Case study: gap Inc - reviving an icon with Purpose at the core
Image credit: GAP Inc
Gap got its groove back. How we helped America’s largest apparel retailer to focus its teams, energize its culture and revitalize its iconic brands.
When U2 front man Bono and global activist Bobby Shriver looked for brand partners for the now legendary (PRODUCT)RED consumer brand coalition in 2006, to raise awareness and funds to help eliminate HIV/AIDS, they were eager to work with the most iconic brands of the time. Brands that combined massive reach, outsized cultural influence, and an authentic track record of positive impact.
A Cultural Powerhouse
The brands that made their initial wishlist were such icons as American Express, Converse, Motorola (who ruled the mobile phone market pre-iphone), Armani, Apple, Nike, and… The Gap. Yes, The Gap. With its American cool and minimalist aesthetic, its deep roots in pop culture (Madonna, Missy Elliot, and Sarah Jessica Parker were brand ambassadors, just to name a few) and its iconic advertising, the brand was considered a huge cultural amplifier for PRODUCT(RED) and their ambitious plans to create the first large-scale, global cross-industry initiative that embedded societal impact directly into consumer spending on such a massive and sustained level.
Image credit: GAP Inc
For consumers who may have been too young to remember Gap’s cultural dominance in the 90s and 2000s, this seemed almost unimaginable even just a year or two ago.
What happened?
As fast fashion retailers rose to dominance, Gap (and sister brands Banana Republic, Old Navy and Athleta) struggled to differentiate themselves and compete with the likes of H&M, Zara, Uniqlo and Forever 21, and their much faster production cycles, high-fashion sensibilities and e-commerce dominance. But most importantly, Gap Inc.’s brands had lost their cultural relevance.
When former Mattel CEO Richard Dickson and former Mattel Chief People Office Amy Thompson joined as Gap CEO and Chief People Officer respectively in 2023, things started to change. Together with Gap Inc’.s Senior Leadership team and their Brand Presidents, they set out to reignite Gap Inc and its portfolio of iconic brands, and we had the privilege of helping them with this effort. Their brief to us was as simple as it was ambitious:
“Help us identify our purpose and leverage it to energize our culture and our iconic portfolio of brands”
- RICHARD DICKSON, CEO, GAP INC.
Image credit: Fortune Magazine
Richard and his team shared our belief that cultural relevance is created not by enlisting the latest influencers, but by understanding how meaningful a role a brand can play in solving unmet needs in society. So in order to lay the foundation for Gap Inc.’s new North Star, we engaged the Leadership Team in answering two fundamental questions:
What are your organization’s unique ‘superpowers’?
And what societal needs can those enable you to help solve?
Understanding Gap’s Superpowers to Reignite its Cultural Impact
Together, we went into the company archives to understand the unique Spirit that had made Gap great in the first place, looked at the organization's unique capabilities right now, and explored the unmet societal needs of today and tomorrow. What we found is that with the combined power, reach and scale of its brands, its deep roots in America’s shared identity, and its legacy of positive social and environmental impact, the company can play a unique role in creating a new sense of connection and belonging across cultural and economic divides.
Bridging Gaps between People, Ideas and Cultures.
Done right, Gap Inc’s brand portfolio can bridge the gaps between people, ideas and cultures, and leverage that role to regain its cultural relevance both with consumers and employees.
Image credit: GAP Inc
To articulate this as both a cultural as well as a business opportunity, we helped the team articulate a new purpose framework:
OUR PURPOSE (WHY)
We bridge gaps to create a better world
OUR MISSION (WHAT)
We power brands that inspire people to connect through authentic self expression
OUR VISION (WHERETO)
A high-performing house of iconic American brands that shape culture
OUR VALUES (HOW)
Center on the customer. Create with curiosity. Collaborate with candor. Champion excellence.
Reigniting the company from the inside out
To align, inspire and empower Gap Inc.’s 85,000 employees around this new North Star, Richard and his team created a captivating internal launch moment for the new purpose across the organization, followed by meaningful employee engagement experiences across its several campuses.
Image credit: GAP Inc
With a new awakening of Gap Inc.’s culture on the inside, the company could also make a new promise to potential employees in an effort to both attract and retain top creative talent.
Image credit: GAP Website
Refocusing ESG and the impact it creates
What’s more, Bridging Gaps proved to be an incredibly powerful call to action and became the central principle not just for how the organization communicates with all of its stakeholders, but also the lens through which all important corporate decisions are now being made, including how the company refocuses its ESG programs:
Image credit: GAP Website
Reclaiming cultural leadership for its iconic portfolio of brands
Most importantly, the clarity and meaning of the corporate purpose framework inspired the cultural renaissance and impact area of each brand, allowing them to engage consumers in more meaningful ways while leveraging corporate impact programs to do so.
For GAP, this cultural renaissance comes from a focus on Bridging the Inclusion Gap, tied into the corporate ESG work. This is done in a truly GAP way. For example, through a partnership with Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) Gap has joined forces to release a 16-piece, limited-edition collaboration featuring the work of six Black designers. The collection, launching during Black History Month 2025, reimagines Gap’s most iconic wardrobe staples from the creative talents behind A.Potts, BruceGlen, KAPHILL, N’Gai, and Richfresh.
Image credit: GAP Website
Likewise through Banana Republic there is a new focus on connections. Bringing together different cultures and experiences to help the curious find new ways of integrating and unifying through differences.
Old Navy is building on a rich heritage of opening doors in the community with a focus on Bridging the Opportunity Gap. Unlocking career potential, one young person at a time, Old Navy runs a program called This Way ONward. The program boosts confidence in young people looking for an opportunity to shine, with a focus on serving Black and Latin youth. Through one-on-one mentorship, coaching, and on-the-job skill building, the initiative provides career support towards a more prosperous future, in longstanding partnership with non-profits like Boys & Girls Clubs.
Image credit: Old Navy
Building on “The Power of She”, Athleta has refined their focus on Bridging the Equity Gap. Taking a leadership role in women’s sport throughout the Olympics in Paris in 2024, partnering with athletes from Athleta’s Power of She Collective - like Simone Bikes - the brand led a series of events with the Female Quotient.
Image credit: Athleta x Linkedin
Simultaneously, Grassroots activations in cultural hubs all over the world have included a #FindYourMovement L.A. event inviting sports icons, fitness experts, and the incredible Los Angeles community to sweat, connect, and experience the Power of She.
Image credit: Athleta x Linkedin
The world is watching Gap Inc. - and it likes what it sees
The realization of CEO Richard Dickson’s ambition to “identify our purpose and leverage it to energize our culture and our iconic portfolio of brands” is in full swing. Gap Inc.’s carefully crafted approach of corporate purpose, how it’s activated internally, and how it boosts the cultural relevance of its consumer brands, is paying off. Employees and consumers alike are excited to work for and dress in Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta. Collaborating with one of their brands has become a badge of honor for emerging fashion creatives. And the company’s share price has almost doubled since 2023.
Gap Inc. is back, and it all started with discovering and defining a powerful purpose at the core
What Gap Inc. had to say about working with us
“A pivotal process for Gap Inc., helping us identify and rally around a powerful, authentic purpose, that we are now leveraging to energize our culture and inspire even greater impact through our house of iconic American brands.”
- RICHARD DICKSON, CEO, GAP INC.
If anything sparks your interest in this or the following articles, please do email philipp@purposefulgrowth.co