An Integrated Marketing Strategy for Gap, Essay Example

Executive Summary

Gap, Inc. is a unique and multifaceted organization that is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. The organization operates a number of well-known brands, including Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy, among others, all of which attract consumers across different price points. The organization is largely successful throughout the United States and offers a variety of products under its different brands, all of which are designed to provide style and comfort to the consumer population. In recent years, the organization has experienced a number of changes in order to accommodate declining sales in some segments in order to effectively improve its overall brand image across its segments and to restore its former glory. This recognition has led to numerous changes at Gap and has facilitated a new creative spirit within the firm that enables the brand to achieve higher sales growth with a newly refined target audience throughout the United States. For the purposes of this discussion, the Gap brand and its current strategy will be evaluated in greater detail.

Product Description and Desired Brand Image

Gap Inc. is segmented into several brands, all of which aim to provide style and accommodate current trends at competitive prices. Over the past decade, the company has experienced significant high turnover in its management team, which has led to a decline in sales, marketing focus, and the employee infrastructure (Clifford, 2012). In response to these issues, the organization has made efforts to improve its brand image and to reflect upon its mistakes through a new approach to marketing and promotion, using natural and more appealing store environments that are designed to attract consumers (Clifford, 2012). The Gap retail environment has since been reborn and now aims to capture the customer’s attention and focus in a different and thoughtful manner (Clifford, 2012). This is an important reminder of the brand’s iconic nature and how it has always been in the background, even when it has been its least successful. This process is important because it captures the essence of the brand’s spirit and how it aims to attract an audience with a greater focus on revitalizing its demographic and on developing new approaches to growth and change that will increase the attention and focus on the brand for the foreseeable future.

Target Market, Buyer Motivations, Demographics, & Psychographics

Gap has recognized its weaknesses of the past decade and has regrouped in order to attract and retain a younger customer base (Lutz, 2011).The younger population between the ages of 18 to 35 is the current target market, and this is approximately 20 percent of the population (Lutz, 2011). Therefore, this group is the key focus for Gap because of its strong interest in clothing that is on trend, along with its focus on professional clothing that is also casual and comfortable (Lutz, 2011). In the modern era, buyers are largely motivated by value, quality, and fashionable looks; therefore, Gap has made a strong effort to accommodate these interests, using the 18-35 demographic in a positive manner that is attractive to this population (Lutz, 2011). From a psychographics perspective, Gap strives to gauge its customer base and their interests through its store design, including natural light and hardwood floors to remove the perception of the brand as outdated or unlikable (Lutz, 2011).

Marketing Strategy, Positioning Strategy vs. Competitors

Gap, Inc. has been struggling to find its footing in recent years because the brand has not appeared to effectively resonate with its original target market. In recognizing that the brand was losing against some of its most formidable competitors, they began to reevaluate their strengths and weaknesses in favor of attracting new customers, and this encouraged the brand to take risks with its portfolio and to consider how their actions might be perceived by the larger marketplace. This was an important step for Gap to take because it was in a position to lose substantial revenue and popularity within the masses, and this was not an option for the company to accept. In this context, it was important for the brand to take action that would effectively bring it back into a relevant state and to attract a potentially new market in order to encourage growth and change. The brand is positioned in an area where there is much saturation; therefore, it is important to distinguish itself from its nearest competitors and to demonstrate its longevity in different ways that could be effective in meeting the needs of its ability to grow and thrive in an ever-changing market. Therefore, by shifting its position towards a more youthful market, it was inevitable that the brand could recapture some of the success of its younger years and to be more effective in reaching its target audience in positive ways.

Advertising Campaign

The brand uses advertising as a means of engaging its customers with the products that they sell to the masses, and this is achieved through creative consumer advertising that is strategic and appropriate for the target audience (Lutz, 2011). With a new creative team in place, Gap is beginning to capture some of its past success and to recognize that the customer demographics continue to change and shift towards a younger and more fruitful market (Mau, 2014). This was an important step in the right direction for the iconic brand, as it has been a successful American brand and has thrived in many periods throughout its history (Mau, 2014). In this context, Gap is aiming to the consumer public to adopt a “lived-in” approach to clothing and to minimize the actual advertising approach to the clothing market (Mau, 2014). This process has been largely instrumental in shifting the direction of the brand towards a more youthful approach, while also recognizing that its core customers will continue to return to the brand on a continuous basis (Mau, 2014). Gap has often relied on its image as a traditional casualwear brand, and this continues to be its focus, albeit with a new twist and a fresh perspective towards that which made the brand iconic to begin with (Mau, 2014).

