There Seems to be a “Gap” at the Gap

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about the Gap’s release of a new logo, which the company said intended to “modernize” the brand. Unfortunately, the brand fell prey to the powers of social media, with thousands of customers complaining about the new logo and asking for a return to the original.

There was a reactive effort to crowd-source the logo after the complaints started rolling in, but it appears the decision was already made by the public that Gap should return to the original blue box design. What a missed opportunity! Had they started with community engagement, they could have created an incredible relationship with their customers- particularly with a younger demographic, whom based on my observation are not as connected to the brand.

In other Gap news, NPR recently ran a report on the Gap’s move into China and how its approach is raising question as to whether they will be successful. While in days past American brands would be accepted as is, many countries now want personalization. Even Starbucks, which is all about brand consistency, has created a Coffee Jelly Frappuccino for China to appeal to the popularity in this local market. The Gap, on the other hand, believes it must maintain the same consistency worldwide and is making little modification (with the exception of sizing).

Time will tell on this one, but this could be a very interesting case study on brands that failed to embrace the new era of socialization, customer engagement, personalization and localization.

On a related note, if you’d like to create your own “modern” Gap-like logo, visit Crap Logo Yourself (one of many sites poking fun at the company).

Editor

Author: Editor