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- [00:09]
Narrator / David Brown
It's fall 2023 at Gap Incorporated San Francisco headquarters. A group of top Gap executives files into a glass walled conference room overlooking the Bay Bridge. The view is serene, but the mood is tense. Sales are down again across all brands and the company is still struggling to regain its cultural relevance and keep pace in the digital retail world. They recently hired a new CEO, 52 year old Richard Dickson. Dixon is tall and slender with shoulder length curly brown hair and he's brought the team in for a wake up call. He walks to the front of the room and points to a large screen. On the screen is the Gaps website. This site is a mess. As he talks, Dixon points to the homepage where giant bold banners scream Discounts. 50% off over here, 75 over there. Two times the loyalty points. This. This doesn't feel like a brand. It feels like a flea market. Dixon shakes his head. The website is all promotions, no identity. It's too overwhelming. Makes everything feel transactional. Look, we're not fostering emotion. Instead we've lost our brand narrative. We're just shouting sales. One executive nervously tries to interject. But Richard, we've lost the story of our brand and our financial footing at the same time. Look, this has got to change. Pacing the room, Dixon is met with anxious stares. He tries to calm the team by telling them the story of another brand that was a mess until he took charge. Barbie. Dixon was brought to Mattel to rescue the 11 and a half inch doll. Her sales had been sinking for years and some believed Barbie was dead. But Dixon believed Barbie's story just needed updating. He started her makeover with one simple question. Why does Barbie exist? The answer in 1959 was simple. Ruth Handler created Barbie to give girls a doll that help them imagine a future for themselves beyond motherhood. But Dixon had to answer why Barbie existed in the present day. Times had changed since 1959 and it was time for Barbie to change too. Under Dixon's reign, Mattel created new Barbie dolls with new body types, skin tones and stories. By 2023, Barbie wasn't just a dollar. She was a cultural juggernaut who launched a billion dollar summer blockbuster. Just days after the Barbie movie premiered. Dixon accepted the CEO job at the Gap and now he's asking his new team the same question. Why does Gap exist? Does it exist to push endless promotions that train customers to hold out for the next deal, making them wait to click purchase? Dixon points back to the Gap's website. Gap is a great American brand, but we need to tell a new story. One that's firmly rooted in our past. He puts a new image on the screen, a photo of the first ever Gap store opened in 1969 in San Francisco. The store's name evoked the generation gap between the old and the young, a divide that the Gap hoped to bridge. That was the Gap's purpose. Dixon smiles as he looks at the original Gap store. This image, this is inspiring. The Gap started with an idea and a purpose, and purpose makes brands immortal. The challenge is simple but urgent. Rediscover its purpose and answer the question, why does Gap exist now? The stakes are huge. If the executives come up with the right answer, they can reignite Gap's brand. But if they don't, Gap's story won't be about immortality. It'll be about extinction. When planning for your future, you want someone with a history of keeping their word year after year. For nearly 160 years, Pacific Life has been a trusted name in the industry. But that isn't just a number. It's experience that matters. It's 160 years of promises held, helping generations retire with confidence, protect their loved ones, and plan for whatever comes next. Whether you're looking for life insurance, employee benefits or retirement income solutions, when your future is on the line, you want history on your side. 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Sponsored Jobs Spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes and you know listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help you get your job the premium status it deserves. @ Indeed.combusinesswars just go to Indeed.combusinesswars right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.combusinesswars terms and conditions App Hiring do it the Right Way with Indeed from wondering. I'm David Brown, and this is Business Wars. In our last episode, Gap boomed in the 1990s and slumped in the 2000s. A string of CEOs tried and failed to revive the company. Inventory piled up. Some even went up in literal flames in a fire that seemed more like a blessing than a tragedy. And even as Gap's Old Navy brand took off, the company's overall revenues stagnated. To fix this, Gap launched a turbulent partnership with Kanye West, a deal that crashed and burned. Now Gap has a new boss, Richard Dickson, the man who brought Barbie back. He's laying the groundwork for a turnaround he hopes will reach beyond spreadsheets and onto store shelves. To bring GAAP back, he Dixon will need to take bold swings, like enlisting the help of an A list designer. But is a high fashion