Mind The GAP
by ewilliamson ~ October 16th, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.
The GAP recently created a furor when they announced a change in their logo from the old familiar navy blue (red at Christmas) to something newer, and what they felt was, more friendly to our digital app-driven world. The market did not agree and there was a huge public outcry. So much so that GAP scrapped the new logo.
GAP Inc. ran several social media campaigns to come up with the new logo. While GAP may not be your thing these days, it certainly is many people’s thing as GAP pulled in revenues of $14.2B last year and increased sales growth. The brand just doesn’t feel as relevant anymore, unfortunately. But consider what’s good about the brand? While you may not love it, the logo is widely recognized…and given the outcry, clearly loved by many people.
The new logo is pretty bland and looks like it was created by a committee trying to pull elements of the old logo together with what they think might look good on an iPhone app. Is this the right way to build a brand’s equity, especially for one of the strongest brands in the world. Also, consider the choice of font: Helvetica. Used to be an interesting font. Kind of cool. Now, it has become ubiquitous and representative of nothing. Is that what The GAP wants us for a brand association? Good move in pulling the new logo and putting the old one back on the box. Wonder what the next chapter will be…this one isn’t over…
