The scrapping of the design -- which re-created the retailer's
name in a bold Helvetica font with a blue gradiated box perched
atop the P -- comes after Gap was put through the ringer last week
for its new look. The company became the whipping boy of designers,
who besides merely disliking the new logo were enraged at the
suggestion that design professionals should help fix the mistake by
offering up ideas for free.
Gap had posted a message on its Facebook account last week
indicating that it would be pursuing a "crowdsourcing project" in
the near term. But people familiar with the Gap's plans said that
would not be related to the logo.
Many consumers on Facebook and blogs picked apart the new logo
too, though according to a poll of 1,000 consumers Ad Age commissioned from
Ipsos Observer, some 80% said they had no idea the logo had
changed.
Gap's official Facebook account has more than 720,000 fans and
has been the main channel through which the company has posted
updates and responses to the criticism regarding the new logo. Its
@gap Twitter page also has more than 35,000 followers, but has thus
far remained silent on a number of fake Twitter accounts --
@gaplogo, @oldgaplogo and @newgaplogo, among them -- that have
gained traction in the days following the announcement, with
humorous nods to Peter Arnell, the designer and adman responsible
for the Tropicana-packaging fiasco.
~ ~ ~
UPDATE: Statement from Marka Hansen, president of Gap Brand,
North America:
"Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on
our Website, we've seen an outpouring of comments from customers
and the online community in support of the iconic blue box
logo.
"Last week, we moved quickly to address the feedback and began
exploring how we could tap into all of the passion. Ultimately,
we've learned just how much energy there is around our brand. All
roads were leading us back to the blue box, so we've made the
decision not to use the new logo on gap.com any further.
"At Gap brand, our customers have always come first. 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 ? we will bring it back across all channels.
"In the meantime, the website will go back to our iconic blue
box logo and, for Holiday, we'll turn our blue box red for our
seasonal campaign.
"We've learned a lot in this process. And we are clear that we
did not go about this in the right way. We recognize that we missed
the opportunity to engage with the online community. This wasn't
the right project at the right time for crowd sourcing.
"There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that
time comes, we'll handle it in a different way."