Gap is putting a new spin on the same old song and dance

If there’s one thing Gap’s gonna do, it’s make people dance.

So far this year, the clothing brand has created two music video-esque campaign spots, much to the delight of the internet. For its spring campaign, “Linen Moves,” singer Tyla dances in what’s essentially a re-creation of the music video for Jungle’s hit single “Back On 74.” And last month, the brand recruited singer Troye Sivan to dance to “Funny Thing” by Thundercat for its fall “Get Loose” campaign.

“Linen Moves” was one of Gap’s “most successful campaigns to date” in terms of online engagement, Erika Everett, head of marketing at Gap, told Marketing Brew, and her team wanted to keep the momentum going.

“We needed to one-up ourselves, essentially,” she told us.

So far, it seems to be working. A TikTok video from the brand featuring Sivan already has nearly 30 million views and more than 400,000 likes, and some people have re-created the spot, getting their own fair share of engagement. Based on performance to date, Everett told us she’s optimistic this campaign could “potentially outperform” the last.

Gap’s song-and-dance campaigns come as part of an 18-month “brand reinvigoration” that Everett says is centered around participating more heavily in pop culture through social-first content. The goal, she said, is to “drive relevance with today’s consumer” while also paying homage to the brand’s legacy.

“The Gap’s first store opened selling jeans and records,” she said. “So music will be a key cultural pillar for us going forward.”

Making moves

Re-creating a music video nearly shot-for-shot could seem like a risky strategy at first, opening the brand to being labeled a copycat, but the decision to do so with a few tweaks seems to have paid off. Everett said her team saw Jungle’s music video for “Back On 74” and determined that the brand had an opportunity to tap into the viral dance while also making it its own, dressing the dancers in Gap linen and bringing in Tyla as the face of the spring campaign.

For the fall campaign, Everett said her team didn’t just want to create “part two” of “Linen Moves.” “We knew it had to feel and look different, but at the same time, we knew that we had unlocked a working formula,” she said.

Ultimately, a viral video from the dance troupe CDK Company sparked the creative idea, Everett said. Both Gap’s creative agency and CDK choreographer Sergio Reis independently identified Sivan, who had previously worked with the group on his “Rush” music video, as the ideal person to lead the campaign, she said, and the plan was born.

In both instances, partnering musicians and bands together to tap into multiple fandoms helped Gap broaden its reach, Everett said. “We certainly wanted to make sure that we were leveraging talent and dance ideas and songs, things that have seen some virality, because then you tap into that audience,” she said.

It was also important for the spots to look and feel like Gap’s legacy content. “A lot of people on social have been even saying, ‘This feels like the old Gap’ or ‘Gap is back.’ We’re getting a lot of that commentary, which feels really good,” Everett said.

Those observations aren’t for nothing. Everett said Charlie Di Placido, one of the directors of the Jungle music video, told her that the brand’s 1998 ad “Khaki Swing” was on his mood board for “Back On 74,” she recalled.

“There was natural synergy there,” Everett said.

Face the music

As Gap continues to pull from the vault, Everett said she’s also found inspiration in the @GapPlaylists Instagram account, which features some of the brand’s in-store soundtracks from decades past. That discovery sparked not only a collaboration with the account’s founder, Michael Bise, who is a former Gap employee, but also spurred the idea to create playlists with talent like Tyla and Sivan and share them on social media. Outside of social, customers can also hear those playlists and see the campaign videos on screens in retail stores.

“It’s a seed of an idea that we want to grow into something bigger, but it’s one example of how we’re trying to lean into our heritage around music and make it relevant and modern for today,” Everett said.

As Gap readies its holiday campaign, Everett said to expect more music-centric social content. “I don’t think this is the last time you’ll see dance from us, but we know that we’re going to explore music through other avenues,” she said.

Given that both the spring and fall campaigns center on the ability to move in certain clothes, let’s hope skinny jeans don’t make a comeback before December.