Gap had been outpacing almost every major brand in the social space lately, creating a Foursquare special in August, as well as becoming the first national brand to create a Groupon (smashing every previous Groupon sales record). These recent savvy moves in the social space are what made me first question the legitimacy of their logo change, and whether this was another marketing tactic targeted at the social media world.
If Gap had done any consumer research into the opinion of the public prior to the official change, I have a hard time believing they would have received much of a positive response, if any. This leads me to believe that Gap purposely created a logo that they knew would get torn apart, especially by the fast to criticize frequent users of social media.
How would getting absolutely torn apart be a brilliant marketing tactic you may add? All you have to do is look at the instant reaction of everyone know had previously bashed the new Gap logo. Everyone was shocked, and then congratulatory of the Gap for not acting like a stubborn brick and mortar company, and instead listening to their audience and quickly retracting the logo that was hated so passionately.
They leveraged the idea that “any press is good press,” by becoming a hot topic online, and then turning the negative attention and turning it positive by “listening” to the public. And that is why Gap has once again made a brilliant move in becoming a beloved brand online.