Dive Brief:
- Old Navy this week launched a campaign, “Old Navy, New Moves,” in support of its activewear line, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
- A 30-second hero spot set to Devo’s “Whip It” features Lindsay Lohan and was inspired by workout videos from the 1980s. Created in partnership with agency Look, the effort is running across YouTube, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest and a mix of linear and premium digital video channels.
- Parent company Gap Inc. on Thursday (May 29) reported a strong quarter but could take a financial hit of $100 million to $150 million in fiscal 2025 due to the impact of tariffs.
Dive Insight:
Old Navy is getting ready for summer by promoting its activewear line with a punchy, playful campaign that taps into pop culture from across the decades. The brand’s first major activewear campaign in years is already seeing traction, according to Gap Inc. President and CEO Richard Dickson.
“It's a great exciting campaign that supports the activewear strategy. It's culturally relevant marketing that's really speaking to the brand playbook,” the executive said during the company’s Q1 2025 earnings call.
“Old Navy, New Moves” serves up a heavy dose of ’80s nostalgia in look and sound. Along with resurgent millennial star Lohan, the campaign creative features ’60s pop icon Charo and influencer Quen Blackwell and Dylan Efron (brother of actor Zac). The brand last fall celebrated its 30th anniversary with a collection that updated designs from the ‘90s, its self-described “golden era.”
Along with the strong early results from “Old Navy, New Moves,” the brand also noted the launch of a new occasion dress collection that was inspired by consumer insights and supported by a campaign that drove some of its highest reach and engagement on social media to date, per the earnings call.
“There is not one designer here who isn’t obsessed with engaging our customer and hearing what they want,” Sarah Holme, Old Navy’s head of design and product development, told Glossy. “And we gauge what they want through a mix of channels. Social media, especially TikTok, is a big one for deep levels of discourse.”
Old Navy’s active category helped lead a strong Q1 performance for the brand, which is now the No. 5 player in the category, per the earnings call. Old Navy saw comparable sales increase 3% year over year and notched its ninth consecutive quarter of market share gains.
The strong quarter by Old Navy and the other brands in the Gap portfolio, which includes its namesake brand, Banana Republic and Athleta, was not enough to offset concerns about the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs on its financial outlook. The company estimates a gross incremental cost of approximately $250 million to $300 million in fiscal 2025 that it plans to reduce to about $100 million to $150 million through mitigation strategies.
