Logo a No Go – The Gap and Online Brand Worth

In a classic branding example of “If it ain’t broke, why in the world are you fixing it”, Gap changed its logo last week and search space exploded with negativity. Gap’s Facebook page fanned the flames of logo anger with the vast majority of users opted to “Like” the old logo. Though Gap CEO Marka Hansen wrote an op-ed for the Huffington Post defending her decision, the social outrage appears to have taken its toll. Hansen is inviting loyal Gap customers to come up with replacement logo concepts. While that is a clever corrective marketing strategy, Hansen should be more concerned with the damage this logo fiasco has caused the Gap brand online.

It would have behooved Hansen to consider what the Gap’s brand image was worth before she put this marketing mishap in motion. If she utilized a brand calculator to gage the value of the Gap’s online reputation, perhaps she would have thought twice about revamping the logo. Online performance marketers should utilize a brand calculator to help their clients, small and large businesses alike, avoid a similar, unnecessary rebranding nightmare.