There is still much unknown about the circumstances that led to the short and painful life of GAP’s new logo introduced last week – just six days before its demise. What we do know is that it was introduced with pride and anticipation, totally annihilated by a very vocal public, and then, as quickly as it was introduced, replaced by the 20+ year-old blue box it was meant to revolutionalize.
We’ve heard these stories before – the New Coke debacle, Tropicana’s failed packaging introduction and the recent redesign of Pepsi’s logo. How could the world’s top branding minds miss the mark so dramatically? How could these companies invest so much marketing, operations and production money to prepare and implement a launch that then required them to quickly backtrack to the place they started?
The media – and the great minds at the GAP –tell us the big lesson learned is that GAP should have asked their customers first. But, we’re not so sure it’s as simple as that. Although asking your customers and the marketplace is invaluable, we’d also like you to consider some other factors.
Know Thy Customer
And we mean know them intimately. Not just their age, income, geography and media habits. We mean get to know what inspires, drives and excites them? And, in this case, what makes them shutter, recoil or protest?
Connections are made at the intersection of shared values, motivations and inspiration. The GAP built a strong reputation as the store that gave the middle class access to style. They created an affordable style that lifted ordinary people up a notch and made them part of the tribe of the stylish masses. Everyday people values, classic (not trendy) style and genuine “no airs” we’re all in this together attitudes are the foundation of the GAP’s connection with its consumers.
So, is it no wonder that an abandonment of the traditional, time-tested basic style logo in favor of one meant to be more contemporary, current and stylish was rebelled against? GAP customers value being real and they value reliability. Take that away from them and you take away their trust and their allegiance. Did GAP consider that before they made their move?
Gapathetic
The old (now new again) GAP logo tells us who GAP is. Its ultra condensed font with its poignant serifs evoked simple, classic fashion and displayed the same no nonsense style as its customers. Once more the logo is spatially efficient, compact enough to fit in your back pocket, yet bold enough to single-handedly take command of a window display. The new logo looks like it belongs to a software company, circa 1988, situated adjacent a video rental store in a local strip mall. Not the desired look of GAP’s customers and prospects.
What Social Media Has to Do With Branding
This is not your father’s world of advertising any longer. The decision about your logo isn’t your decision anymore. Your audiences will tell you if you’re on the mark, and if you’ve missed it. GAP’s launch of their new logo was soft – all they did was introduce it on their website. One little post and a tsunami of response.
Social media offers the most direct opportunity for ongoing and honest relationship-building with the marketplace. It provides the best media yet for companies to express who they are, what they stand for and what they can be counted on to deliver. Obviously GAP didn’t think about how to leverage that in building their rebranding plans.
To make the world of open communications more complicated, it appears that the loudest cries against the new GAP logo came from the advertising and design community. Postings that offered the opportunity to “Make Your Own GAP Logo” or “Crap Logo Yourself” took the issue to a whole new level of public engagement. One that GAP was not prepared to deal with.
The Real Lessons Learned
Hopefully the GAP learned more than that they should ask their customers what they think about their new logo. Hopefully they learned that they have a need to develop relationship with them… to find the connections of meaning and values that will serve as a strong foundation for ongoing dialog, learning and guidance. Hopefully they learned that they need to be true to who they are, not who they think they should be. And, lastly hopefully they learned that that their brand is your word, their logo their signature that guarantees their word and that they cannot dictate audience values.
By Susan Waldman, Partner and Director of Strategic Services at ZilYen
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