SAN FRANCISCO – January 4, 2012 – Today Athleta, the women’s sports and active lifestyle apparel brand owned by Gap Inc., announced the launch of its first-ever fully integrated brand campaign, “Power to the She.” Focusing on the limitless ability of women through imagery and storytelling, the campaign aims to create a movement that not only encourages women to be their best feminine and athletic selves, but create communities where they can encourage one another to strive for excellence regardless of their personal pursuits.
“We are so inspired by the women who shop our brand every day, we’ve created a campaign to celebrate their amazing capacity,” said Tess Roering, VP of Marketing and Creative for Athleta. “Athleta customers want to do it all – they lead extremely active and busy lives but are still able to balance family, friends, exercise, work, and everything in between. Their desire to keep reaching for more is what ‘Power to the She’ is all about.”
The national advertisements from the new campaign, starting this spring, will be the first Athleta ads to include a narrative, highlighting the milestones and everyday moments of the Athleta customer’s life and all she’s capable of as an athlete and a woman:
Get born. Find a group. Find a job. Find the one. Have one. Have two. Roast a chicken. Cut bangs. Run. Breathe. Run. Relax. Run a 5K. Run a 10K. Crunch. Listen. Listen. Listen. Be loved. Look lovely. Do good. Give back. We kick asphalt. Power to the She.
The campaign, created by Minneapolis based agency Peterson Milla Hooks in close partnership with Athleta’s in-house marketing & creative team, will also influence Athleta’s already iconic marketing imagery. The seasonal imagery will continue to be shot at the beautiful locations Athleta’s customers have grown to know and love, but will now zero in on the woman in each photo, making her the hero of each shot. ‘Power to the She’ will be integrated across marketing channels, including retail, catalog, web, advertising and social media.
“The activewear category has offered two main approaches to women’s fitness: either speaking to physical prowess or speaking to physical beauty,” said Scott Key, senior vice president and general manager of Athleta. “The idea that women have the option to buy quality apparel that’s both stylish and functional is what differentiates our brand, and why we have such loyal customers. They not only believe in our products, but our philosophy around empowerment.”
Athleta offers premium women’s active lifestyle apparel for yoga, running, swim, gym, hiking and skiing – designed by and for female athletes -- as well as an array of other products for both athletic and everyday pursuits.
About Athleta
Athleta was founded in 1998 with the mission of providing women athletes with apparel for different sports and fitness activities. The company has become one of the premier brands in the rapidly growing women’s sports and active apparel markets. Athleta offers high quality, stylish, and functional apparel, footwear and accessories, 90 percent of which is proprietary branded, across a wide variety of sports and fitness activities, including a high component of crossover apparel as well as casual wear. Athleta sells its products through catalogs and its website, www.athleta.com. The company is headquartered in Petaluma, CA, and has nearly 300 employees. Athleta was acquired by Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) in September 2008 and is part of the Gap Inc. Direct division.
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