Earlier this year, I joined Gap Inc. as its first Chief Entertainment Officer with a mandate to build and lead a new Entertainment division serving our portfolio of iconic brands: Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta. Our work is organized around three connected pillars—licensing, original content and strategic partnerships—which together power our Fashiontainment platform. Today, we’re bringing that platform to life through our first initiative: a multi-year collaboration between Gap, Wexler Records and Republic Records. JYT amplifies the Fashiontainment flywheel in action. A docuseries co-produced by Gap, live fan experiences, a co-designed collection and activations for Encore members create interconnected touchpoints, giving consumers multiple ways to enter JYT’s world and deepen their connection with the group and the Gap brand. Our Fashiontainment platform is bigger than any single campaign or partnership. It brings content, licensing and strategic partnerships together with the reach of our brands, products, stores and membership ecosystem to build fandom, strengthen consumer relationships and create new opportunities for growth. Thank you to the incredible teams and partners bringing this vision to life. We’re just getting started. #GapInc #Fashiontainment
Seasoned entertainment executive Pam Kaufman had just started at Gap Inc. when two former colleagues told her she needed to meet with music producer and songwriter Freddy Wexler. During a FaceTime call, Wexler explained that he had just formed a new boy band. Did Gap want in on the ground floor? Gap did. Now the company that made casual dressing cool in the ’90s is riding shotgun on another ’90s trend: the American boy band. Gap is partnering with Just Your Type, known as JYT. The band’s five members are embarking on a music tour performing at malls and will do meet-and-greets in Gap stores. Gap will co-produce a docuseries on the band’s creation. And it is launching a clothing collection codesigned by the five band members. The partnership is the first in a series of initiatives that are expected to take the company’s brands—which also include Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta—beyond selling apparel and cement them more deeply in popular culture. Read more: 🔗 https://on.wsj.com/4h5Nk8H
Pam Kaufman - they came to my daughter’s sleepaway camp and she has been OBSESSED ever since! I thought that was absolutely brilliant marketing - such an amazing way to connect directly with such a core group of cusp tweens in their element.
What’s interesting here is the shift from campaign thinking to ecosystem thinking. When content, product, physical experience, partnerships and membership are designed as connected expressions rather than separate activations, the brand has an opportunity to build something much more enduring than a moment. The real power will be in keeping that ecosystem unmistakably Gap as it expands.
We had JYT at VidCon this year. They were a hit! Love this approach & am excited to see it come to life!
Let’s do this! Pam Kaufman Freddy Wexler
Setting the trends and the authority on the cultural landscape, love to see it!
I agree with Beth - Gap is filling all the right spaces!
Love. Great to see you in Aspen, Pam!
Bravo!!
This is SO cool! What strikes me is how completely this blows up the old boundaries between marketing, entertainment, storytelling and experience. Gap is no longer sitting outside the culture trying to figure out how to market to it, it's playing a role in the actual creation of what people want to watch, wear, experience, and talk about. Such an interesting definition of modern brand-building. I can't wait to see what's next!