Mind The Gap

In what seems to be one of the most bizarre brand interactions with the internet community at large, the Gap experienced a backlash so immense in regard to the introduction of its new logo, it had to tuck its tail and run back to square one.

Here's highlights of the game:
Gap unveils its new logo.
Nobody knew that they were planning to unveil a new logo.
Everybody and their dog loathes the logo. And makes their opinion known.
Gap tries embrace the chatter and create a dialogue with web mob.
Web mob doesn't know how to fix their logo. Only to reiterate that they hate it.
Gap goes back to old logo and retreats. Waits for the mob to disperse.

Lessons to be learned? It's doubtful that anyone foresaw this amount of unpleasantness and upheaval because of a logo design. Granted, the Gap did not "announce" its intentions of changing the logo, but brands don't need to ask permission. Or do they? It seems the fans of the Gap feel just as much ownership of the brand as the people that are on the Gap payroll. And that's not a bad thing. Such passion is reminiscent of when Coke changed their formula and there was a huge public outcry, with the outcome giving birth to New Coke and Coke Classic. (And some say that it was a conspiracy to draw even more marketshare and attention away from Pepsi, but we digress).





So having a dialogue with your patrons can feel like a bite on the hand sometimes, but it's got to be nice to know that your customers are there and they're paying attention. And in the end, it forces the brand to be better, even if it is something as benign as a logo design.



What's amazing is that in the course of a week, the Gap releases a new logo heading into the holiday shopping season, get thousands of negative comments on its Facebook page, becomes the butt of several spoof site jokes and turns a full 180 degrees. For anyone that's keeping score, that's months of corporate planning dismantled by the public in a matter of DAYS.

The power of the internet, indeed.

Some sites of note:

Make Your Own Crap Gap Logo
Biggest Marketing Blunder List
New logo has its own Twitter account

CNN's John D. Sutter
The Internet Kills Gap's New Logo

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