Sydney Sweeney X American Eagle – Marketing Agencies Constant Dilemmas
In the marketing world, we all love to analyse and comment on other agencies’ campaigns. It’s in our nature. We’re creative people who believe in the ideas we produce and enjoy dissecting the work of others.
Sometimes you see a campaign slogan, hear a radio ad, or read an advertorial in the paper and think, yes, that agency has nailed that strategy.
Other times, you spot a digital animation on social media or even a TV advert and wonder, wait, what exactly are they promoting? It is swings & roundabouts in the marketing space.
Working in a marketing agency, within the communications world, we understand one another, the brief, the creativity, and the familiar joy of hearing there’s yet another amendment to our outdoor campaign!
This month, all our agency can talk about is the American Eagle X Sydney Sweeney outdoor campaign and we suspect the same is true in agencies everywhere…
American Eagle recently launched a campaign featuring rising star Sydney Sweeney. The tagline reads: “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
It’s a play on the word “genes” but is it referencing Sweeney’s blue eyes and blonde hair?
This has sparked backlash from consumers who feel it highlights white privilege and excludes those with different bodies, skin tones, and backgrounds from the idealised, young, white image presented.
On the surface, you have to admit the idea is quite clever. The execution, perhaps not so much. As marketers, we love a good pun, a play on words – it’s part of who we are. But this one, however smart it may seem at first glance, has not been executed to its full potential.
At Marketing Network Group, like every agency, we receive briefs, brainstorm, and let our creativity roam to produce the perfect campaign for our clients. After countless presentations, endless meetings, and rounds of feedback, we sometimes look at the final result and wonder: is this even the same campaign we pitched?
In the case of the Sydney Sweeney X American Eagle campaign, it seems the endless rounds of input didn’t save the concept. They missed an opportunity perhaps to simply cast a more diverse range of influencers and actresses, while keeping the same clever tagline.
Yet, a visit to the American Eagle website shows that all the jeans are sold out? It’s a fine line we walk as marketers, answering the brief, aligning with the strategy, hitting campaign goals, all while being politically and culturally aware.
We must always ask, how will our target audience perceive this?
Another recent example of a concept weakened through overthinking was a KFC outdoor campaign. The original idea (we suspect!) “Succumb to the Crumb” was catchy, on-brand, and fun. But the final version? “Succumb to the Bread-Crumb” is far less effective in our eyes.
American Eagle and others simply needed to regroup and execute their ideas to their full potential, a trick missed.
Client Spotlight – Eircode 10th birthday
Over the past few months, Marketing Network Group have developed and executed Eircode’s 10th birthday campaign.
The process was extremely fulfilling for all parties, and we have been delighted to celebrate such a huge milestone with Eircode. Not only is it Eircode’s 10th anniversary, but it is also the 10-year anniversary of Eircode and Marketing Network Group’s relationship, another momentous milestone to celebrate.
The campaign needed to be unmistakably Eircode, and who else would be in a position to carry this out than their partner since launch? We even managed to include a nod to our original launch advert, looking back at the “sticky-up rock.”
Tilt Digital developed this amazing animation from sketch to screen, telling the story better than we could ever have imagined. Rage Creative headed up the development of the creative elements, including their new logo lockdown, which will take pride of place on all platforms for the next year.
Client Spotlight – Circol ELT
Circol ELT operates the Irish tyre compliance scheme managing the collection and recovery of end-of-life tyres (ELT) on behalf of its 3,000 members. Circol’s role is to develop sustainable outcomes for all tyres managed through the compliance scheme. Each year Circol produce their annual report for members and the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, which outlines the performance/achievements of the previous year.
The 2024 Annual Report, designed by Rage Creative, showcases striking imagery inspired by tyre rethreading and the innovative use of End of Life Tyres across Ireland. The layout integrates a dedicated section on innovation and carbon recovery, presenting the advantages of tyre recycling in a visually engaging and accessible way.
Client Spotlight – Herbert Park Hotel
Earlier this year, Herbert Park Hotel and Residence was named the #2 Hotel in Ireland in the TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards 2025. In a country renowned for its world-class hospitality and array of excellent hotels, securing this position is no small feat.
What makes the recognition even more special is the hotel’s rise in the rankings. In 2024, Herbert Park Hotel held 11th place and only one year later, they climbed nine spots – a testament to their unwavering commitment to excellence and guest satisfaction. Naturally, this was a story worth telling. Leveraging our strategic expertise and extensive media relations network, we developed a plan to ensure targeted coverage.
Much of the success that the hotel has been seeing can be attributed to the general manager of the institution – Egle Tamosausakite – who started at the hotel as a receptionist and worked her way to Leinster General Manager of the Year at the Irish Hotel Awards 2024. It’s no wonder that the Business Post highlighted Egle’s day-to-day through their ‘Diary’ slot, both online and in print. This piece lets us get an insight of what it’s like to run one of the top hotels in Ireland – you can find it here.
The story didn’t stop there – Taste Talks also picked up the news, amplifying the hotel’s achievement and spotlighting the core messages from our press release. Together, these features not only celebrated the hotel’s accolade but reinforced its position as a standout destination in Ireland’s competitive hospitality scene.
And this is only the beginning – there’s a full calendar of activity still to come. Keep your eyes peeled for more exciting stories, milestones, and moments from Herbert Park Hotel and Residence in the months ahead.
