Gap, Dunkin & Coke: The Brand Moments Everyone’s Talking About

Katie Flynn: we going to fight over? The microphone? We can each have a microphone, Heather. Calm down. How was your time without me? Terrible. No, I’m being serious. Did you enjoy it? Did you find the job fun?

Heather Riexinger: Oh, yes. So I did find the job fun. I found the podcast fun. I got to solve a few problems in the agency and not text you. That’s always fun. But no, we missed you, but it was good. And it was a nice three months. But doing the podcast was definitely one of those things that finding the content is the hardest part. And getting people to not be nervous, even though everyone here was so good on camera. They just think they’re not.

Katie Flynn: And I think the whole rip the bandaid thing off is what works best is just throwing it on the calendar and being like, this is so low pressure. We’re just going to sit here and talk. You don’t– again, my postpartum hair loss is going wild. You don’t really notice the cameras or Craig once we’re actually into it. You’re just having a conversation. So I think it tends to work out just fine on that front. I have caught up on Kristen so far. I have to go back and watch because I know you guys were playing Bean Boozled.

Heather Riexinger: Yeah, so you might catch on quick. It took them a little while to realize I was doing Bean Boozled with them. So I got away with that with Paul and Shannon of not actually doing it. And then Kristen did call me out on it.

Katie Flynn: Well, maybe we should have to do it. I’m kind of scared. I’ve done that before. And they’re foul. It’s terrible.

Heather Riexinger: Yeah. And Craig did cut out. I mean, Paul and I sat here for a good minute or two while he gagged on one of them. So– Like in hot ones. They were like, do you need ice cream? Yeah. Do you need milk? It’s just Paul gagging and me cackling. And Craig cut it down to 10 seconds. So it wasn’t awkward.

Katie Flynn: Except if I hear somebody gag, I’m going to gag. Yeah. Yeah. Except for my children because they’re just discussing. Speaking of which, thank you for covering everything while I was off. I had the best time. My first maternity leave was a little bit more stressful for a myriad of reasons. And also, you’re just like, as a first time parent, I think, more nervous. And you don’t know what you’re doing. But all of those things that they say are true, are true. And then for me, the second time was like second nature. Rolled right into it. Was so happy. Just in the best little newborn bliss bubble. So much so that I was like, oh my god, I can’t believe it’s over. I can’t believe I had to go back to work. But I’m on my third week back now. And I would say I’m catching a rhythm. It does take a second to figure out even your schedule. But now having two children and what that looks like trying to get out the door in the morning with one that has to go to daycare and all of those things. But I had a wonderful time. Poppy’s the best. She’s such a good little baby.

Heather Riexinger: Well, you got to actually enjoy some time. So Real Housewives of Rhode Island came out while you were on maternity leave. So did you get to watch it all?

Katie Flynn: Yeah, and I watched in real time. Like I was actually– it was like the days of yesteryear where I was like, I would catch up the next day. I go to bed at like 8.30 because I have children getting up all night. But in the morning, I’d be like, OK, I’m going to have my coffee, hold my baby for her first nap, and like catch up on all these crazy gals. And let me tell you, I had a great time. I caught up on the OC, Rhode Island. There is now New York is coming back and Carol Radzewell joins. She’s one of the– not an actual OG, but like first five seasons. Can’t wait for that. The amount of content that I watched– absurd, absolutely absurd. I got through so many TV shows and movies that I’ve been intending to get through because a lot of times I was holding her for a two hour nap, and so you just lock in. So I feel very culturally relevant and up on my pop culture at the moment. And actually, the stories that I have selected for us to talk about today kind of tap into those things. They’re just like girly, swirly things. And one thing I learned about myself on leave is, if nothing else, I am a girly, swirly. I like basic things. I like Diet Coke. I like to go on a walk and listen to a podcast. I love Bravo. I love Duncan. And now I’m really into mahjong. I was just talking about buying a set. And let’s bring back girly things being cool. Let’s not make fun of the girls for liking the girl stuff.

Heather Riexinger: The basic became a bad term for effort.

Katie Flynn: I am basic. And I’m proud. So basic. And I’m proud of it. It’s fun to be basic. You know what else I’m into? Needlepoint. OK? Ooh, I haven’t gotten into that. Here’s the best thing. You buy the mats or whatever they’re called. They’re all like snarky little sayings. It’s so funny. It’s not like I’m needle pointing a dog’s portrait. It’s like you shuffle all pour, which is a mahjong thing. So anyhow, I’m going to bring all my new hobbies to the agency and teach everybody how to do the basic things.

