Look Who’s Talking: Social Listening and the Discourse on Denim
- Riley Boock
- Oct 3
- 4 min read
I’m not here to tell you to use social listening tools. And I definitely won’t say that they’re the most helpful resources communication specialists have ever used. Or that they make your consumer insights report look amazing.
Why would I need to do that?
If this intro is giving you deja vu, it’s probably because it echoes the opening of American Eagle’s infamous “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” campaign. The brand’s partnership with Sweeney, star of “Euphoria” and “Anyone But You,” quickly became the talk of the summer — and not for good reason.
Viewers were taken aback by the blond-haired, sapphire-eyed actress’s seductive tone throughout the advertisement as she zipped up her jeans Brooke-Shields style and lectured about genetic inheritance, notably saying, “My genes (jeans) are blue.”
“Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” dominated nation-wide discussions on culture and politics for four weeks straight. But on Aug. 19, it finally met its match.
Gap’s “Better in Denim,” featuring global girl group KATSEYE, refreshed consumers’ feeds with diverse models and clear messaging. The music, choreography and style came together to create a case study in marketing excellence. It was cool in all the ways that American Eagle’s ad fell flat.
Although these ads differed in style and execution, popular opinion holds that both were effective — primarily because they drove positive financial outcomes, like increased share prices and sales.
In short, they “generated buzz.” But what does this really mean, and how do we define “buzz” as a measure of success? Enter social listening.
What is Social Listening?
Anytime you leave a comment, share a post or upvote a thread, you’re leaving a traceable footprint on an ecosystem of digital information. Social listening is the process of monitoring these online activities, including dialogues, trends and mentions, on social media platforms to gather actionable insights into consumer sentiment and brand perception. Public relations specialists may also use it to prevent crises. As communications professionals observe recurring themes, they can take the appropriate steps to improve their strategies and enhance consumers’s experiences.
Talkwalker, a popular consumer intelligence tool owned by Hootsuite, identifies four key metrics to track during the social listening process: results, engagement, sentiment and potential reach. Curious to see how American Eagle and Gap measured up? Here’s the sitch:
Results and Engagement
When you first open Talkwalker’s Quick Search tool and plug in your search terms (in this case, “Gap AND KATSEYE” and “American Eagle AND Sydney Sweeney”) the results tab will automatically populate in the top-left corner of your dashboard. This shows how many times your keywords appeared across social media platforms, news outlets and other digital forums.
In the last 30 days, American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney were mentioned in approximately 31,800 conversations online — about 30% fewer than Gap’s collaboration with KATSEYE.
One possible explanation for this deficit is that “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” came out a month before “Better in Denim.” However, the lack of sustained media attention around American Eagle’s campaign could also be caused by its limited potential for audience interaction. That’s where engagement comes in.
“Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” stirred debate but didn’t leave much to build on — aside from a wave of parodies. “Better in Denim,” by contrast, invited users to actively participate in Gap’s world. Hundreds posted videos of themselves learning KATSEYE’s dance combo and lip-synching to the ad’s theme, “Milkshake” by Kelis, which inspired more people to interact organically.
Unlike results, which tracks the volume of coverage, engagement focuses more specifically on how users interact with brand-related content. Mentions of Gap and KATSEYE received 3.2 million likes, shares, comments or reposts in the last 30 days, surpassing American Eagle and Syndey Sweeney’s engagement by an impressive 286%.
Making a statement isn’t the same as making an impact. And when planning a campaign, consider how audiences will inevitably make it their own.
Sentiment and Potential Reach
Sentiment refers to the tone of language expressed in text data, and it is measured in three categories: positive, negative or neutral (uncoded). Conversations can be incorrectly classified, so it’s important to consider the keywords in context.
Talkwalker reads sarcasm like American Eagle reads the room: badly. For example, the net sentiment for Gap and KATSEYE leans more neutral than positive; yet, some of the comments that lowered its score may have been misinterpreted by the system. If a user were to comment, “I love this ad so much” and add a crying emoji to the end, we would read this as a positive, but the computer isn’t likely to recognize that.
American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney’s near-perfect split between positive and negative sentiment is unsurprising. For every person who condemned the campaign as a dog whistle promoting eugenics, there was another who claimed it was just a denim ad — including President Donald Trump, who expressed his support on Truth Social.
“Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there. It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves.’ Go get ‘em, Sydney!” he wrote.
Vice President J.D. Vance also commented on the ad during a podcast interview, saying, “My political advice to the Democrats is continue to tell everybody who thinks Sydney Sweeney is attractive is a Nazi … They have managed to so unhinge themselves over this thing.”
Endorsements from major political figures presumably played a role in boosting American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney’s potential reach, which, at 35.1 billion, is substantially larger than Gap and KATSEYE’s. Note that potential reach is not an audience metric but rather a projection of how many people might see the related content. Applause from the White House is certain to draw eyes.
How American Eagle and Gap choose to act on these insights will set the tone for every campaign to come. With a deeper understanding of their audiences, these brands will steer clear of any future denim disasters (fingers crossed!) and roll out more advertisements that are pure jean-ius.