We recently wrote about one fashion brand using co-creation to engage consumers. Unfortunately, another brand is not en vogue with consumers lately.
The Gap announced that, due to lagging sales, it would shutter 175 of its stores in North America – roughly a quarter of its locations – and cut 250 corporate jobs in New York and San Francisco.
As AdWeek observed, “The brand, in other words, is floundering.” Then it asked, “What happened? And how can the once-dominant khakis-and-jeans chain gets its mojo back?”
Well, the answers include the obvious, such as rise of online shopping and increased competition from the likes of H&M and Forever 21. But analysts also have pointed out how
Once, Gap represented “effortless cool.” Today, it represents, well … no one’s sure what it represents, and that’s costing it market share. Last year, Gap launched its “Dress Normal,” campaign, tapping celebrities such as Elisabeth Moss and Anjelica Huston to promote the brand’s new tagline. In a press release for the campaign, the Gap said consumers needed to find their own versions of “Dress Normal” and that the campaign stood for “individualism and the liberation that comes from confidently being your most authentic self.”
And a struggling brand certainly needs more than a campaign to reinvigorate itself. To do so, Gap needs to transcend marketing and go beyond campaigns. And for a road map to rediscovering its identity, it could look across the pond to the path Burberry embarked upon almost a decade ago
In 2006, the more than 150-year-old British luxury brand was flailing when CEO Angela Ahrendts developed a strategy to centralize design and revive the brand’s heritage. She appointed Christopher Bailey (now Burberry’s CEO) to the position of global design director, who focused on origin and status to set about restoring Burberry’s heritage as relevant for high-end shoppers.
But the brand also needed to be more than just getting back to its roots to grow. Ultimately, it found ways to adapt current to modern day customers while still celebrating its history by launching digital marketing initiatives, such as Burberry Acoustic, Art of the Trench and a partnership with Google that connected with a new generation.
The brand developed a classy, yet groundbreaking and highly inclusive voice on social media, becoming the first luxury brand to hit 10 million likes on Facebook (it’s now at more than 16 million). In sum, it turned its brand into far more than just what Burberry sells.
As CMO.com notes, even a flailing brand can be brought back to life. The first step is to identify the aspects of your current business or marketing that are holding you back, and then get rid of those without mercy. For Gap, that would be finding a way to rise above blah taglines and again become a brand that elevates beyond campaigns.
“Gap was a leader and innovator in the ’90s,” says Ruth Bernstein, the founder and chief strategic officer at strategic image-making agency YARD. “They single handedly reinvented the way retailers advertised through their entertaining khakis-swing-singing-dancing spots. Times have certainly changed, and the competition that once emulated them has overtaken their position.”
Brands need to bridge that gap and think bigger. Gap, perhaps, in particular.
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