Heather Riexinger: But I’ve got to bring you some of– you’ll love the basic nine-year-old girl stuff I have at my house, like the gem art.

Katie Flynn: I love a gem art. You hit it with– it’s like a diamond tip kind of thing. Yes, diamond tip thing.

Heather Riexinger: And then you put it– Yes, my niece does that. All these beautiful pictures. It’s like color by number.

Katie Flynn: So relaxing. But with gems. Yes, so relaxing. That kind of stuff is nice because it’s like a mindless little thing. It’s something to do with your hands. And I’m going to make this sound like it’s serious, even though it’s not supposed to be fun. But we work in a creative industry. It is a creative outlet. These are fun little things to do that can quiet your mind sometimes too and not have to be so serious.

Heather Riexinger: Yeah, well, I think as you get older, I also realize when we used to have Legos in the office and everyone was putting together the adult Lego sets, I’m like, I don’t have time for this. This is so silly. And now I’m like, why are adult Lego sets so expensive? I want to do one every week. I would have a basement full of random houses and stuff if I could.

Katie Flynn: It’s fun to do stuff with your hands and to create and all of those things. And we’re so lucky that we get to create stuff all the time here. But sometimes going back to the basics is nice too. Back to the basics. Who does that target? I feel like it’s a big campaign. All right, well, today we are going to be talking about some basic-esque things and big brand type things. So I’ve been seeing some campaigns going on in these past couple of weeks. I sent you a couple of articles. And I thought we could just share thoughts. Nothing groundbreaking, just some reactions really. OK, cool. First off, we are going to talk about the Gap X Haley Bieber collaboration, which dropped now, I believe it was last week. And I’ll just read a quick little summary of it. Gap is doubling down on 90s nostalgia with a new limited edition denim collection created with Haley Bieber. The campaign leads into the decade that inspired Bieber’s personal style while updating Gap’s heritage through Modern Fits, Social First storytelling, and a celebrity who already has a genuine credibility in fashion. So it’s just another example of a legacy big brand leaning into that nostalgia. I hear some people referring to it as like now-stalgia, because 90s is also huge right now in terms of just everything that once was cool is cool again. But I think it’s a really interesting one. One, I just like the way that they made the product fit. So essentially what they did, it’s called the Haley Jean. It’s a style or a cut from 1996, which is the year she was born. So it’s not like she was rocking these jeans exactly. But baggy low rise cuts are back. And so they were like, OK, well, how can we make this work? And it seems very genuine to me. Whenever she’s photographed or they’re at music festivals or whatever, that is the type of clothing that they’re actually wearing. So it’s not like she was just looking for a big paycheck. But I feel like Gap has been doing that a lot. Like there was that big Cat’s Eye collaboration. There was this one. I think they had like Parker– what is her name? Parker Posey? Parker Posey, yeah. Yeah, which was like a callback to an older campaign in the 90s as well. They’re leaning in hard to the nostalgia piece.

Heather Riexinger: Well, I think it’s interesting because Gap in my mind was kind of dead 10 years ago. And they’ve done a really, really good job of reinvigorating themselves with the younger generation. And I think what was really interesting to me about the Hailey Bieber collection is, one, they didn’t try to create 25 different skus. They just did. I think it’s two. I think it’s two. It looks like something she actually would just wear. So it was her style. But it seems like she’s actually a fan of Gap. And it almost feels like there’s– every once in a while, you get that influencer campaign where you’re like, maybe they’re not even paying them because they seem so into it. And that’s what this one feels like, is something where you would believe a story if Hailey told you, I have a pair of Gap jeans. And I just called someone over there and told them, I’d love to work on something. And they bit. So it’s just very authentic and not trying to just, who’s a hot celebrity, mash them into the style or the brand. I agree with that.

Katie Flynn: And it’s like her level of celebrity also does match with the level of awareness there is around Gap. She’s been proven to be able to push product. I have some of the Road skincare stuff. It’s really nice stuff. And it was acquired last year by Elf Beauty for $1 billion. She’s so rich. I saw that figure and was like, oh, OK. I mean, it’s wild now how you can build brands off of followings like that. But she has a very loyal following of people who really believe in what she believes in. And I would imagine, hopefully, they’ll put out some sort of figures publicly. But I’d love to see how much denim they’re actually pushing.

