Old Navy is re-imagining the holiday season, making room for all
the celebrations with its inclusive Happy ALL-idays campaign. The
brand is inspiring customers to turn-around old holiday stereotypes
and turn-up the cheer through storytelling and activations that
honour all the traditions and festive ways people close out the
year.
Inclusive Santa ActivationIn honour of the ALL-idays, Old Navy
is inviting ALL the Santas to participate, opening the tradition to
anyone who is interested in spreading holiday joy. The brand’s
inclusive training course encourages participation from a broad
array of backgrounds, ethnicities and cultural heritages to offer
more representation in the role of Santa.
Diversity is a current challenge in the Santa industry. Less
than 5% of all professional Santas in the U.S. identify as people
of colour[1], while almost half of children under the age of 15 in
the U.S. identify as non-white[2]. Last year, Old Navy introduced
its skin-tone Santa prints, depicting Santa in three different skin
tones across styles for the family. This year, the brand hopes to
extend that concept from product to the real world.
Old Navy aims to make Santa more representative of modern-day
culture through its Santa BOOTcamp, encouraging any person who
wants to play the role of Santa this year - be it professionally,
in their community, or for their family - to sign up for the
inclusive training program.
Santa BOOTcampIn the 30-minute virtual course, trainees will
learn the fundamentals of becoming Santa, including how to respond
to kids’ frequently asked Santa questions, key phrases in both sign
language and Spanish, and tactics for how to take the perfect
photo. Old Navy partnered with veteran Santa Timothy Connaghan,
founder of School4Santas and owner of one of the largest Santa
booking agencies in the U.S.[3], to develop the immersive course.
Casted alongside Tim are fellow professional Santas and
School4Santa graduates: Dion Sinclair, known as Santa Dee or “The
Real Black Santa,” Bob Torres, a seasoned bilingual Santa who has
been in the industry for 38 years, and Brian Butler, known as
“Soulful Santa,” to help lead instruction.
“It’s not the red suit or white hair and beard that create
holiday magic, it’s what you have in your heart,” said Timothy
Connaghan. “A good Santa should spread joy and exude the holiday
spirit, regardless of their appearance.”
Individuals can visit www.OldNavySantaBootcamp.ca to register
for the free, inclusive training program, which will take place
online on Friday, November 19. Old Navy will also be casting a
range of diverse Santas to appear in its flagship stores in New
York City (Herald Square), San Francisco (Market Street), Chicago
(State Street) and Toronto (Yorkdale Shopping Centre) for
socially-distant photo moments on Saturday, December 4.
ALL-idays ContentOld Navy is celebrating all different types of
families and traditions in this year’s ALL-idays campaign through
an explosion of colour and inclusion.
● In two television spots and a
series of digital extensions starring award-winning actress and
singer Keke Palmer, the brand playfully demonstrates that there’s
no one way to celebrate the holidays. Keke is featured alongside a
diverse cast of families participating in an array of holiday
traditions, from building festive snowpeople to breaking a piñata.
In one digital short, Palmer takes a pass at the inclusive Santa
training, trying to master her HOHOHO and chimney entry.
● In a series of social takeovers,
Old Navy will pass the mic to a diverse group of influencers to
share their unique holiday traditions - from Friendsgiving to
challah recipes to Elf on the Shelf. The brand will showcase one
influencer a week, while encouraging followers to share how they
ALL-iday using the #happyALLidays hashtag, beginning November
16 through December 21 on its @oldnavy Instagram
handle.
“We have reimagined the holidays this year to celebrate the
diversity of our customers through our ALL-iday campaign,” says
Jamie Gersch, SVP and CMO at Old Navy. “Inclusivity is core to our
Old Navy values and is represented in the products we create, how
they come to life, the people we work with and how we run our
business. We can’t wait to see and share our customers' ALL-iday
celebrations.”
Skin Tone Santa Jingle JammiesOld Navy’s famous Jingle Jammies
inspired the brand’s inclusive Santa training program. Last year
Old Navy launched its hero Santa print pajamas in partnership with
Gap Inc.'s Colour Proud Council, an employee group that is part of
the company’s Equality & Belonging team. The expanded offering
of Santa Jingle Jammies, available in three different skin tones,
were an immediate hit with customers and showed more diversity in
the depiction of Santa Claus across styles for the entire
family.
This year, Old Navy continues to deliver on its values of
inclusivity and belonging by bringing back the beloved Santa Jingle
Jammies, alongside additional inclusive patterns and colour
combinations like menorah prints and rainbow stripes, to serve all
family needs and traditions during the fall and winter seasons.
Shoppers can view the Jingle Jammie collection for the entire
family, now at www.oldnavy.ca and in Old Navy stores.
This Way ONwardOld Navy is proud to celebrate the ALL-iday
season with its annual tradition of investing in the next
generation through the brand’s This Way ONward program. This season
Old Navy is giving it a rocket boost with a $1 million donation
through the Imagine Mission Fund.[4]
The program provides young people with the skills they need to
succeed in the workforce, changing lives with first jobs. In
addition to providing career development and mentorship
opportunities, the program invests in youth by assisting with
transportation, housing and clothing allowance to help narrow the
opportunity gap.
Through This Way ONward, Old Navy has provided jobs and
mentoring to over 10,000 diverse youth (90% of participants
self-identify as a person of colour), and is on track to hit its
goal to provide 20,000 jobs by 2025. Learn more about This Way
ONward and Old Navy’s cause platform, The Imagine Mission, at
www.oldnavy.com/imagine.
About Old NavyOld Navy is a global apparel and accessories brand
that makes current American essentials accessible to every family.
Originated in 1994, the brand celebrates the democracy of style
through on-trend, playfully optimistic, affordable and high-quality
products. A division of San Francisco-based Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS),
Old Navy brings a fun, energizing shopping environment to its
customers in more than 1,200 stores around the world. For more
information, please visit www.oldnavy.com.
Contact
Denise Chowdenise_chow@gap.com
[1]
https://www.tampabay.com/data/2017/12/20/the-2017-santa-census/
[2]
https://www.brookings.edu/research/less-than-half-of-us-children-under-15-are-white-census-shows/
[3] https://www.nationalsanta.com/national-santas-biography/
[4] Imagine Mission Fund is an established fund at T.Rowe Price
DAF, a 501c3.
- Old Navy continues to deliver on its values of inclusivity and
belonging
- Old Navy is celebrating all different types of families and
traditions in this year’s ALL-idays campaign through an explosion
of colour and inclusion.
Denise Chow
Old Navy
denise_chow@gap.com
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