Gap and Staples turn employees into a new creator channel
Digiday reports that Gap Inc. opened its creator program to employees across Old Navy, Gap, Athleta, and Banana Republic. Staffers can earn commission by sharing personalized affiliate links on social media. Staples is also leaning into employee content after Kaeden Rowland built nearly 600,000 TikTok followers and 17.6 million likes with ASMR-style videos filmed at work. Sprout Social data cited by Digiday says 40% of consumers frequently discover products or services through employee-generated content, and that figure rises to 61% for Gen Z. The old fear around employees posting on shift is turning into a measurable retail acquisition channel.
THE BREAKDOWN
Brands need employee creator terms before the next store associate goes viral. Build rules for commission, working hours, disclosure, product claims, safety, and who owns the account audience. If the brand wants to repost or run paid media against employee content, pay for usage like any other creator asset. Managers representing employee creators should separate wages from creator compensation and protect the worker from sudden policy reversals. The best deals will let authentic staff content scale without turning every post into a corporate script.
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