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Why GAP Fell into The Social Media Abyss!
Was it 6 days that changed the world? No, but it made media history. Gap unveiled its new logo on October 4 only to rescind the decision less than one week later. The logo update, the first in over 20 years, created instant mockery on YouTube, Twitter, micro sites, and Facebook. One video even demonstrates how it takes less than one minute to create the logo and another allows you to create your own “Gap/crap” logo; see below:
Gap responded to criticism by asking fans to create their own logo to see if they could do better. This invitation incensed the on-line community even further – it appeared that the company was asking us to do Gap’s design work for free!
What’s the Lesson Here? Once you earned the iconic love of your customers, you can’t simply “dismiss it” without regard for their sense of “loss”. The resulting firestorm against the Gap demonstrates the power of the people. In virtually unanimously response, consumers begged this San Francisco-based retailer to bring back the familiar logo. Next time, mind the gap, the store, and your customers!
It’s hard not to admire the work in the social space by Pepsi. Forgoing Super Bowl advertising this year, it instead decided to launch the Pepsi Refresh Project. It’s actually quite simple: submit an idea with a positive impact, cast your vote every day, and voila! The project with the most votes gets funded! To reinforce its relevance, funded ideas are highlighted -perpetuating the goal of “if they can do it, I can too.” I think this is truly a drink of fresh air!It’s hard not to admire the work in the social space by Pepsi. Forgoing Super Bowl advertising this year, it instead decided to launch the Pepsi Refresh Project. It’s actually quite simple: submit an idea with a positive impact, cast your vote every day, and voila! The project with the most votes gets funded! To reinforce its relevance, funded ideas are highlighted -perpetuating the goal of “if they can do it, I can too.” I think this is truly a drink of fresh air!