The Challenger Gap!
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?
No. To truly save their brand, Gap must step outside of their comfort zone and think like a Challenger Brand. (Yes, Gap executives, Brand Spanking® can help even the market leader!) So many other retailers, including those within Gap Inc.’s own brand family, have mimicked them for such a long time, that the consumer can’t distinguish clearly one from the other. And Gap, who was once the market leader, has been standing still while the others have been steadily gaining market share. The Gap brand has become diluted by the same old message that consumers don’t care if they are shopping at Gap, Old Navy, American Eagle or Abercrombie & Fitch. The Gap must break out of the category that they themselves created to take rightful ownership again. They must be bold, and change the rules of the game.
As I sit here nostalgically in my 1988 Gap jean jacket, I am rooting for the Gap brand and begging for them to break the rules and surprise me! Unfortunately, this shift in thinking must come from the top, not from a clever advertising campaign.
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Posted by: Belinda Yeager Carter in: Advertising, Marketing at: 4:16 pm Keywords: Abercrombie & Fitch, advertising campaign, agencies, American Eagle, brand, Challenger Brand, fitting group, Gap Inc, Marketing, Old Navy, The Gap |
