The Credibility Gap – Gap’s ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ re-rebrand

Posted by Dean Power on 17 May 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: brand

Although it may be somewhat out of the consciousness of some Australian shoppers, last autumn American clothing retailer giant The Gap embarked on a brief and tumultuous re-rebrand, launching online a blunt and somewhat abbreviated new logo on their site, spending thousands in the process. Much has been said about the resulting fiasco in the blogosphere and Twitter-verse, but it is worth re-iterating some of the key lessons that can be learnt from such an experience.

Not long after the rebranded site was up, it started on comment boards then quickly spread to Twitter and soon the entire worldwide web – many people loathed the new look and questioned its need. The Gap claimed the logo was part of a ‘crowdsourcing’ exercise in which hopefuls in the general public could submit designs in a contest to better it to position them in the new decade. Amid the screeching sound of rapidly changing PR gears, the company reverted back to it’s familiar and iconic logo - just six days after the online launch. What happened?

In undertaking change for change’s sake, The Gap ignored the preppy aspirational positioning and brand equity of their existing logo, and opted for an amateurish basic looking design that seemed cheap and non-descript. The public ‘contest’ process that followed was no better. Handing vital branding and identity to ‘crowds’ (of non-professional public and/or staff members) is a clear sign of confusion over what an organisation is or should be communicating to its audiences. Those audiences are increasingly visually sophisticated and accustomed to savvy, large-scale professionally undertaken re-branding excercises, and the readily available software technology of the design industry. Most importantly, the huge power of social networking paradigms such as Twitter those audiences use should not be underestimated!

To their credit, the company got some elements right - wisely opting for a ‘soft’ online launch to air the new logo before a much more costly ‘hard’ real-world launch. As soon as the unfortunate logo was released, they displayed PR responsiveness and awareness of their consumers by quickly honouring online opinion, jettisoning their ‘design contest’ approach and reverting back to the previous carefully crafted logo. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it (without good reason anyway!).

The lessons:

• Avoid crowdsourcing
• Don't participate in change for change's sake
• Don't underestimate the power of your social networks
• Don't be scared to admit your mistakes and go back to what worked!