Change an Iconic Logo at your Peril; Gap finds out the Hard Way via Social Media

by Richard Earle
Regis Affiliate

At The Regis Group we often guide our clients into change, even to the point of re-branding, so it may seem odd for us to blog about a big mistake (later corrected) by a company that did just that.

For more than 40 years, the Gap has been a successful clothing purveyor.  For many of those years, it was the world’s largest apparel retailer. But lately, sales have been flat.  In response, Gap decided to completely re-brand the company, starting with the 20+year-old logo.  The new version was posted on the home page of their web site before changing it company-wide.

What they had not counted on was the almost instantaneous negative reaction of the blogosphere. “Disgusting,” “amateur,” “it looks like something a child created using a clip-art gallery,” were some of the comments on Facebook and Twitter reports Ad Age.  

So Gap reversed itself.  Gap President Marka Hanse said in announcing the reversal "We've been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back. So we've made the decision to do just that."

There are two lessons to be learned here: First, pay attention to the posts on social media, they are an incredible new source of consumer opinion - preferably before committing to any major decision that is immediately visible to the consumer.  Second, even if you are tired of it, think long and hard about retiring an iconic logo.  You can re-brand around it, but if it is beloved by many, leave it alone!  A tip of the hat to Gap for doing just that!