Culture, creators and connection: What matters most to the audience?

Authentic Brands Group, a leading lifestyle, sports, entertainment and digital platform with more than 50 brands in its portfolio and nearly 1 billion social media followers, clearly has the ability to do things in a big way.

And yet, there’s an awareness that each brand has its own culture and relationship with consumers. Reebok, for example, shows up differently than Nautica, and Nautica shows up differently than ROXY. “But what is consistent,” said Stefani Fleurant, executive vice president, sports and lifestyle marketing with Authentic Brands Group, “is how we respond to that behavior and what matters for that audience.”

Fleurant, addressing NRF 2026: Retail's Big Show attendees, started with an example from Aeropostale.

“This is an audience that has such a core Gen Z consumer, and also now this new Gen Alpha consumer who’s obviously technology-driven,” she said. “We know what matters to this consumer is social. They use social media as a form of currency. They want to be able to have it first, have access, be able to talk about it with their followers. So at Authentic, we said, ‘OK, what are we going to do to drive excitement around Aeropostale this summer?’”

The result was a collaboration with well-known Gen Z influencer Demetra Dias, including bringing her on as an intern.

“We said, ‘What’s going to drive excitement with your audience?’ We did an early access on the app, and through that, not only did we see thousands of app downloads. We were actually ranked number three on the shopping section on the App Store for the weekend. That’s what it looks like in practice. We’re taking what matters to the consumer — in this case, it’s a creator — how do they shop for what matters to them, and then we deliver on that.”

Hope King, founder of Macro Talk, sat down with Fleurant for the conversation, and asked about the risk of “getting culture wrong at scale.”

Fleurant, however, said the risk isn’t about getting something wrong; that’s going to happen. “It’s about getting it wrong and not paying attention to it.” The focus is on taking smart risks and adapting in real time, whether leaning in or pulling back.

The company is accountable for how its brands show up in the world and how they connect with consumers, she said, and has “very specialized teams” across social media, influencer marketing, content production and brand marketing “who are truly experts in their craft.” Further, “digital first” is more than an add-on; it has been a top priority since the company began.

“Authentic — which means ourselves, which means our operating partners, our licensees and retailers — we’re so closely connected that retail is considered from day one.” There’s an understanding of how, for example, a product seen on TikTok will show up on a fixture in Target, and that plays into strategy.

There’s also understanding of just how “fully blended” everything is.

A consumer might scroll TikTok and see a creator wearing a dress they like; look in the comments to find the brand; perhaps put it in the TikTok shopping cart and then forget about it; go to a store later on in the week and see the same dress in person; and then purchase it from home online later that night.

Every touchpoint serves a purpose, she said — and it’s important to show up for the audience in each one.