collaboration the right choice for the mid priced Gap? There are other problems Gap will face, too, including a global trade war that could blow a hole in its balance sheet. As Dixon works to fix these issues, he'll insist that Gap isn't just selling clothes it's selling a personal and adaptable style. Along with nostalgia. He wants customers to remember the brand they once loved, whether that's the gap of the 1970s, the 1990s or even the new millennium. Now let me put a finer point on this. You know every comeback story has this moment, a place on the tightrope walk between honoring the past and chasing the future. Lean too hard on nostalgia, you feel like a tribute band. Push too far ahead and you leave all your old fans behind. The best turnarounds make both groups feel seen. It's not easy, but if you can bridge that Gap, you too have a shot at lasting relevance. There's a fine line between healthy nostalgia and reinventing a brand for the future. The question now Can Gap successfully walk this line? This is episode two back in blue it's fall 2023. In an auditorium at Gap's headquarters, Richard Dixon bounds onto the stage in front of an audience of Gap employees. Designers, merchandisers and marketers lean forward eagerly awaiting Dixon's presentation. But instead of unveiling a flashy new product, Dixon pulls up a screen filled with headlines about Gap Incorporated. They're grim. Sales at Gap stores have nosedived, falling from $7.3 billion to $3.3 billion in just two decades. Job cuts are part of the story, too. Almost 2,000 jobs lost in early 2023 alone. Hundreds of stores have closed, and even Old Navy, once the company's cash cow, is struggling. One analyst says Gap Inc. Has become a bland retailer. Dixon shakes his head with disappointment and says the analyst isn't wrong. Dixon knows this kind of bad news makes staffers uncomfortable but in his view, this bad news has become Gap Inc. Story. And the best way forward, as he explains, is to craft a new narrative. Let's think about this for just a moment. You know, most companies wait until things get better before telling a new story. But stories don't just describe reality. They can help create a new one. A good narrative that gives employees and customers a reason to believe. Again, a good story turns random efforts into a tangible mission. And you know, people will follow a story long before they'll follow a spreadsheet. And Dixon knows it. He reminds the audience that Gap once told its story in ads featuring stars like Lenny Kravitz and Madonna. He says Gap made khakis cool by connecting them to icons who had worn khakis in the past, people like Ernest Hemingway and James Dean. Andy says that Gap was once a pop culture brand. To regain their status, Dixon wants Gap's leaders to get comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations. There are more town halls and other interactions that reinforce the same. Gap has to confront reality before it can chart a path forward. If Gap is going to reclaim the cultural relevance it once achieved, it needs more honesty, better sales, and better fabric. And soon, Richard Dickson will find a fabric that's strong enough to stitch together a comeback. It's late 2023 at Gap headquarters, a design studio hums with life. Sewing machines whirring designers drape half finished garments over headless mannequins. The clothes come in creamy whites, deep blacks and sandy neutrals. And here, Dixon is about to find a soft fabric that he can use to make a bold move. Gap designers show Dixon a line of linen clothes they're hoping will be included in the Gap's spring offerings. There are button up shirts, wide leg drawstring pants, crop tops with spaghetti straps, and, yes, even linen khakis. Dixon scans each piece carefully. He studies the silhouettes and feels the fabric, running his fingers over the stitching. He knows what he's looking for. Dickson's family has been making garments for generations. His maternal grandmother was imprisoned at Auschwitz and forced to repair Nazi uniforms. His grandparents escaped the Holocaust and built a fashion business in New York's Garment District. There, his grandmother created women's clothing that was sold at Saks. Dixon's parents were also in the clothing business. Dixon's father was chief operating officer at Calvin Klein. His mother was president of a small retailer that, like the Gap, sold T shirts and other casual basics. A young Dixon worked in the store stockroom. With this new linen lineup, Dixon sees something that Gap can use to counter critics in recent years, Gap has been slammed for producing flimsy goods as it tried to catch up to fast fashion brands like Zara. But now Dixon sees something the brand has sorely lacked in recent years. Quality. The linen products are well made, and the design team believes they can be reproduced affordably, even at Gap's immense scale. Dixon sees something else, too. The chance to make linen the centerpiece of Gap's spring line. Much as the Gap made khaki Central to its late 90s offerings. Dixon tells his designers to go all out on linen for spring, not just with a handful of pieces, but with an arsenal