The Audacity of Linen: Where GAP gets it WRONG

Well, the posts are still coming out regarding the 26-year-old semi-revival of the KhakiSwings/LinenMoves campaign and I just can't help myself. I really don't want to write about GAP everyday...this is not my gig. But I can't let this go - every Fall I teach a module at the masters level here in Dublin on the "Sociology of Fashion" and the 'instructor' in me just can't let this slide. I am by no means Mark Ritson who I think is a fantastic teacher/scholar on all things Brand Marketing - but I do have some observations with regards to Brands (and this particular brand) that I do spend some time on in my own coursework - the evolution of Brands and the Consumer Mindset from the onset of the Industrial Revolution to the hyper-fragmented layered and pay-to-play consumer marketplace of today.

If we all hop in the Hot Tub Time Machine and go back to 1998 - The Hey-Days of the BIG BRANDS in Fashion and at the onset of what came to be an iconic moment in Khaki and Gap history -- we were not just talking about a brand, but a consumer mindset leveraged with great product and marketing throughout the years of building up to that moment. If you recall, consumers as an 'audience' still shared 'moments' that were not streamed on-demand - they were delivered simultaneously whether it was 'Must see TV' or awards shows (Khaki's Swing was first seen during the Academy Awards presentation) or the leading fashion publications of the time. Also an advantage? Mall brands dominated (Victoria's Secret, Gap, Old Navy) and commanded attention and could lead the way with an ability to captivate and influence audiences at critical mass in print, television, and window based marketing. It was hard to get away from Brand messaging.

The atmosphere? A baby boomer President was in charge (remember this was pre-9/11) and times were good. On the soundtrack, Fleetwood Mac's had us 'Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow' - and a Khaki ad was ripe to light the fire of the casualization of America and launch a Swing Band Craze. But let's be clear: Khaki's did not come out of the blue. Gap had teased at first and succeeded in building out a fabulous Icons of Style campaign in 1993-4 with Iconinc figures in Khakis (my faves, 'Andy Warhol' and 'James Dean' wore Khakis) and they were trending as a category and commercially validated......and it was time to lean into the moment and take Khakis to the next level. Just prior to the Khaki's Swing Ad (in Sept 1997) Gap outfitted the NYSE in Khakis (the shock!), ties and jackets were shed, and 'Wear to Work' was redefined forever. Everything was breadcrumbing to up to the Spring 1998 Khaki's Swing campaign. It happened....and was a real moment...But let me be clear - this was commercially validated and customer focused at each point. No one at Gap at any point said 'We are here and telling the world to wear Khakis' out of the blue or without the momentum of the product itself. It was brilliant to lean in at the right time, right place. Marketing 101 synergies with the 4P's. Leaning into consumer mindset, sentiment and trends. And built from there with a Hollywood ending.

Flash Forward to yesterday's 'Linen Moves' campaign. In today's hyper-segmented customer led marketing environment where people can click SKIP AD and/or enjoy the music and ignore the product we decide to feature Linen. In a world that is celebrating Denim so brilliantly. And what about the product? Linen is probably the most undemocratic fabric in the history of time. Its abrupt seasonality and its need for special care (iron, steam, cold water, or earth unfriendly dry clean) make it a fabric that is always worn well once and then never really is the same ever again. Many shudder at their own history with the fabric and a good outfit gone bad with a warm wash, stain, or iron burn. But if as a Brand we say out loud that 'Gap Is Back' and 'Linen is Important' then we think it is true? From the Head of Gap Marketing yesterday on her Linked In post: "The launch of this campaign marks a turning point for Gap brand. A step into our future and a nod to our heritage, featuring musical icons paired with a clear product story, made relevant for today. Gap has always championed originality and stood for creative. We are sharpening our focus and reigniting the brand's power with this celebration of individuality and self-expression, through the lens of movement and music. Fashion is entertainment and we are finding our way back!".

With all due respect: Your customers, who have abandoned you for years in droves, are now being TOLD (by you) that you are back, that you are relevant and that you are focused. Really? They can celebrate individuality and self-expression on their own. They can dance and seek their favorite entertainment on demand in today's world. Why do they need you? LINEN? Has that been commercially validated and breadcrumbed through this fall/winter season? Last year? The arrogance and the audacity to TELL customers how iconic you are and how important you are/were is exactly your problem. You all have had way too much of the same Kool-Aid. And the more you double down on this rhetoric the more people are going to turn you off, walk by your windows, and ignore your preaching. We're not buying it: Linen, brand recovery, nostalgia. And as a consumer AGAIN who wants Gap to win, somehow, you keep thinking by telling me as a customer that you are important that you are important. It's delusion sold at the highest levels of your organization's leadership, and supported by those perhaps appreciative of the creative concept and execution, which I am not putting down - but Gap needs more than pretty pictures and dancing to turn its fortunes around. As I said in my article before, Time is not on your side. Tick-Tock.

Free advice [again but more clearly defined]: Customers right now are shopping for all the amazing newness in Denim. If I were Gap Brand I would be looking at every denim-y thing on order, find the good styles, and try to fast track a campaign so you look like you are competing in a category that is really important GLOBALLY and is also part of your [former] brand heritage and DNA (did you see the American Eagle Outfitters Inc. global campaign? Have you checked out Madewell 's new landing page? I'm sure you have seen Alex Mill 's amazing denim campaign? Diesel's Fall/Winter Show?) because by the time Fall Season rolls around denim is going to be something that people will lean into for the long game, when your Linen campaign has gone to the rails for an extra 50% off MD price in the back. Please do something - I grow weary of writing these rants. I still think an intervention is in order. Richard Dickson Erika Everett Mark Breitbard