Khue Ngo Blog #1

Expectations and Goals

As I did my undergraduate degree in Media & Communications Management, I am not unfamiliar with the different types of communications channels and tools. However, as the name of the course already states, this is an evolving industry, meaning that there is a big chance that the things I learned back then are no longer up-to-date. I hope this course allows me to gain an overview of the state-of-the-art tools and practices there are in today's communications field.

More importantly though, I hope that the topics and structure of the course will help me to open my eyes up to a wider angle again: After my Bachelor's degree, I decided to join the Public Relations branch, and I have been working there since then. I loved working in PR and could imagine staying in this field. Nevertheless, I would like to take a look around to see if there might be something else that I have missed so far, especially since I never got the chance to know the other fields of communications outside of the classroom. I see this course as an opportunity to rediscover these other fields and get real-life insights into the companies of the different branches.

Theoretical knowledge about each branch can be read in books. I am excited that we actually get to see "the real thing".

My brand for the "TTIY" project: American Eagle Outfitters

When talking about this assignment in class, American Eagle was the first brand that popped up in my mind almost instantly. The reason is simply that it is one of my favorite brands. I love the jeans, the scarfs and all sorts of tops and t-shirts they have. However, as I gave it some more thoughts, I actually came to the conclusion that it would be a good choice for more reasons than just my favoring it.

We were supposed to choose a brand that had us as their target group: So as stated in the mission on their website ae.com, American Eagle is targeting men and women ages 15 - 25 years.

Another aspect is that I think it is always good to start an analysis from a neutral point. Naturally, I am positively predisposed towards the brand because I am a big fan as said before. However, AE has not entered the German market yet, which is why I have actually never been exposed to any of their marketing and communications strategies on a big scale. 
Now that I live in the US, I have turned into a target for them as a potential (and most probably also) regular customer. I am looking forward to exploring their communications approaches, and as a sideline, maybe finding one or the other item that I could purchase (and thereby becoming the victim of the very strategy that I am trying to analyze).

Here is what I have done so far:
I have skimmed through the ae.com website and found their mission statement.
I have liked the American Eagle Facebook fan page.
I have started following them on Twitter.
I have signed up for the AE Rewards program (that is already sending me a lot of e-mails about sales and coupons).
And I have downloaded the AE app for my phone (which is reminding me about the sales with push notifications).

I am looking forward to sharing this blog with you and reading about your findings!