Heather Riexinger: I saw something that said they were selling out in the Times Square location. They were sold out in hours. And then they did a quick restock. And that sold out again. So it seems like the denim is actually selling. And I think it just matches her personality. The Gap matches Hailey Bieber’s personality. And like you said, she’s at music festivals. She’s low key. It’s a cool kind of chill. She’s clocking it on during whatever the Grammys. Yes. No, I’m with you. But it just fits her style. She’s not a Kardashian in trying to get every piece of paparazzi exposure she can. She’s just there. And she is who she is.

Katie Flynn: Yeah. So I liked that one. And again, because I felt like it was a good equal match. Now, on the opposite end of that spectrum is the Dunkin’ Ex-Park collab that came out last week. So this might be super niche. And that’s kind of what I want to ask you about. So I don’t actually follow Chelsea Park. Chelsea Park is an influencer. I do believe she has at least a few hundred thousand followers. But she has built this sort of like merch brand called Park. So you’ve probably seen especially like Gen Z girls in this mock neck sweater that it says Park, which is their last name, really big across the front. It seems like everybody has one. And they do collaborations with other brands. Now, somehow they ended up doing a collaboration with Dunkin’ which to me is like amazing. But I was thinking about it more and more as I saw it. And I was like, OK, I’m the target demo for this. I’m going to Dunkin’ multiple times a week. First of all, it’s on my way to work. And it has a drive through. But second of all, when they partnered with Sabrina Carpenter for the Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso, I got absolutely hooked. It’s so sweet. It’s so bad for you. It’s so good. And so they’ve done these little collaborations or activations, if you will, that I think are bringing in more and more people because I didn’t see it. I happened to go through Dunkin’ the drive through the day that it dropped, that it was coming. And I didn’t see it advertised anywhere. I think it was more of like an online social push on the park account and on Dunkin’s social platforms, especially Instagram and TikTok. And then next thing you know, I’m buying a Dunkin’ Ex Park sweatshirt that sold out two minutes later. Is it in the mail? Yeah, it is. I’m going to wear it next time that we talk. And I’m so excited. It has a donut on the sleeve.

Heather Riexinger: I can’t. Yeah. Well, I think the interesting thing is, so I didn’t know who Chelsea Park was until I read the article on Dunkin’. But I knew what Park was. So I didn’t realize it was a human person. I just thought it was a brand. So I had seen the sweater sweatshirt that everyone has, kind of exclusive, kind of expensive for what it is. Yeah, it’s like $100. But people ate it up. Yeah. And all the girlies have it. So it was interesting to me to find out it was a person that that’s her last name. And she’s an influencer. But I think what was really interesting, as I read about this, is to your point, it is very niche. And it’s almost, I think, the community around Park is more the story than Chelsea Park herself. Sure. And so that’s a piece of it where Gap went after an influencer in Hailey Bieber. This is more almost like a brand, ex-brand collaboration and going after a very niche community. But like you said, it makes sense. But a very engaged community. A very engaged community. And it’s the right community for Dunkin’.

Katie Flynn: They’re getting up. They’re getting their rice coffee. They’re throwing on their Pilates outfit with their Park sweatshirt over it. It’s very like TikTok culture. You’ve got a claw clip in your hair. You can picture it. Exactly.

Heather Riexinger: And they’re doing a good job of winning right in. Yes. And I think you asked me right before we started this. And it was like, yeah, I’m not a Dunkin’ girl. And I think, though, that that is a piece of it is all the different coffee shops have their own thing. So I used to be a Starbucks girlie. OK. Then I went. Now I’m in my, ugh, I need to support local business. Because so I’m– if I’m getting coffee, I actually kind of feel guilty if I go to Starbucks or Dunkin’. I know. So now I’m one of those– there’s a cute little coffee shop in Spencerport by my house. It’s just called Main Street Coffee. Is it good? It is good. That was a long pause. Don’t close that, Craig. Yeah. No, we’re not putting down small businesses. No, it’s good. It is good, but it’s very different. So kind of to the point of– I mentioned Dunkin’, part of it is that Shaken Espresso, those type of things, are super sweet. And I’m not a sweet coffee drinker. I like sweets, but not in my coffee. And I think the local coffee shops are much more of a strong espresso taste to it. Coffee Forward. Yes. If I get a latte, it’s Coffee Forward latte. Maybe a little sugar free syrup, but that’s going to be it. So I think that that’s the difference, where I do think if you go to Starbucks or Dunkin’, it tastes sweet and delicious, and it’s like a dessert.