of the soft, scrunchy fabric. Now, you know this as well as I do. Big brands often wind up the victim of death by committee, every decision watered down till nothing stands out, giving designers real freedom. That can feel risky, but you know what's riskier? Blandness. And that's especially true for fashion. One bold product can wake up a whole company and its customers. It tells the world, this is who we are now. And that kind of clarity, it's rare enough to be really exciting. It's a big departure from some of the CEOs who preceded Dixon. They were number crunchers, not creatives. Designers were downplayed and data was celebrated. As a result, Gap found itself following trends instead of setting them. Dixon intends to reverse this, starting with linen. The problem Gap has tried and failed to recapture its cool before. But Dixon thinks he has the solution. Bring a high fashion Runway star into Gap's mid priced world. It's October 2023 in New York. Gap CEO Richard Dickson folds his tall frame into a booth at Balthazar, an always buzzing brasserie in New York City. He's joined across the table by famed fashion designer Zac Posen. Posen is a 43 year old wunderkind of American fashion. When he was just 21 years old, he dressed supermodel Naomi Campbell. Later, he gained national attention as a judge on Project Runway. His personality was irresistible. And Posen parlayed his Project Runway stint into designing one of a kind creations for celebrities like Natalie Portman, Rihanna, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Beyonce. Now Dixon wants Posen to make clothing for the masses. Today, over a plate of Balthazar's legendary fries, he's pitching Posen on joining Gap as its creative director. But you know, just because they both love the fries doesn't mean there's a match. Here. You see the problem, right? A high fashion designer joining a mall brand. Well, think about it this way. One of Posen's most famous designs was a gown for Claire Danes that was made from organza and fiber optics. The dress literally lit up. So what's the Gap supposed to do? Sell glow in the dark clothing? Or maybe Old Navy should ditch its denim for organza? Fitting Posen into Gap if if Posen can even be convinced to join, well, that's going to take some clever tailoring indeed. But Dixon is confident he can make this a seamless fit. He talks about vision, legacy, and most of all, purpose. He says that bringing Gap back will require people like Posen, people who can leverage their connections to the stylish and famous and convince them, like Sharon stone in the 1990s, to once again wear Gap on the red carpet. The men don't talk couture, but they do make a connection. Just five minutes into the conversation, while the fries are still steaming hot, Posen makes up his mind. He's joining the Gap. For Dixon, this is a huge win. The new CEO is stitching together a better, bolder Gap, but he's working with some very fragile fabric. And just when it looks like the Gap's comeback is finally happening, everything will come apart at the seams. This message is brought to you by Apple Card so you left your wallet in the car, or was it at home? No need to panic. With your iPhone you can tap to pay using Apple Card with Apple Pay and earn unlimited daily cash back when you do. Apple Card is ready when you need it, subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City branch terms and more@applecard.com you hear it all the time on business wars. The battles between brands, the bold moves, the breakthroughs. But behind every winning business, there's something less talked about. Great IT. That's where ManageEngine comes in. ManageEngine offers a comprehensive suite of AI powered IT management solutions that give you complete control over your IT operations. Your employees can collaborate securely, your IT admins can easily monitor and manage devices, and you get full visibility of your data hygiene. ManageEngine also integrates well with most popular IT software programs out there. So if you're a growing business or an organization looking for enterprise grade IT management and cybersecurity solutions, visit manageengine.com to take control of your IT. That's www.manage It's November 2023 in England, Richard Dixon takes the stage at an annual conference sponsored by the new site Business of Fashion. The room is filled with leaders of global fashion houses and Dixon, fresh off reinventing Barbie and now trying to reboot the Gap, is one of the star attendees in an onstage interview, he discusses his attempt to return the brand to relevance and renew its purpose. To do this, he says, he's looking to both the past and the present.
- [20:05]
Richard Dixon
Just think about how many gaps we have to bridge just today's conversation alone. Sustainability, digital dialogue, race, ethnicity, diversity, inclusiveness. To be able to have a conversation from a brand that was defined around bridging the gap from a purpose perspective, there could be nothing more inspiring than taking that cue and figuring out how to create that cultural conversation today, using our brands as a platform to actually create a better world.
