Gap Logo Part II

So Gap has unveiled its "new" logo and people all over the Internet are going crazy and losing their minds over it. Marketing wonks and designers are spewing venom at Gap for the new design and for some reason they're coming completely unbuckled over the fact that Gap has responded by suggesting a "crowd-sourcing" approach to an alternative logo design.

My guess is that consumers have been drifting away from this brand recently and that’s why Gap decided to make some bold moves. I have no idea. I don’t work for Gap or any of their agencies but I just can’t believe this amateurish/stock art-looking logo that has caused all these marketing & design wonks and regular consumers to lose their minds and go so nuts over it was a serious effort at creating this particular new logo.

Maybe Gap is just having a hideously public Tropicana Moment and really did just screw this one up. If so I’m sure they’ll dump the new logo in a hurry.   But let’s not confuse the feelings toward the logo with feelings toward the overall Gap brand.

If a brand has no more equity than what people think of its logo then it doesn't actually deserve to exist. That said, I've got to believe the Gap brand promises and delivers some value to people somewhere that has nothing whatsoever to do with its logo.  If the Gap brand has any equity left then its loyal customers will surely forgive a little logo mishap, right?

I am just guessing (ok, maybe hoping) that there is more behind this than just a logo change. I think Gap is struggling and is hoping to get consumers riled up such that they open up and pour their hearts out as to what the brand means to them because Gap probably realize they’ve lost some relevance and maybe don’t really understand how they are perceived anymore.

And guess what?

People all over the Internet and at the company's Facebook page are engaged and telling Gap exactly what they think about the "new" logo and telling Gap what they should focus on rather than a new logo design. Hmmm. People now buzzing about a brand that I actually didn't even realize was still around. Double hmmm.

I certainly wouldn’t have gone about it the way Gap has but I’ve got to believe there is more behind all of this logo change. It is just my personal guess and maybe a little cynicism about how companies are experimenting with stealthybuzzysocialmediamarketing (yes, I know I made that all one word) and maybe drinking a little too much “social media changes everything” Kool-Aid. They had to be hoping such an amateurish logo would stir things up and get people talking. Did they really blow a new logo design or are they getting exactly what they wanted to get all along?

Time will tell.