Business Insider/Mary Hanbury
Abercrombie has ditched its racy ads for more outdoorsy images.
- New data from YouGov shows that US consumers' impression of Abercrombie & Fitch has improved steadily since 2016.
- The retailer's management team has been working hard to execute a turnaround by investing in its stores, closing unprofitable locations, improving product assortment, and shaking off its '90s brand image.
- Business Insider recently crowned the company
retail 's biggest comeback of 2018.
Abercrombie & Fitch is winning over American consumers with its new look.
The teen-turned-millennial-focused brand has made some drastic changes to its image over the past few years. It's turned up the lights, freed the air of headache-inducing cologne in its stores, and swapped out racy ads for more outdoorsy images.
And it seems to be resonating well with customers. Under the leadership of CEO Fran Horowitz, who took over in February 2017, the Abercrombie brand returned to positive same-store sales numbers in the fourth quarter of 2017, for the first time since 2014.
Therefore, it makes sense that consumer perception of the brand is also improving. According to new data put together by market-research firm YouGov, more US consumers above the age of 18 have a better impression of Abercrombie & Fitch now than they did back in 2016.
A spokesperson for YouGov told Business Insider that it has surveyed a pool of around 110,000 consumers since 2016, asking whether they have a positive or negative impression of Abercrombie.
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