Gap Seeks Agency With the Right Fit By Kathy Tyrer and Shelly Garci

LOS ANGELES - Gap Inc. last week quietly begun contacting ad agencies with an invitation to pitch its account.

Wieden & Kennedy/Portland, Ore, and Heater Easdon Advertising, the fledgling shop formed by Bill Heater and Don Easdon in Milltown, Mass. are believed to be among the agencies contacted, sources said. The agencies could not be reached for comment.
The San Francisco-based retailer, which tried unsuccessfully to launch a television campaign produced in-house last year, is believed to be looking for an outside shop to handle that aspect of its advertising, sources said.
Last year, the Gap spent $31.2 million in media, according to LNA.
It’s likely that as the retailer, with sales of about $2.5 billion, has expanded its product lines and its advertising, including Gap Kids, the resources of its in-house staff have become strained.
The Gap went to an outside shop for a brief time in 1991 when it awarded a television assignment to San Francisco shop Citron Haligman & Bedecarre (then called Atlas Citron Haligman & Bedecarre) but returned to its in-house staff.
Gap executives declined comment on a possible review.
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