Mary Alderete has spent 10 nonconsecutive years working on different brands in the Gap Inc. portfolio, including seven at Banana Republic and Old Navy in the early 2000s. So when she was elevated to chief marketing officer of Gap brand in the spring of 2020, she finally had a chance to put her stamp on the company’s flagship clothing retailer.
Then the pandemic happened. “It’s been quite a journey,” Alderete says, reflecting on the early days of lockdown that doubled as her first days in the new role. “I don’t really remember [the beginning of the pandemic] because I just suppressed it from my memory. Nobody knew a global pandemic was going to hit us and require us to close our entire fleet of stores. I think all markets had to pivot at that time, because whatever was out there was totally irrelevant. We had to take everything down and re-post them in a more COVID-relevant mindset and voice.”
But through weathering such seismic change virtually overnight, Alderete and Gap’s global creative director Len Peltier quickly arrived at a guiding principle to anchor the company’s messaging with a tie to its 52-year-old roots. “We decided to really focus on being culturally relevant with this idea of modern American optimism,” she says. “The fact that Gap has always been a brand that celebrates individuals, and the true potential of each person to shape and change culture. And so, we started out to do that by taking the pulse of what it was like in the country. In addition to the pandemic, there was just a lot of division in an election year, but the rest is history.”
Last fall, Alderete introduced “Stand United,” a voting-themed campaign that featured a cover of The Youngbloods’ “Get Together” that was released the same year Gap was founded in 1969 to celebrate its legacy. For her latest work, Alderete is focused on the future. Gap Kids’ 2021 back-to-school campaign, which debuted on July 26, shines a spotlight on Memphis’ Hickory Ridge Elementary School and the classroom of David Jamison, also known as “The Dope Educator.” Where many of Gap’s best-known campaigns are typically shot against a curved white studio backdrop, this one was filmed on location by director Melodie McDaniel to capture a more documentary-style approach.
“Now that some kids will be going back to in-classroom learning, our insight was to showcase individual expression and the potential of this generation — especially when the excitement and energy makes this probably the most anticipated back-to-school season ever. And to do that, we decided to go to an actual school,” Alderete says. “We happened upon Mr. Jamison when he came into the national spotlight in 2019, and we loved how his whole thing with his kids was his handshake with them. We were just inspired by the fact that this teacher takes the time to interact individually and personally with each student as they start their day. And their whole mantra at Hickory Ridge was about achieving individual potential, which we found was so reflective of the same values we have around optimism and respect.”
A renewed sense of optimism also seems to be extending to Gap’s sales, which like many retailers took a tumble during the first half of 2020. In its first quarter-earnings report, Gap Inc. posted a 28% increase in comparable year-over-year sales company-wide during the time period, with Gap brand’s North American sales up 9% on a 2-year basis amid a 16% decline in net sales overall vs. 2019. Expect further acceleration of those figures as Gap starts to roll out its first pieces from Yeezy Gap, a multi-year collaboration with Kanye West’s Yeezy clothing label, which debuted its first jackets in June and July. Though the first pieces are priced at around $200, they’re already fetching upwards of $400 on resellers like StockX, a sign that future drops will be highly in-demand.
Brand Innovators caught up with Alderete from her office in Northern California to learn more about her whirlwind first year as Gap’s CMO, how fashion trends are evolving post-lockdown and why she hopes a recent dance-based hoodie campaign will join the long-lasting ranks of Gap’s most-celebrated spots. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Brand Innovators: Gap has long been known for optimistic, upbeat advertising. How did the COVID-19 pandemic initially impact the tone you wanted to strike in your messaging, and how has it evolved to where we are now as the world starts to reopen?
Mary Alderete: We made the decision to pivot to leading our brand marketing with our brand values. And that was somewhat of a large pivot because Gap brand is a very marketing-driven brand historically, and it’s almost always been about product — “Khaki Swing,” “Khaki Soul,” “Easy Fit Denim.” We still need to be responsible for selling product, and the most relevant products at the time were leaning more towards fleece, activewear and kids & baby at the time.
So we spent some time looking at history, and now with our Kids campaign it’s about the future. I really, truly believe that the impact of the next generation does start now. That’s why we chose to focus on the change makers of the generation through the diversity and inclusion of the times. We continue to carry that forward, and now this year back-to-school is thankfully different than last year when schools were shut down.
The new Gap Kids campaign features a more documentary style approach, which is a notable shift away from Gap’s signature studio pieces against a white backdrop.
We don’t use ad agencies, so we wanted to tell the story through the lens of Melodie [McDaniel], being a biracial director, and our Black crew. Much in the same way that Mr. Jamison is a representative at the head of the classroom for the kids to see themselves in, we wanted the kids to see the way the work was created. So we thought the documentary approach, which is an amazing talent of Melodie’s, would be a good way to show the kids in their own environment.
What channels will you use to amplify this work?
It’s a full-funnel plan, for both awareness and emotional connection. Linear TV and digital TV launch[ed] July 27 through August 22, which includes network TV like NBC, ABC and Fox but also YouTube, Hulu and Discovery+. That programming is designed to reach not just the parents who are purchasing but also the kids.
How did you see pandemic fashion trends shift, both for adults and kids, during the first weeks & months of lockdown, and how did you adjust your inventory & marketing messaging accordingly to address those trends? Any fashion trends that you think might stick as we come out of lockdown this year?
With the Gap Kids shoot, one of the most amazing parts of the experience was we did not dress those kids. We went into their gymnasium with racks of clothes and each kid came to put their look together with our stylists. We saw that they had so much individual style — there was a boy putting the bucket hat on, one girl had some pink in her braids so she chose the pink camo top with the pink beanie. And another girl loved dresses but she threw the trucker jacket on over top, like, how do you know how to do that?
