Was this not just a promotional stunt to get people talking about GAP?? I can't believe they would have genuinely thought that that new logo, introduced out of the blue and without fanfare, was an appropriate identity for their brand...?
Gap have already been using a very lightweight Helvetica logo for several years in association with their brand marque - in the same was that Marks and Spencers have been using the similar 'M&S' on all advertising for some years - testing the market by stealth.
It's not that unusual to let a brand disappear by letting it recede into the background and slowly introduce a new one without fanfare in the fashion industry - because the product turnaround is so fast and seasonal - but the garments made all over the world and delivered in seasonal chunks - and old stock constantly being rotated - that it's absolutly impossible t introduce a new 'brand identity' in one go - it will take 5 years and many millions of dollars investment to re-brand all the shops.
That's the danger of expansion - suddenly you have dozens of shops that look old over night and can't afford to update them.
We had massive problems with French Connection ( to name one ) and employed 2 people full time to check every delivery of garments globally to make sure that the 100's of individual factories were using the correct label program, the temptation for them to use up old stock was always there - and quality was very variable, even 3 years after a new logo was introduced - garments would turn up with the wrong branding.
That's really interesting. I hadn't thought of the turnaround issues of garments. You must get a stack of clothes sitting next to another stack in a shop - one with old logo and one with new!
Was this not just a promotional stunt to get people talking about GAP?? I can't believe they would have genuinely thought that that new logo, introduced out of the blue and without fanfare, was an appropriate identity for their brand...?
ReplyDeleteGap have already been using a very lightweight Helvetica logo for several years in association with their brand marque - in the same was that Marks and Spencers have been using the similar 'M&S' on all advertising for some years - testing the market by stealth.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that unusual to let a brand disappear by letting it recede into the background and slowly introduce a new one without fanfare in the fashion industry - because the product turnaround is so fast and seasonal - but the garments made all over the world and delivered in seasonal chunks - and old stock constantly being rotated - that it's absolutly impossible t introduce a new 'brand identity' in one go - it will take 5 years and many millions of dollars investment to re-brand all the shops.
That's the danger of expansion - suddenly you have dozens of shops that look old over night and can't afford to update them.
We had massive problems with French Connection ( to name one ) and employed 2 people full time to check every delivery of garments globally to make sure that the 100's of individual factories were using the correct label program, the temptation for them to use up old stock was always there - and quality was very variable, even 3 years after a new logo was introduced - garments would turn up with the wrong branding.
That's really interesting. I hadn't thought of the turnaround issues of garments. You must get a stack of clothes sitting next to another stack in a shop - one with old logo and one with new!
ReplyDelete