- [20:38]
Narrator / David Brown
Fixing the bottom line is one thing, but making the world a better place. Well, Dixon's got his work cut out for him. Still, for Dixon, clearing a high bar isn't optional. It's a requirement. Gap has been irrelevant for too long. Only bold moves can bring it back. And one of Gap's first bold moves will come just a few months later with an ad campaign titled Lennon Moves. All right, let's go again from the top. Get into your places. It's February 2024, and Gap is launching its spring collection. Remember those linen pieces Dixon admired back in the fall? Well, they're now the centerpiece of the new collection, and Gap is debuting them with its hippest ad in years. The ad, Linen Moves, is a recreation of a viral music video for a song called back on 74 from the electronic band Jungle. Shot on an undecorated soundstage, the vibe is raw, almost like a rehearsal, but this looseness is the point. Male and female dancers shimmy and shake in an extended single shot that features Tyla, a Grammy winning South African singer. Every dancer wears Gap linen, but the cuts, colors and silhouettes of their outfits are all different. And the campaign works. More than 100 million people view the ad on TikTok, Instagram and elsewhere online. But even as Gap basks in viral success, Dixon gets a sharp reminder that splashy ads aren't enough. Fixing a brand is about the small stuff, too. It's March 2024 in San Francisco, and Dixon needs a new hoodie. When he calls a nearby Gap store to see if they have his size in stock, no one answers. He calls another store. An employee answers, but Dixon gets put on hold while the employee checks if the hoodie's available. There's no hold music either. Just silence. The employee never returns. Dixon hangs up and tries a third location. Finally, success. Well, sort of. The hoodie's in stock, but not in Dixon's size. An irritated Dixon summons the executives in charge of planning and merchandising to his office. He tells them that the Gap is in too tenuous of a financial situation to mess up the small things. Dixon has been delivering variations on this message for months. When he's not dialing up Gap stores, he's walking through them. And he's found that the stores are playing music that lacks pep. Too quiet. But when he asked for changes, the stores swung in the opposite direction and started playing music that was far too loud. When Dixon visited a nearby store, he asked a sales associate if she thought the music was too loud. She did, but she explained she couldn't turn it down because Gap headquarters had ordered the volume set at a specific level. Dixon returned to headquarters and told his executives that this was Gap's problem in miniature decisions made in conference rooms tying the hands of the people actually running the stores. If Gap's going to recapture its relevance, dixon explains, it has to empower workers on the front lines, and it has to get all the small things right. The message gets through, but whether it can make a big enough impact on Gap's bottom line? Well, that's another question. But first, Gap's flashiest executive is about to reclaim the red carpet once it's May 2024 in New York City. Some of the world's biggest celebrities are getting ready to walk the red carpet at the Met Gala, an annual event where designers debut their boldest looks. Vogue magazine's cameras are carrying the event live. Moments later, Gap's chief creative director Zac Posen arrives alongside Academy Award winner Divine Joy Randolph. Posen has partnered with Randolph and the Gap to create a one of a kind denim look for her to wear this evening. Now, this isn't your average blue jeans outfit. It's a bold blue gown with the silhouette of a 1700s evening dress. There's an off the shoulder neckline, a corseted bodice and a billowing train that takes three assistants to arrange as Randolph poses for photographers. The dress, as Posen later explains, contains a lot of symbolism. It plays off the event's theme Garden of Time and Gap's San Francisco headquarters.
- [25:33]
Zac Posen
I was inspired by the view of my I work at Gap Inc. And I was looking at the bay, the changing of the colors and the blues, and I thought, what fabric we use the most at Gap Inc. And it's denim, so related to water and indigo as a flower. I thought it all worked with the theme. And I thought, you know, I got this beautiful woman coming as my date. I got to celebrate her.
