Joss Is No Sarah Jessica, but She Still Suits Gap

SAN FRANCISCO Contrary to published reports from the U.K., The Gap will continue to use blues singer Joss Stone in its advertising, a client spokeswoman said on Monday.Stone, 17, had been featured in a summer white jeans campaign for the San Francisco-based retailer, along with the song "Night Time Is the Right Time," that she recorded for the spot, said Gap spokeswoman Rebecca Weill.The Gap will use Stone again, among other celebrities, in its upcoming fall campaign, according to the client. Other endorsers include John Legend, Alanis Morissette and Jason Mraz.Weill said Gap does not use one celebrity as the "face" of its brand."We are not like a cosmetics company; we don't sell long-term contracts," Weill said. "We work with a variety of different people each season. We had one exception, and that was Sarah Jessica Parker."Reports had speculated that Stone was dropped after moving in with her producer, who is in his 20s.The campaign breaks in August with a partnership with iTunes to introduce three new denim fits for women—Curvy, Straight and Original—and one for men called Straight. In August, Gap will host "Find Your Favorite Fit" events, designed to get people to try on the new styles. Each customer who tries on any pair of Gap jeans will receive a free download of his or her favorite song from iTunes. Print ads introducing the new jean styles, the iTunes partnership and the "Find Your Favorite Fits" events will run in August issues of weekly magazines including US Weekly, People and Entertainment Weekly. TV spots will air on network and cable from Aug. 8-23.A second phase of the campaign drives home the "Favorites" message with TV and print ads in which each musician performs an original remake of his or her favorite song while wearing his or her favorite Gap jeans. A limited edition CD featuring the artists and their favorite songs will be sold exclusively at Gap stores and on Gap.com beginning Sept. 1. The CD contains eight songs exclusively recorded for Gap by the stars of the new campaign, a director's cut of the fall TV commercial and behind-the-scenes footage from the filming of the spot. Customers will receive the CD as a gift with any Gap purchase of $60 or more.TV will break in late August and air in spot markets and on cable TV. Print ads will run in the September issues of Vanity Fair, Vogue, InStyle and Lucky.Gap also will sponsor in late August MTV's Video Music Awards, which will be held in Miami.After spending $133 million on advertising in 2004, Gap stores spent $34 million on ads from January to May 2005, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy are brands of Gap Inc.Gap works with Laird + Partners in New York on creative, does some work in-house and assigns projects to a variety of agencies, Weill said.

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Joss Is No Sarah Jessica, but She Still Suits Gap

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