Katie Flynn: And or you can say, I want one less pump of the flavor, or whatever it is. There’s this new menu item. I think it’s called the Peanut Butter Dunka Latte, which on its face, I was like, what? And now everybody keeps posting videos about it. I’m like, well, I’m going to have to try it. But it’s supposed to be very, very sweet. So everyone’s saying, get one less pump. But yeah, I mean, I think there’s just this little bit of a resurgence happening of these little moments throughout your day where you can be taking care of yourself, if you will. And coffee and iced coffee is now one of those things that, yeah, everybody’s got their thing, their way of doing it.

Heather Riexinger: And I think everyone– it’s funny how loyal people are, because I will say, if my husband and I are together traveling or something, he hates Starbucks coffee. And he’s a black coffee guy. And so he will try and find a Tim Hortons. And we have, on multiple occasions, we will stop, because they’re usually right next to each other. We’ll go to Starbucks and Tim Hortons. Well, to each their own. Yes.

Katie Flynn: And actually, a Tim Hortons is opening across, almost across from the Dunkin Donuts on 96 that I pass every day. And I’m like, and it’s also a drive-through, which was, honestly, the original reason why I switched is because I had Grayson. And I was like, I don’t want to lug him inside the Starbucks every time, because there’s not a drive-through on the way here. I mean, it’s first world problems, you know what I’m saying. But it is funny how it drives behavior and adoption of things that you might do multiple times a week.

Heather Riexinger: And the interesting part is, so the coffee shop in the low suburb I live in is actually not a drive-through. So I don’t go there that often during the work week. But if I do, the one convenient thing is it’s on-street parking. And it’s usually not that busy in the morning. So you can just pull in front, run in, run back out. And my car’s pointing the right way to keep going. So you know, the things that really matter. If I had to turn around and park and– It does matter. It wouldn’t happen.

Katie Flynn: Yeah, no, it does. But yeah, I think that they did a really nice job. And they also leaned into this whole scarcity marketing thing. Park is always limited drops, because it is a small run brand with a small team. And I don’t know how much inventory they’re actually pushing. It could be a lot smaller than I think it is in my head, because they’re putting out something new almost every month. But yeah, it was a really fun way. And part of that activation is they had these limited edition tumblers that if you got the specialty drink that was associated with it, you would get the tumbler. They did that when the Wicked movie came out. They’ve done that with lots of other brand activations before. But it was a really quick one. It was just really a day, I think, where it was a big deal and probably was huge for park.

Heather Riexinger: So I love seeing stuff like that. And there’s a couple other interesting ones. Target has always been limited drop. And they’ve done that for years, probably 15, 20 years. But they seem to be floundering a lot with this lately. I was roller rabbit. Yes, I saw that. I was like, oh, I’m going to get out in the spring, I think it was. And I went the day it came out. I went at like 10 AM to see what they had. And I didn’t even need to. I don’t think anyone had touched anything yet that day. And also a lot of it was ooh-gway. Yes. And I was like, oh, this is not that exciting. That was not a good drop. So it just ended up being not a good drop. And then four weeks later, they have a bunch of stuff on clearance, which never would have happened five, 10 years ago with any of their drops. But they ended up putting that all on.

Katie Flynn: I think part of that with Target is they’re using this whole scarcity marketing limited time drop thing. But they’re doing it with major brands every two weeks. If you’re just doing it six times a year, people really do think of it like that. But the way that the cadence at which they’re doing it now, it kind of feels like, well, there’s going to be something next week that’s also cool. Yeah.

Heather Riexinger: And it used to be they would do it with Isaac Mizrahi. Now I’m dating myself. But they had a big drop with him years ago. And that was a huge deal. But his dresses cost thousands of dollars. So you were getting a $40 dress. Or wasn’t there a DVF one?

Katie Flynn: Yes. Yeah. I remember that.

