Apparel Sale :: Finding The Perfect Balance in Your Webisodes

Popular retailer, American Eagle, introduced their dedicated media channel, 77e, several months ago.  Their first bit of content, a weisode series called "It's a Mall World," had a cast of teenagers that were dealing with real-life situations; one of the kids happened to work at the AE store in the mall.  Clothing was typical AE style and it was pretty easy to associate the media content with the brand.  A tie in with MTV thru advertising spots during "Real World: Sydney," put it over the top. Chief marketing officer, Kathy Savitt, reported a 20% increase in site traffic and a 75% conversion rate to sales on the nights the webisodes aired.

But now, after such a successful first campaign, AE has launched a 2nd one, called "Winter Tales," which virtually ignores the brand.  Characters are dressed in casual clothes and there are no logos visible. Savitt says this time it's about getting a story with "irreverence and wit."  YouTube traffic stats show this series is not nearly as popular as the first. 

So, is there a happy medium between being "in your face" and blatant like the first series and so completely subtle that you might completely miss the point, as is evident in the 2nd series?  No one seems to have the answer as of yet.  Over time I suspect that a retailer or two will find a good balance, somewhere right in the middle.