashville-based students accessed their schedules, the Denim Deli would appear.
“We learned from the last event that we did, which was at a coffee shop in Austin, that being near college campuses is really strong for us. So, this location in Nashville at 12 South is surrounded by a few different universities, and outreach to them to get those students there has been really successful for us,” Schapiro told EM ahead of the event.
Texture and Detailed Branding
Dripping in denim, the pop-up with its retro diner vibes offered patchwork denim backdrop walls, a menu of sandwiches, prizes, customized denim totes and the opportunity to listen (or even perform) live on the “Live Your Life” stage, named for the brand’s 20-year-old platform. A vintage pickup truck wrapped in denim made for an Instagrammable moment, and it was decorated using actual American Eagle jean scraps.
No detail was left untouched, down to ketchup bottle labels, sandwich wrappers and receipts that featured little “Live Your Life” dares, like “kiss your crush.” “Just these little fun reminders to go out and live your life easy and simply,” Schapiro says.
Authentic Influencer Appearances
American Eagle enlisted its longtime brand ambassador, Chase Stokes, from Netflix’s “Outer Banks,” to come down to the deli. Stokes lives in Nashville and Mitchell’s Deli happens to be his favorite daily stop. One of the sandwiches served to consumers was named after him.
There was also a special guest appearance by TikTok stars the Montana Boyz, who live in Nashville; Tennessee native and singer-songwriter Maddox Batson; and Nashville-based country singer Abby Anderson, who performed at the pop-up. American Eagle has an ongoing partnership with Anderson and will be providing her wardrobe for some performances at festivals and concerts this season.
And last but not least, the brand partnered with a talent agency in Nashville to invite local musicians up to have their star moment on stage and live that AE mantra out.
Pull up a seat at the Denim Deli:
Photo credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images for American Eagle
