Is sex no longer selling for Abercrombie & Fitch? Why today's teenagers are no longer seduced by once-hip chain's racy ads

Abercrombie & Fitch's famously sexy marketing strategy appears to be failing to woo customers as effectively as they once did.
The retailer, which is known for its preppy aesthetic, steamy Bruce Weber-shot campaigns and bare-chested models in-store, has seen revenue fall by 2.5per cent in the past six months, and its market value has dropped by a third.
It has been forced to close 71 stores in the past year alone, and between now and 2015, it has announced it will close a further 180 of its 1,055 stores around the globe.

'Vacuous': Industry experts say Abercrombie & Fitch is failing to move with the times and is not finding fresh ways to keep its target teenage market engaged

According to Business Week, Abercrombie & Fitch bosses have said that the poor economy is the reason for the falling sales, but industry experts believe that the chain is failing to move with the times and is not finding fresh ways to keep its target market engaged.
David Maddocks, a former chief marketing officer for Converse, told the publication: 'Abercrombie is still running an offense which is a huge banner of a bare-chested guy with a cute girl who’s not wearing enough clothing.

 

'It's vacuous, there’s no core idea there anymore,' he said.

Marcie Merriman, former director of brand strategy for Victoria’s Secret, added that teenagers today have a very different approach to fashion from those of a decade ago.
She explained that social media and style blogs have helped give them the impetus to develop individual styles, rather than sharing trend 'uniforms' with their peers.

Failing: Abercrombie & Fitch has been forced to close 71 stores in the past year alone, and between now and 2015, will close a further 180 of its 1,055 around the globe

'[Abercrombie & Fitch is] positioned well to take advantage of this group’s desire to be rebellious and indie and different, because that’s what the brand is about, but right now the product mix doesn’t communicate that or facilitate it,' she told Business Week.
The failing fortunes of Abercrombie & Fitch pose stark contrast with its heyday of the late Nineties, and much of the first decade of the new Millennium, when its preppy sweats and carefully-distressed denim were must-haves for high school and college students.
The allure of the brand was thanks in no small part to its quarterly catalogues, shot by top fashion photographer Bruce Weber.
A&F Quarterly had a circulation of 1.2million in 2002, and was so racy that shoppers were required to prove that they were over 18 years of age to buy them, and was branded 'soft porn' by critics.

Heyday: Preppy sweats and carefully-distressed denim were must-haves for high school and college students in the late Nineties, and for much of the first decade of the new Millennium

Shoppers were also drawn by the attractive models that staffed stores in the all-American vein of its ad campaigns; often male staffers manning the doors were bare-chested.
Teens' love affair with the chain died in 2008 though, when the recession hit, and competitive rivals, such as American Eagle, undercut its prices with cheaper and more varied versions of its wares.
But while American and European teens are no longer seduced by Abercrombie & Fitch, it seems markets in China and the Middle East are thriving.
A new Hong Kong store, which opened this month, saw sales of over $1million in its first five days of trading.