Can the Gap brand be saved?

The all-American brand of the Gap has been under scrutiny over the last several years from Wall Street analysts, branding industry leaders and advertising publications all asking roughly the same question: Can the Gap brand be saved? The topic even came up earlier this year on Gap’s own Facebook discussion board, albeit without much action.

The most recent move by the Gap was to go outside of their agency of record relationship to hire Crispin for their holiday season campaign. A bold move? Yes. The correct move? Well, we’ll have to wait and see. I am fairly certain Crispin will be very creative. However a clever holiday campaign may boost year-end sales, but will it truly save the Gap brand?
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Companies that are not the market leaders in their industries need special advice about how to compete. For example, when a Challenger Brand company like K-Swiss, a shoemaker with 3% of the athletic shoe market, looks for an agency, they need three important qualities. First, they need an agency that understands their prime customers. Second, they need an agency experienced in image-driven products.

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