I just wrote last week about the Frito-Lay Sun Chips packaging debacle here. I was aghast then, and I’m even more agog today about the Gap logo debacle that has made these two Fortune companies laughing stock.
What is happening to corporate America that permits their caving to public social media outcry about a green potato chip bag or a new corporate identity?
After four days of online whipping about its brand identity developed by an agency, Gap has pulled its brand new logo in favor of the old, archaic logo we’ve seen for decades. Blog posts, Facebook and Twitter accounts have been in an uproar about Gap’s newly designed logo. I just saw a post saying proudly, “Twitter responsible for Gap logo demise!”
I’m not doing my research to provide you with all the wonderful statistics on how long the Gap logo has been around, how much money people are wasting, what the comments have been and how many in social media circles, etc. because I don’t care, and I didn’t read the four days worth of posts on this topic. It wasn’t my business to tell Gap its new logo was ugly and stood for nothing.
Where I will spend some time making it my business is these two corporations on the heels of one another making jokes out of themselves while taking social networks for a free ride. The publicity each has garnered, while not positive, could not have been bought by advertisers. Our valuable time thinking about these mistakes was wasted, too.
What’s more shocking, is that it appears RESEARCH IS DEAD. It’s not public relations that’s dead; it’s not customer service that’s dead; it is truly research that’s dead.
Had Gap and Frito-Lay done its research in more than just the typical traditional way (focus groups?) and launched social media contests to vote on the bag or logo Facebookers liked best, then they would be assured of no backlash.
You know the People’s Choice Awards? You know American Idol and how they select the winner? Consumers VOTE – that’s the American way. We vote to garner popular consensus (although the winner doesn’t always win in politics).
So, don’t cry, corporate America, over your lost dollars to develop stupid packaging and branding campaigns if you’re not going to take your stupid packaging and branding campaigns to social media prior to going to market. It’s clear you don’t understand social media; otherwise, you would not be in this predicament, Frito-Lay and Gap, with egg on your faces.
This is an astonishing fail and does not reflect well on any of us in the world of marketing, public relations, advertising, or social media. The dynamic has shifted? Indeed.
Unless, of course, they did this on purpose for all of the publicity you said they couldn’t buy. Not saying they did, just suggesting the possibility.
You’re absolutely spot on, Gregg. Makes me sick to think that’s a possibility and did not even want to raise that although it was thunk over here, too.
What a grand time to be in school; I’ll use these two examples in the critical thinking class I’m speaking at tomorrow evening.
Thanks for pushing the envelope!
Sure, they’re getting publicity, but is looking out-of-touch going to help them move jeans again?
It’s just a major embarrassment and pure fail on both companies; period.
Agog. Great word to describe my reaction to this stupidity (I HATE to think this was planned PR).
Agog and aghast. Seems so simple but why do CEOs, brands and corporations continue to mismanage crises? Like this NY Times https://nyti.ms/biWqpb story suggests, CEOs seem to face crisis the same way kids face a roller coaster. They get on, hang on and then hope it’s over fast. Rarely is. Ask Tiger Woods, Tony Hayward, Akio Toyoda or Lloyd Blankfein. Especially when Google keeps the information. A recent Google search on Toyota accelerator reported more than 1,300,000 results. Yikes.
As long as there are products, people and commodities, there will be failures. It’s what makes our lives so robust, eh? It certainly has made for good social media!
interesting, thanks
Let’s be honest for a moment. Did Gap really blow it?
Out of all of Gap’s customers, how many really cared about the logo enough to raise a fuss? I think a very small percentage made a racket and it was blown out of proportion becuase of the amplification of social media. The percentage was probably so small it would have been almost impossible for Gap to detect, even with extensive focus groups, which they probably did. My guess is that Gap probably did as much due diligence as any other retailer in that situation.
I don’t have numbers to back this up but I bet this scenario is a good guess of what really happened.
I saw the Advertising Age piece on this; they did a quick survey to ascertain awareness. You’re right; hardly anyone except those in marketing circles saw the adjusted logo and reacted.
Corporations still need to do a better job understanding the implication, amplification and opportunity social media presents. While I can’t say that’s not happening, we just saw two episodes unfold within one week of the other for two major corporations.
Because I view these situations from a public relations perspective, these are campaign failures. They may not have “blown” it, but traditional route is no longer the only way to go.
Thanks, Mark!
Great post. Anticipating the next one.
Sweet site! Keep up the informative entries.
This is the kind of thing I try to teach people. Can I expect a sequel?