Gap Inc. (San Francisco) released a new logo this week on its website and Facebook page. Replacing the familiar navy box and white type is new large, black Helvetica text with a little blue box on the top right corner.
Public reaction has been mixed, if not heated. Comments on Gap’s Facebook page range from complimentary to claims that the new one looks cheap and forgettable.
Marka Hansen, Gap North America president, told the Huffington Post, that Gap’s iconic logo was more than 20 years old and need to evolve to something “contemporary and current.” “Our brand and our clothes are changing and rethinking our logo is part of aligning with that,” she says. “We want our customers to take notice of Gap and see what it stands for today.”
Some have suggested that the strategy is a marketing ploy to encourage chatter about the chain. By the end of the week, the retailers’ Facebook page was asking followers to share their alternative designs for the logo.
In an explanation on the new logo, Hansen says, “Now, given the passionate outpouring from customers that followed, we've decided to engage in the dialogue, take their feedback on board and work together as we move ahead and evolve to the next phase of Gap.”
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