Gap, the cultural American clothing brand, launches their “Gift the Thought” 2019 Holiday platform anchored by the heartwarming hero film, “The Hoodie”.
Under Gap’s Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Alegra O’Hare, the brand is pursuing an added emotional marketing tone this season. This sees a diversion from the traditional theatrical, musical nature of previous Gap Holiday campaigns, and introduces a more heart felt and sentimental hero film. “We wanted to create something special and unique that tugs at the heartstrings” says O’Hare.
"The Hoodie" tells a story documenting the evolution of a young boy and his mother’s relationship over the years. Directed by AG Rojas, the film showcases their love and timeless bond through the lens of a single Gap hoodie, one of the brand’s most iconic items of clothing. The Gap hoodie serves as the vehicle in which the spot moves through the decades, tapping into nostalgia and moments of intensity in the forming of this family relationship. Starting during the son’s pre-teen years, we see him navigate experiencing heartbreak, discovering his passion for photography, falling in and out of love and culminates in him heading out on his own, his mom there every step of the way.
As we see at the end of the film, it all comes back to the holiday season and heartfelt gift giving when the mother gives her now fully-grown son the iconic Gap Logo Hoodie as a gift with a gift tag featuring a “Gift the Thought” note, ‘Because you’ve been there all along.’
With “Gift the Thought,” Gap strives to elevate your gift giving this season by celebrating how much you really know the person you’re gifting and put thoughtfulness back into those relationships. And because the best gifts are given with meaningful intention, Gap has curated a wide range of thoughtful gifts for anyone you care about:
- When you gift pajamas: ‘Because sleeping is your favorite sport’
- When you gift the new Upcycled Puffer that puts 40 discarded plastic bottles to good use: ‘Because you can rock any color and still be green’
- When you gift outerwear: ‘Because you’re cool under all those layers’
- When you gift denim to someone you lovingly watch grow up: ‘Because you grow up so fast’
To help spread this season’s thoughtful intention, Gap is offering complimentary gift tags in select stores: Because you bring the cheer, Because you get me, Because this is so you, etc.
“We wanted to create a platform that was unexpected this season. ‘Gift the Thought’ was our way of elevating gift giving this holiday season, making it not about the gift itself but the thought behind gift giving,” says Alegra O’Hare. “Our hero film ‘The Hoodie’ was our real and authentic approach to showcasing moments of intensity in the forming of a family bond over the course of decades, tapping into the legacy of the brand to create nostalgia that only a brand with a heritage like Gap can do.”
“Gift the Thought” was developed in collaboration with New-York based creative agency, Johannes Leonardo. "With the inevitable focus on product during the gift-giving season we've decided to take a different approach for this campaign. This holiday, Gap will not only play a role with the object being gifted but also with the thing that counts even more, the thought that goes along with it," says Leo Premutico, Co-Founder and CCO of Johannes Leonardo.
Launching on November 1st, the campaign will be released on Gap.com, Gap social channels and YouTube.com/Gap. Spanning across mobile, social, streaming video and audio, the media buy includes digital video takeovers on Hulu, Vevo, and Facebook Watch as well as interactive shoppable units and custom gift guides.
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