American Eagle Outfitters Chooses Arnold Worldwide as Global Advertising Agency of Record

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - May 1, 2012) - Arnold Worldwide today announced that it has been selected as global agency of record for American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. The scope of work includes strategic planning and creative work for TV, out-of-home, social media, mobile, display, CRM, video content and in-store. The account will be managed out of the agency's Boston headquarters. MediaCom, a top global media agency, will handle traditional and digital media planning and buying for the business.

"We selected Arnold Worldwide based on their ability to think big, collaborate effectively, and connect across all channels with AEO's extremely tech-savvy customers," said Michael Leedy, chief marketing officer, American Eagle Outfitters. "As American Eagle Outfitters continues to build its brands in the U.S. and around the world, we look forward to the fresh insights and valuable ideas that are sure to emerge from our partnership with both Arnold and MediaCom."

American Eagle Outfitters is known for its high-quality, on-trend clothing, accessories and personal care products, offered at affordable prices under its American Eagle Outfitters®, Aerie® and 77kids® brands. The company operates more than 1,000 stores in North America, and ships to 77 countries worldwide through its websites. American Eagle Outfitters and Aerie merchandise also is available at approximately 25 international franchise stores in 10 countries.

"American Eagle Outfitters is a great company that any agency would want to partner with," said Andrew Benett, Global CEO of Arnold Worldwide and Global Chief Strategy Officer of Havas Worldwide. "For us, we felt it was a perfect match, because we share many of the same cultural values, passion for the target market and desire to innovate. It's a fantastic creative opportunity to leverage technology to build stronger relationships with teen- and young-adult consumers."

Pete Favat, Arnold Boston's Chief Creative Officer, added, "We are thrilled to partner with such a fantastic creative organization. American Eagle Outfitters is a premiere youth brand. We are stoked they tapped us for our ideas, passion and experience in youth culture. We are looking forward to making great work together."

"American Eagle Outfitters is a celebrated brand that continues to be an innovative leader in the marketplace," said Sasha Savic, Chief Executive Officer of MediaCom USA. "MediaCom's focus on people first gives us a strong, insights-based understanding of the youth market and an ability to bring fresh thinking to the media environment. We couldn't be more excited to partner with AEO and look forward to helping achieve its business goals."

Arnold Worldwide has vast knowledge and expertise working with youth-focused brands. Most notably, the agency works with the American Legacy Foundation on truth®, the largest youth smoking prevention campaign in the country. The iconic truth® campaign is considered one of the most effective in history to target the youth market. To date, it has amassed hundreds of awards and was named "Campaign of the Decade" by Adweek readers.

The addition of American Eagle Outfitters continues to build on Arnold Worldwide's new business momentum, which includes attracting more than 20 accounts from a broad range of businesses, such as Aetna, the Boston Bruins, CVS/pharmacy, Carbonite, Dell, New Balance, Optiwind, Sanofi-Aventis and Unilever's Nexxus, Noxzema, Simple and St. Ives brands, among others.

About Arnold Worldwide
Arnold is a global communications company and one of the top five most creatively awarded agencies of the past decade. We are proud to represent a diverse portfolio of clients, including Aetna, Amtrak, Carnival Cruise Lines, CVS/pharmacy, Dell, Fidelity Investments, The Hershey Company, Huntington Bank, Jack Daniel's, McDonald's, New Balance, Ocean Spray, Panasonic, Pearle Vision, Progressive, Sanofi-Aventis, Titleist, truth®, Tyson Foods, Unilever, Vertex, Volvo and many other great brands. Arnold delivers services across all communication touch points -- advertising, digital, promotions, direct, design, branded content -- and is part of Havas Worldwide with offices in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Toronto, London, Amsterdam, Prague, Milan, Madrid, Moscow, Lisbon, Sydney, São Paulo and Shanghai. www.arnoldworldwide.com

About MediaCom
MediaCom is one of the world's largest Media Communication Specialists, with billings exceeding US $24 billion (Source: RECMA) and 111 offices in 89 countries around the globe. Our "People First, Better Results" philosophy drives our strategy and reflects our belief that putting People -- employees, clients and consumers -- at the core of our business leads to optimum business results. The MediaCom family of companies includes such leaders in their fields as: MediaCom Interaction, our global digital and interactive marketing agency, with future-forward proprietary technology that works to grow clients' businesses; MediaCom Direct, our direct response experts, creating close, measured connections with consumers; MediaCom ESP, entertainment and sponsorship specialists that connect brands to consumers when they are most open to product messages; and MediaCom Business Science, focused on helping clients achieve maximum sales return. MediaCom Worldwide is a member of WPP, the world's largest marketing communications services group*, and is a part of GroupM, WPP's media agency group which is the largest worldwide. For more information, visit www.mediacom.com.