Gap Casts for Kids

The Gap has again teamed with Kodak to conduct its annual “Casting Call Contest" for new youth models.Consumers are encouraged to submit photos of their children via the online Kodak Gallery service through Oct. 24. A panel of judges will narrow entries down to 20 finalists, with the four grand-prize winners then selected by public vote.The winners will be featured in select Gap marketing materials and receive $3,000 store gift cards, children’s book collections and Kodak prize packages including digital cameras. The 20 finalists all receive trips to a Gap photo shoot in San Francisco. Shelf signs in GapKids stores support, along with window displays announcing the “Casting Call.” Kodak also co-sponsored the contest in 2006.In other activity, The Gap this month strengthened its (PRODUCT) RED program with a new marketing campaign that celebrates the first anniversary of the line’s global launch.The company once again recruited renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz to shoot the campaign, which consists of celebrities who support its (PRODUCT) RED initiative. Leibovitz was the photographer behind last year’s (PRODUCT) RED launch campaign, as well as this fall's “Classics Redefined” effort. (See Related Articles.)The new campaign features celebrities Anne Hathaway, John Legend and Wyclef Jean, along with the three who were featured when BabyGap and GapKids launched (PRODUCT) RED lines last summer: Terrence Howard, Natalie Maines and Abigail Breslin. Ads feature the celebrities alone or with "loved ones" wearing a Gap (PRODUCT) RED item in a way that “expresses their own personal style.” Copy includes “thought-provoking questions,” such as “Can the shirt off your back change the world?” The effort also promotes a new limited-edition “(2 WEEKS)” T-shirt that was added to the line this month. “Contributions from the sale of the (2 WEEKS) T-shirt are equivalent to the average cost of two weeks of antiretroviral (ARV) medicine in Africa,” the company said in a release. The (PRODUCT) RED campaign helps support the Global Fund, which assists women and children affected by aids in Africa. ARV is a medicine that helps HIV victims live normal lives.Print ads are running in The New York Times, US Weekly, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and the November issues of Vogue, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Glamour, Lucky, Marie Claire, GQ and Details. Gap’s creative agency, New York-based Laird + Partners, handles.Gap, Inc., San Francisco, operates 1,281 Gap stores, 532 Banana Republic stores and 1,034 Old Navy stores in the U.S. The company reported sales of $3.7 billion in second-quarter 2007 (ended Aug. 4), a 1.0% decline from the same period in 2006. Comparable-store sales decreased 5.0%. During the quarter, the company opened five and closed 18 Gap stores, opened 17 and closed four Old Navy stores, and opened eight and closed one Banana Republic store.

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

Talenti Highlights Flavor at Target

Don Julio Pays Homage to Mexico