New Gap Logo a No-Go

If you haven’t had the misfortune of seeing the new Gap logo, take a peek below. New one on the left, old one on the right.

Ok, now take another look. Yes, thats right. This is their new logo. As one friend remarked “this looks like a software company logo” – the comment was followed by a frowny emoticon. I concur with the frown.

Apparently, so do a lot of people as noted here and more aggressively so here.

Gap boasts they offer an “iconic American style”. Iconic is defined as the following:

• of, pertaining to, or characteristic of an icon.
• Art . (of statues, portraits, etc.) executed according to a convention or tradition.

So what about this new, sterile, unimaginative logo is iconic? Beats me. And if Gap is positioning itself as iconic, then why would they torture what everyone recognizes as their brand – the color, the font, the blue square holding the word GAP nicely together in one, perfectly crafted, iconic logo.

My company often recommends well-thought out branding strategies that include thorough research and testing. It is precisely the reason to have such strategies to avoid the backlash that Gap is now experiencing. I’d like to know what, if any, research and testing was done when creating this new logo.

When a logo re-do is needed, the logo re-do is welcomed and embraced. Sometimes, just a subtle change is needed. See below examples:

Other notable examples of logo redesigns that have flopped include:

A logo redesign is like plastic surgery. Do your research, ask your friends (or in the case of a brand, your consumers), and then make a careful decision before you go under the knife. Otherwise, you may regret your new face lift.

If your brand revels in being iconic, then opt for something that represents iconic, not blech.

As a confusing but interesting plus, the @GapLogo Twitter handle has spewed a number of ridiculous, hilarious and questionable responses to their new logo – it’s worth a follow to see this train wreck.

The moral of the story is:

• Research
• Test
• Research
• Test
• Decide

Tags: Brand, Logo, PR