Gap is taking a victory lap after the success of its viral denim ad campaign over the summer.
Richard Dickson, CEO of Gap Inc., said the brand’s “Better in Denim” ad campaign, in addition to being a huge hit on social media, converted into significant sales.
“With more than 8 billion impressions and 500 million views, Better in Denim culminated in a global cultural takeover and has become one of the brand’s most successful campaigns to date, generating significant traffic and double-digit growth in denim,” Dickson said Thursday on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
Gap Inc., which includes its namesake brand as well as titles like Old Navy and Banana Republic, beat analyst expectations and raised its guidance for the year. The stock price rose 5% in after-hours trading.
Gap’s “Better in Denim” campaign, which came out over the summer, featured the girl group Katseye dancing to “Milkshake” by Kelis and was an instant hit. The ad was also notable as it came during a denim ad war of sorts, with several brands releasing their own headline-making campaigns, including American Eagle and Lucky Brand.
Dickson said Gap’s campaign especially helped attract Gen Z consumers, who he described as “highly engaged.”
“Influencer content is among the most common product discovery methods amongst Gen Z and millennials, which we’ve been performing incredibly well with,” he said.
He also said “collaborations are continuing to drive relevance and revenue,” noting a recent collaboration with Sandy Liang that also drove younger consumers to Gap.
In addition to bridging the gap between generations, he said Gap was also attracting more high-income consumers with a strong competitive position “between premium and value.”
Gap Inc.’s comparable sales grew by 5% compared to the year prior, the company said. For the Gap brand specifically, comparable sales were up 7% from the previous year, Katrina O’Connell, CFO of Gap Inc., said on the call.
Dickson said the company’s solid performance for the quarter was fueled by “broad-based strength in denim,” crediting the Katseye campaign several times during the call.
“It was the denim story everybody wanted to be part of,” he said, adding, “This was a true cultural takeover. And I think it’s another proof point in our playbook.”
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