The Great Gap Fiasco

Wow, if there was ever an opportunity to see the power of social media over a brand, this recent debacle with Gap and their attempt to change their logo would be the perfect example. The new design only lasted one week, but Gap learned a valuable lesson from the hatefest that ensued.

What were those marketers thinking? Sluggish sales in the past few years were no doubt part of the reason they felt the need to reinvigorate their image. But their logo is iconic, and I am by far not the only one that agreed. The blogosphere, Twitter, and Facebook were alive with outright condemnation of the new logo. The backlash was overwhelming prompting one displeased consumer to respond with “The Chilean miners are gonna FREAK when they see the new Gap logo!”

Is this Gap fiasco our generation’s New Coke? OK, maybe it’s not that extreme, but can you imagine if Facebook and Twitter would have been around twenty five years ago when Coke launched their reflavored formula? The point is that Gap, just like Coke, lost sight of who their consumer is and what they want. They got caught up in rebranding while forgetting about the brand equity that they already have established.

So, Gap has gone back to their old logo – you know, the comfortable, reassuring visual identity that we all remember from sweatshirts we’ve had since college. Smart move on their part-listen to your consumers rather than sit in a glass cage perched high up in corporate and think you’re making smart decisions based on a focus group.