Public Relations Campaign

For the Gap brand, it appears that its public relations approach has experienced mixed results at best, given the challenges of the retail clothing industry and the saturation of the market in many ways. From a public relations perspective, Gap has experienced a number of changes that have aimed to improve its reputation in the market and its focus on quality and value. In response to these challenges, the brand has utilized social media in a positive and enthusiastic manner in order to accomplish the desired objectives, and to be effective in improving its brand image (Graham, 2012). The brand supported its employee base in encouraging enthusiasm regarding the brand as an opportunity to increase interest and awareness, using social media to drive this process (Graham, 2012). From this perspective, the organization has been largely successful in achieving greater interest towards the brand and in recapturing some of the spirit of its youth, using popular technology and promotional techniques as part of this process (Graham, 2012). This has been largely instrumental in creating a higher level of brand awareness and in restoring some of the interest in Gap that had been lost over the past decade, using different criteria to spread the word (Graham, 2012). This was an important step for Gap to take in order to inspire the younger generation, its current target market, to take action and to consider the brand and its potential value to their lives (Graham, 2012).

Promotions Campaign

The current promotional campaign that Gap currently employs is known as “dress normal,” which reflects its focus on personal style as a means of expression (Swift, 2014). This campaign will provide a unique focus on promoting confidence in consumers and in developing new ideas to attract the target market (Swift, 2014). This process enables the organization to focus on its target audience and to reshape its brand image in different ways, promoting a rejuvenation of the brand and a means of restoring its former glory and level of attention (Swift, 2014). The brand continues to explore new options with respect to its promotional opportunities and how it might best achieve its goals and objectives, using the opportunities that are available through social media and other alternatives, such as print advertising and greater simplicity in its focus (Swift, 2014). This is an important step for the brand to take its image in a new direction in order to recapture its spirit and to be effective in supporting the needs of the modern consumer marketplace in different ways.

Internet Marketing Campaign

The Gap brand uses social media in inspiring ways as a means of increasing awareness and in supporting the development of online advertising, promotion, and a website that encourages individuals to examine Gap products and consider purchasing them. This process has inspired Gap to take new steps towards improving its image online and in supporting the growth and creative spirit of the organization in different ways. It is important for Gap to build on this momentum and to encourage the growth and visibility of the brand image through Internet-based marketing and advertising on a continuous basis. This process will encourage the brand to continue to examine its options with respect to the Internet and how it will impact its current state, as well as its future.

Direct Marketing Campaign

In the world of direct marketing, Gap has experienced success in the past because this was one of the key drivers of the spirit of the brand and how it translated to the masses. Direct marketing, however, has been forever changed by the continued growth of the Internet and of social media, thereby increasing the visibility of the brand and its strengths in this arena. Therefore, Gap does not appear to have a significant direct marketing presence in the current era. Nonetheless, direct marketing remains an important opportunity for many brands to take the steps towards continuous growth and improvement, using the tools and resources that are available to them. This process requires a brand to examine its priorities and its target audience in order to determine how direct marketing might benefit them, using creative approaches in order to attract these individuals to the brand. In this context, Gap has used its retail storefronts in this capacity over the years to introduce newer design elements within its stores, and has recognized the need to rejuvenate its physical locations with attractive elements so that its customers will continue to visit, while also introducing new customers to the mix. This is an important step for the organization to take in order to accomplish its objectives and to be realistic in recognizing its potential to increase visibility and foot traffic through its retail locations and storefronts.

Conclusion

The Gap brand has experienced many changes in recent years and must continue to find its footing in an ever-increasing crowded market for mid-priced fashion. Consumers throughout the United States appeared to have tired of the brand in recent years and explored other brands to accommodate their needs, resulting in a loss of sales growth and opportunity for the brand. Therefore, with a new creative team in place and a new direction, the company appears to be rejuvenated its iconic brand and how it resonates with its more youthful target customer base. This process is challenging for the brand on many levels, but it also demonstrates a high level of focus and an understanding of what steps are required to ensure that the organization has established a pathway to a brighter and more positive future in a competitive marketplace.

References

Clifford, S. (2012). A humbled Gap tries a fresh coat of pep. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/business/a-humbled-gap-tries-a-fresh-coat-of-pep.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Graham, M. (2012). Reinventing the social media policy: Gap’s refreshing approach. Retrieved from http://www.communiquepr.com/blog/?p=3756

Lutz, A. (2011). Gap’s fall campaign changes core customer. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-01/gap-s-fall-campaign-changes-core-customer-in-moment-of-truth-.html

Mau, D. (2014). Gap unveils first campaign under new creative director Rebekka Bay. Retrieved from http://fashionista.com/2014/02/gap-spring-2014-campaign

Swift, J. (2014). Quirky celebs line up for Gap’s ‘dress normal’ campaign. Retrieved from http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1308587/quirky-celebs-line-gaps-dress-normal-campaign