Importance of brand logo, a lesson learned from Gap experience

The recent Gap experience reminds us of the importance of logo on consumers' attitude.

Beginning of this week, Marka Hansen, Gap North America president, announced on Facebook that Gap is abandoning its new logo design and is returning to the original one, i.e. ”the blue box”. The “more contemporary and current” new logo designed by New York agency Laird & Partners met too many negative reactions from Gap consumers.

Michael F.Walsh, an assistant professor of marketing at West Virginia University, gives insights about consumers resistance to change in an article published yesterday in Advertising Age magazine. First, he says that “not all design changes are met with resistance”. Furthermore, he indicates that "consumers most committed to a brand will have stronger and more negative reactions to redesign efforts.” So, he advises brand managers to inform the most committed consumers earlier than the broad public and to actively involve them in the change process.

“Change management process is as important as the redesign itself”, that’s the other lesson learned from Gap experience.

Source: Advertising Age