American Apparel's Advertising:

I have gathered lots of images of previous American Apparel advertisements. I got the majority of them from the American Apparel website: http://americanapparel.net/ where they have a section dedicated to their store advertising. This shows me that the advertisments that the brand create are integral to their image amd an important part of their marketing strategy.

Not all of the adverts featured here are particularly revealing or exploitive, however some of them are quite near the knuckle for a more middle brand advert with more nudity than is normally featured. I would not say that it is wrong or that the more exposing adverts were bad- (infact I think the majority of their adverts are really good)- I think that it is more a case if shock as it is something that is not really shared by any of the brands competitors. American Apparel is a middle market brand and is in the same category as the likes of Topshop which also shares a fashion image but is a lot less sexualised. However, I think this is somerthing that makes the brand stand out and gives it that competitive advantage.

What I have also noticed in their advertising is that there is lots of movement and the models tend to fill the page with lots of interesting (..and often very flexible!..) poses. They are full of energy and even though the company claims to never use proffesional models, this does not come across in the final images. This matches my final images from our Minnie Mouse shoot really well as something that we aimed to achieve was to create movement in the pictures and bring an energy to counteract the simple studio setting. I therefore think I have lots if images to choose from that will still suit my choice of brand. This is important as I need to create three American Apparel advertisements that will be beleivable and relatable to the actual brand.

I therefore have to look at the placement of the logo on the images as this is something that will be consisitent between my adverts. They tend to be in the corners with either a slight left or right allignment. It is a simplistic font (which as I previously mentioned will be downloaded from Brands of the World) and tend to be in simple black or white colour. I would not say there is a set kind of image/advert type for the brand. There are colour ones, black and white, illustrated style, multiple images to one advert, etc. But I think that variety is important and shows they do not use the same kind of picture so I have to make sure the three images I use convey this.

Alot of the adverts have personal touches such as ..'meet Gina' and then a little biography about the model in the picture. This is because they do not use proffesional models and therefore they have a story behind each one. I think this is used more for their print advertisements however, as they are more likely to be read. I therefore do not think soemthing like that would be appropriate for a billboard. However, it would be perfect for an adshel at a bus stop or in a train/tube station. They also often focus on an item of clothing in the advert and use this as a title/logo rather than the actual brand name. The font used and the style of the image make it recognisable to the brand despite the actual brand name not being present.