Marketing Success Secrets: Understand Your Customer By Ronn Torossian
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MARKETING SUCCESS SECRETS: UNDERSTAND YOUR CUSTOMER
One of the most blatant examples of insulting the customer comes from Gap Inc., when the company changed its iconic logo abruptly in 2010. Overnight, the recognizable blue box went from classic to something that felt very down market and discounted. It offended loyal consumersthe new logo insulted their taste and their intelligence. Laird & Partners was the ad agency behind the new design, the Gap name displayed in a bold Helvetica font, with only the G capitalized, and a blue box placed behind the p. The change was not met with positive enthusiasm, to say the leastthe Internet was on fire with criticism from design bloggers, customers, and other reviewers.
It demonstrated the passion our customers and the community at large have for our brand was the official company line. Thats a nice way of sayingit sucked. Gap failed to understand how its loyal customers feel about its brand identity. The company also underestimated the immediacy of social mediatoday customers can and do broadcast their opinions with lightning speed. Did this $3 billion corporation spend the same time on the logo change as it would on changing a crucial supply chain element? Did the ad executives (both at the agency and in-house) speak to any actual consumers? People will always comment on the new, and Gap Inc. should have recognized and proactively managed that process.
Obviously, in the life of a brand it is vital to make milestone stops along the path and reconsider strategies. Gap Inc. was changing some of the styles it offers, and had said that the new logo was part of the evolution of the brands line. The natural step for us on this journey is to see how our logoone that weve had for more than 20 yearsshould evolve. Our brand and our clothes are changing, and rethinking our logo is part of aligning with that, wrote Gap North America President Marka Hansen on October 7, 2010, in The Huffington Post. Yet Gaps iconic line of clothing wasnt changing drasticallythe jeans and T-shirts hadnt been reinvented. So why the logo revolution? Why squander equity with the customer? Logos and other design features, along with mottos, taglines, and mission statements, have value. The logo was just hanging out there by itself, stranded on a desert island. Customers ended up feeling confused, not enlightened. Ultimately, a new logo or change in store appearance should say clearly that we listened to you, watched what you were doing, saw what you wanted, and this is our response.
Then, just a few days later, on October 11, Gap announced it would kill the new logo and posted this statement on its Facebook page: Weve heard loud and clear that you dont like the new logo. Weve learned a lot from the feedback. We only want whats best for the brand and our customers. So instead of crowd sourcing, were bringing back the Blue Box tonight. In between the fracas the new logo created and the decision to pull it, Gap also tried to seduce customers into submitting their own designs for a new logoa lame attempt at a design contesta strategy that also failed.
Gap didnt communicate its plan to change the logo beforehand such changes are generally preceded by some strategic research or groundwork, and launches are usually accompanied by media coverage and advertising.
To no ones surprise, Hansen was replaced and a corporate reshuffle, specifically in Gaps creative team, followed. The company and its executives deserved the public spanking for this royal screw-up.
The debacle serves as a reminder about checking in with your audience. Major changes must be part of a larger narrative: a logo for a brand as large and prominent and consumer-oriented as Gap embodies a lot about a brand and its audience. How can you change the key visual connection between you and your audience and nothing else? Whats the new story that goes along with it? What did its new logo say about the new Gap or its new clothing? No story was ever told by Gapwhats different other than the logo and what are we saying about it?
by: Ronn Torossian
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