#NoFilter: Aerie's Authentic Marketing Approach

In this episode of the Digital PR podcast, we talked about how Aerie has paved the way for the body positivity movement. We talk about how Aerie got its boost in the digital world that set them apart from their competitors and changed consumers’ expectations.

We discuss the #AerieReal campaign launched in 2014 when Aerie stopped retouching their models' images to show their authentic selves. Aerie Real began as a social media campaign to encourage women to post their untouched, unfiltered photos of themselves and use #AerieReal. We talk about the impact that this campaign had on us at the age of 15 when we started to get into the social media world.

The Aerie Real campaign opened the door to grow their social media influencers. Aerie has two different types of influencers, the Aerie Ambassadors and the Aerie Role Models. Both of these influencers are diverse groups of women that demonstrate an authentic view of body positivity. We talk through the differences in these two groups of influencers and how these influencers impact the digital world differently, and our personal experiences with Aerie’s influencers. We talk about the body positivity movement as a social issue. Is Generation Z the reason we are pushing for this change? How does social media play a role in that?

Aerie was one of the first brands to hop on the body inclusive movement, making other brands follow suit. We discuss how Gymshark, previously stereotyped as a “gym rat” brand, has made several steps in the right direction to break that stereotype. We also talk about Victoria’s Secret and how, as one of Aerie’s biggest competitors, they lack body inclusivity.
We share our experiences of how body-positive brands affect us as consumers, as well as people. The future of the body positivity movement is unknown, but we share our predictions on where this issue is headed and what we hope to see of it in the future.

Resources for further reading:
https://www.instagram.com/aerie/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/22/aerie-is-a-standout-with-body-positive-ads-and-real-models.html
https://levick.com/blog/brand/marketing-women-aerie

Gymshark's viral photo: the body confidence influencer behind it: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/a34071513/gymshark-model-nelly-london-picture-body-confidence-influencer/