Gap Inc.: A no go for logo change

Last week, Gap announced it is changing its classic logo, a blue background with all capitalized letters spelling 'G A P.' And the announcement has gotten a lot of negative attention.The new logo, which has a white background and black letters spelling 'Gap'and a blue box in the upper right hand corner, has gotten the company a lot of flack online. The Gap's Twitter and Facebook fans and followers had little good to say about the brand's new image.

The old logo, in my opinion, goes with the preppy and classic look of the store's clothing and accessories. If the store was trying to look as though it has evolved, it missed the mark and gone into devolution. The new logo looks outdated and cold, like a stock exchange logo. Consumers instantly recognize the old Gap logo, so it makes no sense to change the well-branded image.

Some logos don't need to change over time i.e. Coca-Cola and Ford. Sometimes, the brand gets it right on the first try, like in the Gap's case. As a Gap Inc. employee, I think the brand has a great amount of recognition because of its simple and classic logo designs for Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Piperlime. The simplicity resonates with the Gap audience. The change could negatively effect the brand's advertising because of its recognition and notoriety. Consumers wouldn't be able to easily identify the brand's messages, as they do now, and this could adversly effect the company's sales.

Recently, a mere week after declaring the logo change, the public backlash pushed the company to rescind the change and continue to use the old, classic logo.

Enjoying the ride with Huggies

A new Huggies commercial, which explains the struggles of parenting by using the metaphor of an amusement park, is oddly relaxing. Young people arrive at an amusement park ran by happy babies, all wearing Huggies diapers. The parents, unknowing and afraid, are comforted by the babies, who seem unafraid.


At one point, a mom and her baby are at the top of a steep drop on a rollercoaster, the baby puts his hand over his mother's, as though he's reassuring her. The "kissing booth," a staple of many parks, is filled with a mother kissing her new baby. A young couple plays a game called "Feed the Baby" where they throw bottles into a cutout baby's mouth, mimicking a bean toss game at a carnival.


No dialogue is used in the ad, instead a soft melody plays, adding to the relaxing and calm tone of the commercial. The commercial is called "Enjoy the Ride." The parents eventually lose their fears by the end of the commercial and it closes with a young family entering the tunnel of love together. The message is encouraging parents to enjoy the ride of parenthood, with Huggies.


This ad used the metaphor to calmly and cleverly demonstrate the obstacles a young or new parent faces with a baby. It is a soft-hearted emotional approach  to new parent's, a large part of their target audience. I think they effectively used music and imagery to get across a reassuring and heartwarming message, which appeals to moms.

Ad Research Sites!

I've recently come across a couple of ad sites that are really interesting and helpful for gaining knowledge about the advertising world.


 Advertising Age, or AdAge, is a news site which discusses the new ad campaigns of companies. It is useful because its a one stop shop for all things advertising. It has articles about campaign failures and successes. I find it really interesting because I really didn't know a community like this existed and it will be easy for me to keep up with trends in advertising.


AdForum, which calls itself the "Resource Center for the Global Advertising Community" is a website that chronicles good ads from around the world. Each week it has a top 5 list which displays the most popular ads of the week. Ads are available in video form and print form to be discussed. Members of the website can choose favorite ads and comment on other ads, as well. And the membership is free. It also has job listing for people with advertising experience.


Both of these sites have up to date information about trend in the advertising world. I think they can be a great learning tool for you advertisers, as they are somewhat like creative libraries for integrated communication students.

Geico: Making the strange familiar and the familiar strange

Geico's new ad campaign has a spokesperson asking the audience "Could switching to Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?"

 The spokesperson then poses a second question regarding an obvious or  renowned adage such as "Is Abe Lincoln honest?" or "Did the little piggy cry "wee wee wee" all the way home?" to emphasize that Geico saving you money is obvious, as well. The silly questions are then followed by short clips of these adages played out. A woman asks Abe Lincoln if her dress makes her backside look big, and he-after hesitation- is unfailingly honest and says yes. A small pig sticks his head out the window and cries (joyfully) "wee wee wee" as an obviously annoyed carpooling mother drives him home.

The most recent ad asks the question: "Is a bird in the hand worth two in the bush?" The clip shows a woman at a mock-Antiques Road Show having her porcelain hand with a bird in it appraised. After the appraiser looks over the piece- mockingly commenting on its condition and age- he tells her "If it were to go to auction today I would say, conservatively, it would go for two in the bush," as the woman looks on in sheer amazement.

This ad works because it mixes various elements that are familiar to the audience: the adage and the popular TV show. The elements come together to make a truly humorous and clever commercial.