- [25:57]
Narrator / David Brown
The dress is symbolic of something else, too. It marks a dramatic return to high style for the Gap. Nearly three decades earlier, Sharon Stone wore a simple Gap mock turtleneck to the Oscars. This time though, the look is pure couture. And Vogue's red carpet co host, TV personality Lala Anthony is captivated as she speaks to Randolph and Posen started. Zac Posen is here. Divine joy Randolph is here. We are in the building and. And Stunning. Stunning, stunning, stunning, stunning, stunning, stunning. Please tell me about this look. This is Zac Posen's Gap couture honey. Denim, denim, denim. Snatch, snatch, let's go.
- [26:40]
Zac Posen
Hashtag Gap gown, Gap gown.
- [26:44]
Narrator / David Brown
Gap's red carpet moment doesn't stop there. Weeks later, another Oscar winner, Anne Hathaway, appears at a Bulgari event in Rome wearing a Posen designed Gap dress. Her outfit captures the attention of the online entertainment channel Stellar scene.
- [26:59]
Stellar Scene Host / Entertainment Reporter
Anne Hathaway made a jaw dropping appearance at a Bulgari event in Rome donning a sexy off the shoulder maxi dress from none other than Gap. Yes, you heard that right, Gap.
- [27:14]
Narrator / David Brown
Unlike Randolph's gown, Hathaway's isn't couture. It's designed to hit the market just days after Hathaway wears it in Rome. The dress goes on sale@gap.com for $158. The limited edition release sells out in just hours and one tiktoker was lucky enough to get her hands on one. But here's my take on it. Beautifully constructed. Zac Posen. That's what he does. Beautifully constructed pieces and this is definitely that. What's with these limited editions? Well, you know what it is, right? Scarcity changes the conversation. Suddenly it's not should I buy this? But will there be any left? The FOMO factor. Fear of missing out. Something else is at work here too. Selling out of something isn't just money in the bank. It sends a message. It says the brand is back in demand. And you know people love being part of something everyone else wants. The buzz from Randolph and Hathaway isn't just a moment on the red carpet. It's driven online buzz, inspired Gap shoppers and proven that high style collaborations can translate into tangible retail demand. With Posen inside the company, the Gap seems to be regaining its fashion fit. But now can its finances follow suit? Closing the books, getting your people paid and bringing on new hires. Running a small or mid sized business can be exciting and also a little chaotic. Workday go makes simplifying your business. Well, simple. Imagine all the important aspects of your company. Hr, finance and payroll. Or all on the AI platform. No more juggling multiple systems no more worrying about growing too fast. Just the full power of workday Go helping small to mid sized businesses like yours scale and run more smoothly. Think about what that means. Seamless onboarding for new team members, real time insights at your fingertips and payroll that works perfectly every single time so you can focus on the big picture and go after your big ambitions. And with workday you can activate quickly in as little as 30 to 60 business days. So simplify your business. Go for growth. Go with workday Go.
- [29:47]
Stellar Scene Host / Entertainment Reporter
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- [30:34]
Narrator / David Brown
It'S late May 2024 on Wall Street. As the trading day ends, Gap Incorporated releases quarterly earnings that are to borrow from Vogue's Met Gala co host Lala Anthony. Stunning. Stunning. Stunning. Profits are nearly triple what analysts had expected. All four of Gap's brands Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta post sales gains. CEO Richard Dickson says the company can't even remember the last time this happened. Investors lap it up. Gap stock jumps 20% in after hours trading. One additional number stands out, too. Inventory is down 15%. For years, gap was drowning in unsold clothes, forcing the company to slash prices. But now. Now Gap is selling more and discounting less. But when Dixon talks to Yahoo Finance after Gap releases its numbers, he reminds everyone not to get too carried away. Work to do.
- [31:37]
Richard Dixon
You know, we're very pleased. We're taking a very quick victory lap. But it's not a sprint. It's a marathon.
