Learning From Gap’s Logo Redesign Failure

If you were keeping up with retail news in 2010, you may remember Gap’s logo redesign that completely failed. Or, maybe not since the redesign backfired so badly that it lasted less than a week.

If you’re unfamiliar, in 2010 following the 2008 financial crisis and slumped sales, Gap decided to change its 20-year logo, practically overnight. Typically though, a brand will only undergo visual rebranding when a significant change within the company’s strategy and business-doing has occurred. This was absolutely not the case with Gap; they were virtually the same Gap they had been for the past 20 years. Gap’s Vice President gave the explanation of achieving a more modern and contemporary look. In reality, the redesign was poorly thought out and created in a panic. 

Successful branding is never executed on a whim

A huge lesson can be taken away from this incident. Branding and marketing actions NEED to have clear and accurate reasoning, backed up by data, whether that be a survey, isolated experiment, case study, financial analysis, etc. It is never a good idea to make a decision, especially one as large as this, on a whim hoping it will magically increase sales. Gathering evidence may take some time, effort, and money, but you’ll be thankful you did so when you dodge an incident like this one and find the actual solution to your problem. To read more on the GAP incident and what other lessons can be learned from it, check out this great article.  

We get it, branding can be confusing. The world was becoming more and more modern each day, so why wouldn’t consumers react positively to a modernized logo? Well, consumers aren’t always going to react how you initially think they will. Our experienced branding and marketing professionals understand this well and know what changes need to be made and when, as well as where to find the data to support those changes. Let us take the weight of your brand off your shoulders and help you create and maintain your business’s perfect brand.