NEW YORK – Authenticity and community engagement are paramount for brands seeking to thrive in today’s lifestyle market,according to executives from Gap,Sephora,and travel accessories brand Béis who spoke at Adweek’s Brandweek event this week. The brands are prioritizing self-expression and diverse depiction in their marketing strategies to connect with consumers on a deeper level.
Gap recently launched a campaign starring the girl group Katseye that tapped into Y2K nostalgia and the cultural conversation surrounding denim advertising-specifically responding to the controversy around Sydney sweeney’s American Eagle spot.The campaign garnered 400 million views in three days and, according to Gap, generated over 8 billion impressions.
“Were we expecting 8 billion impressions? No. But we were hoping to become viral, and more importantly for us was making sure that our community was engaging and sharing,” said Gap global CMO Faby Torres during a Brandweek panel moderated by Lauren Finney Harden. Torres emphasized that Gap’s “purpose is to champion originality and self-expression.”
Similarly, Sephora has long demonstrated a commitment to equity and inclusion in beauty. “Beauty is self-expression,” explained Anne Cambria, Sephora’s senior vice president of marketing for brand, retail, creative, and insights. “And our job as a brand is to help amplify the diverse voices and wanting to be the most diverse beauty retailer there is. In humanizing that, sharing the stories, sharing the client stories, their journeys with beauty, [we can achieve that].”
recent Sephora initiatives include a partnership with rare Beauty to promote youth mental health, becoming an official partner of Athletes unlimited Softball league in August, and launching The Perfect Shade For You campaign, which highlighted diverse identities across the Asia Pacific region.
Cambria stated that empowering clients and amplifying diverse voices within its community is key to Sephora’s authority in the beauty category. “What we really try to pay attention to is our community and really understanding where and when there’s different content or voices that we need to amplify so that our clients can see themselves within those communities,” she said.
The executives collectively underscored that the future of lifestyle marketing will be driven by representing and empowering real people.