- [31:44]
Narrator / David Brown
Still, after decades of falling behind, Dixon has Gap racing ahead. But what he doesn't know is that just up the road, a huge hurdle awaits. It's August 2024 on Wall Street. Richard Dixon, Zach Posen, and more than a dozen other Gap executives are cheering while standing on a platform above the New York Stock Exchange's trading floor. They're about to ring the opening bell. The group looks like a walking Gap ad. Denim jackets, denim vests, crisp white tees, and Dixon in his signature white hoodie with Gap and bow letters on the front. And today, that's what Gap's ticker symbol is being changed to. It had been gps, a weird mismatch. Now it's G A P. Fixing Gap's ticker symbol is just one of the smart changes that Dixon has made at Gap Incorporated. In just one year on the job, he's breathed new life into its marketing, brought new style to its fashion, and shored up the financials. This has won Dixon new fans, both in the fashion business and on Wall street, including CNBC's Jim Cramer. Just days after that bell ringing, Kramer gushes over Dixon on his Mad Money show.
- [33:14]
Richard Dixon
Well, Richard, I have to tell you, a bit of a miracle worker.
- [33:17]
Narrator / David Brown
But as 2024 rolls on, Dixon knows the real miracle will be keeping the momentum going. The apparel industry is in decline, dipping 3% in 2024. Zara and HM are among the companies seeing sales fall. But Gap continues to surge, even in a softening market, in part because it keeps grabbing headlines. In December 2024, for example, Zac Posen follows up on Anne Hathaway's Gap dress with one made for Demi Moore. After Moore shows off the sexy, form fitting black maxi dress at a San Francisco film festival, Gap puts it on sale in stores for $128. Two months later, Timothee Chalamet wears an all black Gap ensemble to an Academy Awards dinner. The outfit is the first custom men's look from Gap Studio, a new high fashion line within Gap that's headed up by Posen. That same month, Gap debuts a new ad featuring Parker Posey, who, like Gap, was big in the 1990s and is now reviving her fame through her star turn on HBO's the White Lotus. But as Gap basks in the glow of Hollywood stars, storm clouds gather over its supply chain. The White House has threatened to impose tariffs on countries around the world, including big apparel producing countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh and China. Gap doesn't know the specifics of the new tariffs yet, but they devastate the company momentum. Still, a day before the announcement, Dixon tells the Wall Street Journal he isn't overly worried.
- [34:58]
Richard Dixon
It's all concerning, but I think it's no different than any other year of complexity. You know, we can talk about tariffs being, you know, the challenge of this year, but there's been challenges every year that companies go through.
- [35:16]
Narrator / David Brown
In that same conversation, Dixon explains Gap's renewed purpose. The thing that answers the question, why does Gap exist? Dixon says it's not to dictate style, but to give people the tools to define their own.
- [35:32]
Richard Dixon
One of the most beautiful things about our story as a Gap brand is we're not defining your style we provide you the style and the apparel for you to define your own style. This is a brand that's all about originality.
- [35:46]
Narrator / David Brown
But originality won't pay the bills if clothes suddenly cost a lot more to make. The next day, while Dixon poses for a Business Week cover story about the brand's resurgence, the White House drops a tariff bomb. Levies on key apparel countries are steeper than some expected. When BusinessWeek's reporters and photographers leave, Dixon scrambles. He calls his chief financial officer and the top supply chain executive, who give him dire numbers. The tariffs could add an additional $300 million in costs. Gaps options are limited. Can production be shifted? Well, maybe. Can more goods be made in the US not profitably so. Dixon heads to Washington. On Capitol Hill, he warns congressional leaders that the tariffs threaten Gap's future and could shutter Gap stores. Dixon also appeals directly to President Trump. But the administration holds firm, insisting tariffs will fuel an American manufacturing revival. Dixon leaves Washington empty handed. At the end of May, Gap tells Wall street it will avoid passing significant prices price increases onto its customers. Instead, to help soften the blow of the tariffs, Dixon announces that the Gap plans to diversify their overseas suppliers and double its sourcing of American grown cotton in 2026. But even with these adjustments, tariffs still carve $150 million out of its bottom. You know, it's in moments like these that leadership shows what it's really made of, passing the full costs on to shoppers. That would have been easy, but it would have been short sighted, too. So instead, Gap