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CNN Live At Daybreak
Madonna Star of New Multimillion-Dollar Gap Ad Campaign
Aired July 16, 2003 - 06:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. The Material Girl will star in a new multimillion-dollar ad campaign for a big name retailer. Which one?
Carrie Lee, live from New York, has the answer.
Good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well the Material Girl, that would be Madonna, and according to her publicist, she does actually wear Gap clothing. This is a very interesting move, because Madonna, over her career, hasn't really endorsed too many products. She did have a stint with Pepsi a few years ago, but that's really about it.
So now she's going to star in Gap's fall ad campaign. And according to a piece in "USA Today," the retailer hopes that the 40- something entertainer will attract shoppers in their 30s and in their 40s. Kind of a back-to-basics strategy here.
Remember Gap was a company that not too long ago was in big trouble. They had month-over-month consecutive sales declines for about two years. They started to turn things around earlier in the year, really getting back to their roots, things like basic T-shirts, jeans, denim jackets. They have had other celebrities endorse their products. Names like Dennis Hopper, Angelica Houston, Christina Ricci. This campaign is going to debut on July 28, and it also includes Missy Eliot, but Madonna clearly the big star here.
COSTELLO: Yes.
LEE: And sometime we'll get the --we'll see the ads later this summer -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And the Gap strategy seems to be working because its stock has risen.
LEE: The stock has really done well after really being the laggard among retailers. It has really outperformed recently, so hopefully this will continue to kick things off.
If I might add, stocks look like they are set to open higher this morning. We have a lot of names to focus on. Intel did well for the recent quarter after the bell last night, so we'll be watching that stock this morning. We're going to hear from J.P. Morgan Chase, which is a Dow component, as well as Ford Motor Company. And then Big Blue, IBM, reports after the bell. So a lot of profit news front and center today, Carol, really all this week.
COSTELLO: We'll be listening. Carrie Lee, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 16, 2003 - 06:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Time for a little business buzz right now. The Material Girl will star in a new multimillion-dollar ad campaign for a big name retailer. Which one?
Carrie Lee, live from New York, has the answer.
Good morning.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well the Material Girl, that would be Madonna, and according to her publicist, she does actually wear Gap clothing. This is a very interesting move, because Madonna, over her career, hasn't really endorsed too many products. She did have a stint with Pepsi a few years ago, but that's really about it.
So now she's going to star in Gap's fall ad campaign. And according to a piece in "USA Today," the retailer hopes that the 40- something entertainer will attract shoppers in their 30s and in their 40s. Kind of a back-to-basics strategy here.
Remember Gap was a company that not too long ago was in big trouble. They had month-over-month consecutive sales declines for about two years. They started to turn things around earlier in the year, really getting back to their roots, things like basic T-shirts, jeans, denim jackets. They have had other celebrities endorse their products. Names like Dennis Hopper, Angelica Houston, Christina Ricci. This campaign is going to debut on July 28, and it also includes Missy Eliot, but Madonna clearly the big star here.
COSTELLO: Yes.
LEE: And sometime we'll get the --we'll see the ads later this summer -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And the Gap strategy seems to be working because its stock has risen.
LEE: The stock has really done well after really being the laggard among retailers. It has really outperformed recently, so hopefully this will continue to kick things off.
If I might add, stocks look like they are set to open higher this morning. We have a lot of names to focus on. Intel did well for the recent quarter after the bell last night, so we'll be watching that stock this morning. We're going to hear from J.P. Morgan Chase, which is a Dow component, as well as Ford Motor Company. And then Big Blue, IBM, reports after the bell. So a lot of profit news front and center today, Carol, really all this week.
COSTELLO: We'll be listening. Carrie Lee, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
