For a brand that spent the 2000s affixing its name to the chests of suburban teenagers, Aéropostale is now attempting something slightly more sophisticated: it has hired a director, commissioned a title sequence and produced what its chief marketing officer calls "a little show."
The show is "Intern Diaries," a six-episode series featuring creators documenting their experiences working at the company — a format that sits somewhere between reality television and the extended-universe marketing content that has become obligatory for brands seeking relevance on platforms where thirty-second spots tend to wither.
Marisa Thalberg, the executive vice president and chief customer and marketing officer at Catalyst Brands, which licenses the Aéropostale name from Authentic Brands Group, said the company had deliberately elevated the production from what she described as content that "felt serialized but very much through the lens of more just social media content creation." The result, she said, was "a little bit more of a mix of scripted and unscripted, but well-produced."
(One imagines the pitch meeting: "What if it felt like television, but wasn't?")
The series runs across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, with each platform serving a distinct purpose in what Ms. Thalberg called a playful approach to format. YouTube, she noted, delivered the strongest retention; TikTok generated the highest engagement; Instagram produced twice the engagement of the brand's regular programming. The show features Deja Clark, a creator whose parents are also influencers — a circumstance that allowed Aéropostale to secure what might be called a family deal.
Ms. Thalberg declined to reveal the budget in specific terms but characterized it as "really low six figures," which she positioned as affordable relative to traditional commercial production.
The series has already generated discussions about a third season — a detail that suggests either genuine momentum or the optimism that is standard in such conversations. "Tune in and see," Ms. Thalberg said.
Whether the teenagers will is, of course, the question.
Original story published in Digiday: "Future of TV Briefing: Why Aéropostale is investing in creator-led episodic shows - Digiday", by Tim Peterson