Gap Inc. embraces influencers at scale with its new creator “affiliate and advocacy” program

Gap Inc. is the latest legacy brick-and-mortar company to launch its own creator program, calling the initiative a key part of its “digital-first strategy and brand reinvigoration journey.”

The retail giant’s various clothing brands–Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta–have individually worked with content creators over the past couple of years, rolling out more social-first campaigns. One recent hit, “Better in Denim,” starred girl group KATSEYE and became Gap’s most successful digital campaign to date, going viral on TikTok and bringing in 600+ million views and 8+ billion impressions in a month. Gap Inc. says that success shows its trademarked approach to branding, “Fashiontainment,” is “resonat[ing] deeply with today’s creators and audiences alike.”

Big, splashy campaigns have always been a part of Gap’s marketing efforts, but now the company is doing something different: Introducing a unified hub meant to welcome new creator partners and connect with them on an ongoing basis. It’s building on that “Better in Denim” momentum by launching what it calls a “creator affiliate and advocacy platform” program, which is open to U.S.-based creators who are over 18 and have at least 1,000 followers on a single account on one social platform.

The program offers benefits like:

1. affiliate links with commission
2. free product
3. early access to news and promos
4. invites to brand events
5. feature spots on official brand channels

“As we continue to reinvigorate our iconic brands, creators play an important part in that transformation, which makes this the perfect time to launch this program,” Damon Berger, Gap Inc.’s Head of Digital Engagement, says. “The program helps link our brands to culture by connecting to the creators that are making culture happen, allowing collaboration at scale across our brands.”

The goal is for this program to democratize the ability for creators to get in with Gap Inc.’s brands–especially smaller, growing creators who may otherwise struggle to secure sponsorships with companies of similar esteem. Gap Inc. is looking to remove those traditional barriers to entry–including audience size.

Like we mentioned above, Gap’s only quantitative requirement is that creators have just 1,000 followers on one social account. That’s a lot smaller of a following than brands tend to require for individual sponsorship deals.

The other requirement is all qualitative: “We’re open to creators of all different audiences,” Berger says. “We just ask that you love our brands and products, and you’re excited to share that love with your audience.”

Gap Inc. is also prioritizing a more direct ongoing connection with creators instead of going through third-party agencies–something creator partners have asked Gap for in the past. (That’s not surprising; we’ve heard from the creator side how influencers want to build closer-knit, steadier, and longer-lasting multimedia relationships with their sponsor partners.)

Berger says this program will be “foundational to the rest of our creator marketing initiative” for the future.

“It opens the door for creators who love our brands to engage with us and it serves as a potential stepping stone to even greater partnership opportunities,” he says. “By balancing creator convenience and empowerment with rich brand storytelling, this new program will position us to build closer relationships with creators, amplify their content across all our channels, and leverage data-driven insights to deliver greater impact at scale.”

Gap plans to expand the program to creators outside the U.S. in the future. For now, U.S.-based creators who meet the above criteria can apply to join Gap’s initiative here.