Gap scraps new logo
Gap Inc, the US clothing brand, has scrapped its new logo just a week after it was introduced following a public backlash.
Gap will return to using its 20-year old “blue box” brand logo with GAP written in white and abandon the new logo which had GAP written in black with a graduated blue box at the top right corner.
The brand introduced the new logo on its US website last week but the change met with an “outpouring of comments from customers and online community in support of the iconic blue box logo,” the company says.
The brand attempted to use its Facebook fan page to encourage crowd sourcing of new ideas for the logo after attracting criticisms including “unsophisticated” and “uncreative” and “devaluing the brand”.
The logo change did not affect the UK website.
In a statement, Marka Hansen, president of Gap North America, says: “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.
“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.”
The retailer says that if it does look to “evolve” its brand identity in the future, it will “handle it in a different way.”
Gap also plans to launch a Christmas campaign turning the blue box logo red for the festive season.
Read Stuart Smith’s blog on the Gap logo debacle here
