Gap looks for first outside ad agency

Fashion retailer Gap is seeking to appoint its first advertising agency following the departure of marketing chief Jim Nevins.

Nevins resigned last week, saying he wanted to focus on creative work, rather than a “broader management role” at Gap.

Amy Schoening, head of marketing for Gap’s Banana Republic chain, will oversee the marketing for the Gap brand until a replacement is found.

The US fashion retailer, which usually creates all its ads in-house, is looking for an agency to provide tactical support for its Christmas 2000 campaign.

A spokeswoman says it is likely a US agency will be appointed because all Gap’s global campaigns are created by a San Francisco-based marketing department: “It is only a temporary measure. The agency will help us do the work for this one campaign.”

Gap has seen profits fall in recent months. For the second quarter of 2000 it reported store sales down two per cent against an increase of eight per cent in the same period last year.

Retail analysts have accused the chain of concentrating too heavily on the teenage market at the expense of alienating older customers.