Gap Wants to Reclaim Ad Magic with New Chief Global Marketing Officer
“Khakis Swing,” “Mellow Yellow,” “Love Train”—it wasn’t so long ago that Gap’s advertising department had shoppers lining up for beige pants and striped scarves, and now, the brand is looking to bring back some of that ad magic.
With Gap sales down 9 percent from last year and stores closing worldwide, the company has hired Seth Farbman to fill the newly created post of chief global marketing officer, the New York Times reports.
“If you go back to ‘Khakis Swing,’ which everyone remembers fondly, it was fun,” said Farbman of the 1998 campaign that showed cheery Gap models swing-dancing to Louis Prima’s “Jump Jive an’ Wail.”
“When khakis are no longer the one big thing, what do you do?” he said.
“We have always been able to, at our best, come out with a product that’s stylish, has quality, and integrates for the customer all the confusing things that are happening in the fashion world,” Farbman continued, citing the brand’s 1969 denim line, which recently opened its first concept store in Soho, as an example.
“The first step is to explain why Gap is relevant for today,” he said. “This is not a world where you can allow people to guess what you’re for and against.”
Get the full story at NYTimes.com.