In fact, when I first saw it, I mistakenly thought it was the actual Antique Road Show. It made me stop and watch because I thought "What is this item and what is it worth?" When the punchline came, I couldn't help but laugh because the clever ad stopped me in my tracks. And that's what a good ad should do: stop you and make you think. This ad falls in line with Geico’s other clever ads: the cavemen, the money with eyes, and the gecko. The humor element only added to the attraction of this ad and it also is what viewers have come to expect from this brand: clever, humorous and catchy advertisements.

Give me the Car Fax, not the Car Fox

Recently, Carfax debuted it's new trade character, the Car Fox. The extent of his exposure is simply asking people to "Get the Car Fax" at the end of their commercials. I think this trade character in particular is gimmicky and, frankly, a bit cheesy.


The creators of the Car Fox simply changed one letter of their brand name, which they may've thought would make the character easy to remember. To me, this reads as unoriginal and lazy because people wouldn't necessarily relate an online vehicle report company to a fox. The fox is not representational of their brand goals in that they share none of the same characteristics.


A fox would generally be associated with a brand that may be selling surveillance or spy equipment, recalling to customer's minds the adage "Sly as a fox." Or a brand focused on speed like the Fox racing company.

I also think the Car Fax brand was trying to imitate the success of the Geico Gecko. I credit this success to the use of the gecko without referring to the obvious similarity of the brand name and the trade character. Instead, the brand allowed the audience to see the connection between the two.

The Car Fox has his name plastered on his t-shirt. The name use may lead the  audience to believe that the brand doesn't think they could make the association themselves, which is offensive.

I believe a brand should only use a trade character when the character accurately reflects the core value of the brand rather than being a gimmick. Or,  when the brand trade character can be easily associated with the brand in the audience's mind- without having to state the obvious.

Instead, the company could've used an animal that could relate to the necessity of car facts. For instance: a flying squirrel who says "Always look before you leap, get your Car Fax." This way, they are tying the advantage of viewing Car Fax to the importance of Maslow's financial and safety needs, while maintaining their use of a trade character.

New York Color is Down-to-Earth

New York Color, or N.Y.C. Cosmetics, has launched a new campaign focusing on their prices, along with the effectiveness of their beauty enhancing products. Their new tag line is as follows: "Uptown Styles, Down to Earth Prices." The ad copy reads, "Prices from 99 cents to $4.99."

On their website, link is here, their mission is stated as, "The N.Y.C. New York Color Mission is to build a leading lifestyle brand that excites, engages and inspires women with prestige quality cosmetics at a value price."

Unlike many of their competitors, who rarely use prices in their advertisements, NYC has chosen to be more sensitive to the recent economic state of the country. The ads have run on television, online and in Cosmopolitan, Glamour and many other high-fashion magazines, proving that they are choosing women on all financial scales as their target audience.

This approach sets the N.Y.C. brand apart from other makeup brands in that it shows a level of social-conscious as well as demonstrating the beauty-enhancing benefits of their products.

When most companies advertise their low prices, it can be perceived as cheap-sounding/looking but I think the ad copy was effectively used to be both subtle and appealing rather than tacky. It was positioned off center, but had a clear and visible font size. Basically, the cost was not the main point of the ad, but was used effectively.  Also, the model and colors used portray the qualities of class and sophistication that can be yours for prices ranging from 99 cents to $4.99.

10 Rules For Effective Ads

I found these rules for more effective advertising posted by the American Research Group on their Web site. I thought this list was both simple and effective, as it touched on some good points.
The link to the list is here: 10 Rules List

A couple of my favorites were:

1. Does the ad tell a simple story, not just convey information?
- A good story does not interpret or explain the action in the story for the audience. Instead, a good story allows each member of the audience to interpret the story as he or she understands the action. This is why people find good stories so appealing and why they find advertising that simply conveys information so boring.

I think this is true of a good advertisement. I don't think an ad has to be a lengthy story, but it should unfold well in front of the audience. If an ad has the element of a story line- the viewer will be pulled in to the ad, especially if the ad incorporates humor or wit. Point in case: Jameson's Irish Whiskey Commercial. I particularly remember this ad because of its unfolding story line. It is posted below:



***I am not saying that ALL ads should use story lines, but it is one effective approach to advertising if done well.

And,

10. Does the ad use identifiable music?
- Music can be a rapidly identified cue for the recall of emotional responses remembered from previous advertising. Making the same music an identifiable aspect of all advertising signals the audience to pay attention for more important content.

Not only can music recall emotion in the audience, I think that with today's music tangibility, music is
one way to call attention to a brand in a "hip" way. I think Mac commercials have effectively used music to call attention to their products. Using new and of-the-moment music reflects on the fact that the Mac brand is also of-the-moment. I, myself, have Googled some of their ads to see what the song in the ad was called, and then I downloaded it from, where else, iTunes. The music brought attention to the ad and helped to drive a sale for their brand.



Please take a look at the list and tell me your thoughts. What could be added to the list? What doesn't work?