The above link is an interesting article, again on the sort of negative groundswell that can arise from social media and the pressure put on companies to respond when consumers say they don't like what you are doing. Gap developed a new company logo and decided to roll out the new graphic last week (which is odd because a lot of companies focus on a gradual transition of logos so as not the confuse the public, preferring instead to alter it over time so that no one perceives a huge difference). However, Gap decided to unveil their new logo on their website in bold style, moving away from the logo Gap fans had come to identify and apparently, love with all their hearts.The new logo design, pictured bottom right in the image above, was met with outright mutiny in social media. Facebook and Twitter fans revolted, stopping just short of carrying guns and pitchforks to the Gap headquarters, and the new logo became the center of quite a bit of mockery. The most glaring mockery: probably a feature on site called Crap Logo Yourself allows you to make your own version of the hated logo using whatever word you'd like. So I wasted some time and did that for our course title...(See below). Go ahead and waste some time making your own...you know you're going to.
Gap decided shortly to remove the new logo (probably developed by a branding company for no small fee) and revert to their old, apparently stellar logo. My question is what do you think? Was this a publicity stunt to get Gap some attention and to have people profess their loyalty to the Gap they know and love or was it truly a marketing goof-up?
I never even thought of the possibility it could be a publicity stunt... if so, brilliant! I also wonder how this would have affected the company if say, social media didn't exist. Would people really stop shopping at Gap because the logo changed? Sometimes I think people use social media to complain simply so they can feel the importance of believing their opinion really matters. Even if in reality, they don't care all that much.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a publicity stunt. Gap is a very well known brand who has done pretty well lately considering the "recession". In my opinion there was just no positivies in changing their logo just for the heck of it, so it was probably a stunt.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is definitely a marketing stunt by Gap. They are not the first company to use a technique similar to this on the general public. Doing this is very effective because brand loyal customers will begin to voice their opinion and share their praises of Gap with anyone that will listen. In today’s world, voicing an opinion is done through various mediums of social media. When people speak out, others listen. When talking about this issue, whether you know it or not, you are reminded of Gap the clothing store. Who knows you might not have shopped there for a while but subconsciously you are reminded of Gap the next time you go shopping and you might remember to look at Gap for a pair of jeans. To make a long story short, I think companies use this technique to get their brand name into people’s heads again. I would say it is working considering Dr. Melancon blogged about it!
ReplyDeleteI think it was a Marketing goog up. I just don't see a big company like Gap pulling a publicity stunt. They are already huge! If Gap really wanted to make people more aware of their compnay im sure they have marketers, and PR people to do so. I think they changed the name because they thought it would bring them more sales, not negative comments. Whether it was a stunt or a marketing goof, changing the logo worked! I've heard more about Gap in the last couple weeks than I have since I bought my last Gap product, which was probably 5 years ago.
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