takes the hit to protect trust. It tells customers, we're in this with you. This kind of decision doesn't just protect customer loyalty, it earns it. The next morning, Gap stock plummets, falling 20%. A month later, the stock is still down. As Dixon appears on Business Week's cover, the headline warns of a quote last ditch tariff addled turnaround push. As investors brace for Gap's comeback to flame out, Gap is working on an ad that will change the conversation and, they hope, put the brand back in the cultural spotlight. Foreign 2025American Eagle releases a new ad featuring Sydney Sweeney zipping herself into high waisted loose fitting jeans. The camera pans over her bare belly, a mostly unbuttoned denim jacket, and finally up to her blonde hair and blue eyes. While the camera pans, Sweeney explains that genes come from your parents and determine your features. Then she stares straight at the camera and says, my jeans are blue. Sydney Sweeney has great jeans. The ad sparks an immediate backlash. Critics say it offers a narrow idea of beauty. Others go further, arguing that the ad's focus on genetics smacks of exclusion. A culture war debate erupts. Three weeks later, Gap releases a denim themed seemed ad of its own. The timing seems deliberate, even though the campaign has been in the works for months. The ad stars Katseye, a girl group formed on a reality show. Unlike Sweeney's spot, Gap's ad is multicultural. Their jeans fit differently, too. Some are loose, some form fitting. Waistlines plunge lower than they have in decades. Set to Kalis's 2003 hit Milkshake, the ad celebrates Y2K fashion while keeping Gap in the current cultural moment. The six Cat's Eye women and 30 dancers weave together in a white room that pulses with white light. The energy is frenetic, yet controlled, with moves clearly built to go viral. On TikTok, the camera captures individuality and movement. Movement, not perfection. Each performer is dressed differently, reinforcing the brand's purpose. Build your own style with gab. And then there's the lyric aimed squarely at competitors. Damn right, it's better than yours. The ad catches fire. The impact is massive. Richard Dixon says that within weeks, the ad gets 400 million views. It's Gap's biggest viral moment ever. And this success carries its own message. Despite trade wars and competition, the Gap is back in the cultural zeitgeist. You know, going viral is luck. Staying relevant, that's work. One breakout ad can spike sales, but it takes a steady drumbeat of hits. You know, great products, great experiences, great stories. If you really want to rebuild a brand, the win that's not in the views, it's what people start to believe about you. And Gap seems to be learning that difference fast. Gap's comeback has been fueled by nostalgia, both for its 1969 roots and its 1990s boom. But as it looks back, the Gap has avoided a common pitfall, becoming a parody of itself. Today, the brand doesn't feel dated. It feels fresh, relevant, even cool again. Still, CEO Richard Dixon hasn't pulled off a Barbie level blockbuster for Gap as he did for Barbie. There's no movie cementing the brand's message and purpose. Not yet, anyway. But could there be maybe 50 shades of denim? Or how about When Harry Met Khaki? Either way, we'll be watching from Wondery. This is episode two of Gaps Revival for Business Wars. A quick note about the recreations you've been hearing. In most cases, we can't know exactly what was said. Those scenes are dramatizations, but they're based on historical research. I'm your host, David Brown. Joseph Guinto wrote this story. Sound design by Josh Morales. Our lead sound designer is Kyle Randall. Fact checking by Gabrielle Joliet. Our managing producer is Desi Blalock. Produced by Tristan Donovan of Yellowman. Our senior producers are Jenny Bloom and Emily Frost. Karen Lowe is our producer Emeritus. Our Executive producer producers are Jenny Lauer, Beckman and Marshall Louie. For Wondery.
- [43:01]
Raza Jafre
I'm Raza Jafre and in the latest season of the Spy who, we open the file on Morton Storm. The spy who lived inside Al Qaeda, unfulfilled with his life in a notorious Danish biker gang, Mortenstorm is lost. One afternoon he stumbles into a library looking for answers. He finds them in the form of a book about Islam. The towering ginger haired Dane doesn't know it yet, but that moment will hurl him into a world of radicalism and see him rise through the ranks of militant Islamist organization Al Qaeda, only to suffer a huge crisis of faith. He turns from devotee to spy tasked with rooting out some of Al Qaeda's most feared generals. The CIA and MI5 bid for his allegiance as he loses himself in a life of cash laden suitcases, double crosses and betrayal. Follow the Spy who On the Wondery app or wherever you listen to podcasts or you can binge the full season of the Spy who Lived Inside Al Qaeda early and ad free with Wondery plus.