Heather Riexinger: So it was DVF. So these were two, three, $4,000 dress designs that you could get for $40. Now it’s like, OK, so you’re going to put out Roller Rabbit. You’re going to get greedy. I can go buy a pair of pajamas for $80, $90. Or I can go to Target and buy it for $50. And I know it’s not the same quality. And like you said, a lot of it was ogle. So it just kind of was one of the ogle. So it’s just kind of one of those where I feel like they’ve been flopping a lot on the partnerships and influencer type things. And they’ve got a lot of other boycotts and things going on with DEI and different missteps that they’ve made.

Katie Flynn: Yeah. Yeah. And they’re also– they’re Starbucks. Maybe they threw a Dunkin in there

Heather Riexinger: where people would go. Well, no, because Target’s still– it’s still the audience’s 40 plus moms, I feel like, for Target.

Katie Flynn: Is it, though, because for– I would say in the last 10 years, the first five years, I was way more into Target than I am now. I’ve really sort of moved away. Although I guess I go buy kids clothes. Like I do go for kids stuff. They have the best kids clothes. OK, all right. You’re winning me over.

Heather Riexinger: So it’s one of those where I shop there instead of Walmart. But it’s not like I am in love with the brand. Got it. Got it.

Katie Flynn: Well, two great influencer activations on very different scales, but some fun stuff to see out there in the world. And then last thing in terms of just current things, because I feel like we’ve actually been chatting for a little while.

Heather Riexinger: I know. Well, you’ve been gone for three months.

Katie Flynn: Craig’s Board of Tears is the Coca-Cola rebrand, which is not so much of a rebrand as much as it is an effort to more consistently use the existing brand. Thoughts?

Heather Riexinger: I like the consistent use now of the logo, colors. It looks like one brand because it didn’t before. But I think they took it too far from a visual perspective. Because if you look at it now, people– we joke about Dunkin and Starbucks and people liking their sugar. Sugar soda is like– people will eat a cake before they’ll drink one sugary soda, at least the girlies. And so it’s kind of interesting because now it’s challenging to see, is it Diet Coke? Is it Zero? Oh no, did I get the Zero Cherry Cola? Or is it just Cherry Cola? So I think there’s going to be some confusion. And I don’t know that it will diminish sales. I think it just may create some frustration from people– While they’re shopping.

Katie Flynn: Yeah, I mean, I think that that’s a really fair point. People shop with their eyes. When I go through the soda aisle, that is the first thing I’m looking for, is that silver Diet Coke box. So is that going away? That’s what it seems. Everything’s going red. Everything cokes Zero and Coke was going to go– Well, I don’t know. That’ll be interesting.

Heather Riexinger: That will be the question. Because if Diet Coke goes red, what are you going to do?

Katie Flynn: That has a whole other– talk about a separate online following. I mean, people are obsessed. All right, well, that’ll be interesting to see. I’ve seen a lot of designers on LinkedIn saying that from a visual system perspective, they think it’s a really awesome evolution, that the work looks really great. And even just the way that the agency did the flat lay for the press release, they did a really great job. Obviously, Coca-Cola’s agency is probably a fantastic at what they do. But I guess it’ll remain to be seen on what that now looks like across the board, because they advertise in so many different places. So maybe the consistency will be good. Although, who doesn’t know of Coca-Cola?

Heather Riexinger: I think from a design system, though, that’s what I think our designers propose every single time we have something is the same system across. And it never works. And brands end up keeping, well, we have to keep this blue for this brand or this for this product. And so I think this is like a win for the art director community. It’s true. They’re all happy.

Katie Flynn: Yeah, a return to some simplicity, I suppose. All right, well, yeah, we’ve been chit-chatting for a little while. So we’re going to save it for another episode. But I’m happy to be back. I’m so grateful that you took the torch forward while I was gone. Thank you for keeping all of the many, many people who tune in every single week entertaining.

Heather Riexinger: Right. I still didn’t get the call from the big– On Well Network or anything. So I’m a little upset about that.

Katie Flynn: But it’s fine. Maybe Dear Media is going to call you. Who knows? But yeah, I mean, many, many thanks. And we’re going to have a lot of fun this back half of the year. We’re going to start doing some more fun content stuff to go along with our podcasts as well. So– Bye. Thanks so much. And yeah, don’t forget to tune in every other week. Like and subscribe.