It was also a fascinating discovery from a business standpoint, because what we saw over the pandemic was a move into fleece and hoodies, and denim was arting to spike up again. It was really inspiring to see kids remixing active and fleece and dresses and denim altogether. And that’s what I think is our competitive advantage, we don’t just rely on one category, we can really outfit them across the board.
The main trend across our business was a proliferation into comfort with fleece, hoodies and sweats, which thankfully is our sweet spot. We’ve been moving more aggressively into the fit category like actual sports with Gap Fit for women and men, and that’s been moving. We also have a Fit Tech pant in our boys business that is on fire and a couple of the boys from the shoot picked that one.
Another trend for adults is the change in silhouette, moving into the more relaxed and looser silhouettes. We have a mom jean for women that’s moving pretty quickly into straight and loose fits, and we’ll be doing more focused advertising in our stores in August with a denim takeover around the Vintage Slim, Cheeky Straight and our new ‘90s Loose.
Last fall, Gap Inc. announced plans to reduce its number of physical stores by 30% by 2023. How are you rethinking the retail experience so that it still stands out among your ecommerce options?
When I came on last spring, one of the biggest things we wanted to do was create a customer journey that was really integrated and brand centric, and customize each channel so it was unique — whether you’re shopping on our site, in-store or browsing on TikTok. I also believe that whether you’re shopping at a Gap specialty store or a Gap Factory store, once you get inside you don’t see the logo anymore. We want to be able to give our customers the most of what we call “elevated essentials,” the most iconic pieces and things we’re famous for, dressed to show how to put a look together. Everything has to look like it’s the same brand online and in-store. I see everything, and I don’t care if it’s a display ad or a TV ad, it should all look the same.
In June, Gap unveiled the first pieces from its highly anticipated, multi-year collaboration with Kanye West’s Yeezy. How is the initial rollout performing so far, and what else can we expect?
He just did the listening party last [week] and we had the first black jacket go live here in the U.S. It’s a global effort. I don’t know if you saw the concert, but he was wearing a red Yeezy Gap jacket — it was pretty epic, maybe you’ll see a red version next. We all saw it for the first time last [week], so it’s another buzz builder for us. He has ways of capturing attention, even the tease of the listening party was through the Beats By Dre spot with Sha’Carri Richardson and one of the tracks from his new “Donda” album. Whenever Kanye speaks, a lot of people listen. There’s been quite a bit of interest.
Gap has long made diversity & inclusion and social justice a core part of its brand pillars. What are some ways you’ve accelerated some of that work over the past year through your marketing or other corporate efforts?
We put our equality and belonging commitments out last year after George Floyd, and the ongoing issues with the need to have a society that is more equal and just. We have been very focused since then. We just shared an update with our progress towards our goals — in addition to just creating a more diverse workforce inside the Gap, we see our platform as a way to amplify diverse stories. That’s why our campaigns are often featuring people of color, different gender orientations or sexual orientations.
With this new Gap Kids campaign, we’re proud to have donated hundreds of school uniform pieces to Hickory Ridge Elementary to support the students and their families. And earlier this year, Gap announced its “Closing the Gap” initiative, which aims to strengthen educational opportunities for the next generation of Black fashion leaders by offering financial awards to fashion departments at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Gap is contributing $510,000 in total to the initiative, making this the largest donation to HBCUs by a major retailer. This funding will be distributed across 21 awards ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, providing a platform that empowers Black students to propel their studies and drive innovation within the fashion industry.
As a company rooted in being Inclusive, By Design, we are guided by the belief that business can, and should, be a force for good. This extends not just to our employees and our customers but to the communities we serve.
What are some of your guiding principles as a marketer that you’ve taken with you throughout your career?
What keeps me coming to work everyday is the ability to see the clarity of the platform come to life, with the team and our approach. The other part is how we optimize the marketing message once it’s out there, and driving commerce, which you can see from our first quarter results. I was in New York earlier this week — we’re a bicoastal brand — at dinner with my team, and I just love having a highly creative, culturally connected group of people to collaborate with on how we conceptualize, design and execute these ideas. We are all in-house, we don’t have an ad agency, so we have to be highly collaborative and ideas are the currency. We’re not hierarchical, our Zoom screen could have 60, 20 or four people on it at any time. We’re constantly surrounding ourselves with ways to make it better and work harder. We’re all marketers who want to make really great work. So let’s get out there and see if we can restore the relevance but also be a force for good and shape culture.
What’s your favorite classic Gap ad, and have you worked on any campaigns that you think stand up to its legacy?
Who doesn’t love Khaki Soul? In fact, we did a sizzle reel for a project we’re doing now where we mashed that up. We still have this idea of category dominance, taking the idea of khakis and making it cool, and there’s a very rich heritage and equity in that idea of performance and dance and music.
And since I loved Khaki Soul, we did a spot last fall with Lil Buck and Miles Yachts in hoodies dancing to Sonder’s “Too Fast.” We filmed it at the end of our holiday shoot where we had a few minutes left on the clock. We had worked with Miles in the past, but Buck was new, and we were hanging out between the takes and we said let’s “Let’s just do whatever dance challenge and drop whatever track you want to do.” So we shot a 5:12, one-take on a crane and handheld. That’s one of my favorite Gap spots now because it’s a modern take on what Khaki Soul was. We just wanted to let their creativity explode. Once we saw it we all had goosebumps. We said “that’s gonna be on the NBA Finals,” and we did it in like four days.
Andrew Hampp is an entertainment marketing consultant for Brand Innovators and the founder of consultancy 1803 LLC, based in Berkeley, California.
