Thursday, October 02, 2014

Gap Inc's Social Media: Selling Feminism And Equality, Not T-Shirts


The 45-year old retail giant Gap has recently been cultivating an online presence focused on feminism, equal pay, and progressive values. Earlier this year, Gap announced that the company raised its minimum wage across the country to $10 an hour, with an accompanying #LetsDoMore hashtag. Ever since the announcement, the #LetsDoMore hashtag has had 90 million social media impressions.

In an effort to continue the equal pay campaign, Gap Inc. has actively promoted this month’s #HeforShe social campaign, a U.N. backed movement encouraging men to end inequalities for women worldwide. This campaign was made famous by actress and U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson and her extraordinary game-changing speech.

Gap has actively been promoting U.N.’s mission in recent days through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram posts in support of the campaign. The company has also posted Facebook updates on improved job opportunities for women at the Clinton Global Initiative Conference and a reference to the retail chain’s support for equal rights.

The majority of Gap’s social media push is focused on women’s equality in the workplace. On Instagram, the company supports equal pay through the #LetsDoMore campaign in a video montage, highlighting he missing 23 cents”, or the 77 cents a women makes for every dollar a man makes. Gap’s digital communications and marketing director Deirdre Hussey blogs that “the workforce at Gap Inc. is 73 women – and a place where both genders earn equal pay for equal work.  At Gap Inc., employees are paid for the work they do, not who they are.”  Gap Inc. was founded by Don and Doris Fisher with a 50/50 equal investment, and the recent social campaigns emphasize the values of equality of the founders.


Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2014/09/30/gap-incs-social-media-selling-feminism-and-equality-not-t-shirts/ 

No comments: