Caitlin Gates
Gap Inc.
1
Gap Inc. is one of the worlds well known retailers. Gap Inc. started as a single store in 1969 in San Francisco ("Gap inc.,"). The company owns the five retailers, Old
Navy, Gap and Banana Republic, Piperline and Athleta. Old Navy’s customer base is the lower income consumer. These consumers are price conscious and looking for a cheap items rather than quality. Gap customer base is the middle class income consumer’s and
Banana Republic customer is the higher income consumer’s. The company also has an online presence with not only the three retailers, but with Piperline, which is an online apparel and shoe retailer and Athleta, which is a fitness retailer. Gap is an iconic retail brand that offers an inventive American style ("Gap inc.,"). It’s a classic style has help customers express their unique style ("Gap inc.,"). Banana Republic brings together style and luxury. Its all-around style is characterized by elevated styles and luxurious fabrications ("Gap inc.,”). Old Navy is affordable fashion. Their stores are known to families as a one stop shopping experience. Piperline is a mix of unique and fresh styles offer to people with different price points .Athleta is the ultimate mix between fashion and performance ("Gap inc.," ) Doris and Don Fisher opened the Gap store for one simple reason, they weren’t able to find an affordable pair of jeans that fit perfectly ("Gap inc.,").
Today, Gap Inc. is a leading international specialty store. The brand can be founded in ninety different countries ("Gap inc.,”). They employee close to 150,000 employees combined in all five brands and have opened 3,100 stores throughout the world. ("Gap inc.,”). Though the company has changed a lot since their beginning roots, however, the

company is still true to their heritage. They continue to operate based on their beginning
2 values. The company’s philosophy is to make a positive, lasting impact on the people and in the places where we operate ("Gap inc.,”). The company also has a strong social responsibility. The company takes a strong stand against unfair treatment of factory workers as well as its impact on the environment ("Gap inc.,”). One hundred percent of their jeans are made with compliance of the companies Water Quality Program ("Gap inc.,”). The company also makes sure that they reduce greenhouse gas by twenty percent by the year 2015("Gap inc.,”).
In 2007, Gap Inc. hired on Glenn K. Murphy. Murphy is the Chairmen of the
Board and Chief Executive Officer ("Gap inc.,”). Murphy has brought a new vision to
Gap Inc. He has leaded the company to focus on the quality of the brand through executive management ("Gap inc.,”). He taught the company to listen to their customers and share their expectations. His goal was to look deeper into the supply chain to ensure a responsible path throughout the product lifecycle from the source to our stores ("Gap inc.,"). The companies mission statement is “ Gap Inc. is a brand-builder. We create emotional connections with customers around the world through inspiring product design, unique store experiences, and compelling marketing” ("The gap store," 2012).
Even with the five brands in the company, sales for Gap have been declining for the company in the past decade. The company was once on of the most successful retailers in the world. It has been a part of pop culture, with their catchy television advertisements and Saturday Night Live parodies
(Gross, 2006).
The company took khakis and the classic American style and made it a cultural phenomenon. Although it’s great success in the company, sales in 2000 were down twelve percent, seven percent in 2002 and five percent in 2005
(Gross, 2006).
The

company was facing a lower unit sales velocity issue in 2007
(Gross, 2006).
Some
3 experts say the company went into a downward spiral because of cannibalization
(Gross, 2006).
Cannibalization is where too many stores had opened too close together. Gap Inc. major problem is being caught in the middle. People are either buying fast fashion or higher end products
(Gross, 2006).
Consumers are either purchasing at Old Navy or Banana Republic. In 2005, Old Navy sales were almost a billion dollars more then Gaps annual sales.
(Gross, 2006).
The decline in sales for the retailer has caused many store closings. In 2006, Gap closed down sixty stores and the number continued to increase to 189 stores by the end of 2011
(Gross,
2006).
Bringing back the television advertisements that the company use to be known for would greatly improve Gap’s brand image. Gap did television advertisements with celebrities that included Sarah Jessica Parker, Patrick Wilson,
Claire Danes, Rashida Jones and Lenny Kravitz Their advertisements included campaigns like “Everybody in cords”, popular forties swing dancing as well as holiday advertisements. These advertisements brought an emotional connection with consumers and the brand. Bringing back the original television commercials will allow the brand to “signal improve product confidence”
(Cheng, 2009). Gap brought back television advertisement for the holiday season in 2009. The commercial had a positive reaction to consumers, but the company needs to be participating in more commercials besides just holiday seasons.
Another way for Gap’s company to help the company image and increase sales is their presence on social media sites. The company has been already been a part of the social media world but the company needs to increase advertisements on

social media networks. The company did a promotion on the popular social media
4 site Groupon
(Heine, 2010).
Gap offered fifty percent off entire purchases and the promotion was turned out to be a great success
(Heine, 2010).
The only negative aspect of this promotion was downgrading the merchandise to fifty percent. This can lead to consumers to having a negative reaction to the quality of the brand.
Consumers could take that high of a discount and associate it with poor quality.
The promotion could have equally been effective if the brand had offered thirty- five percent. While going back to their original television ads will increase their cost on advertisements, they can cut costs in other departments of advertisement through social media. Social media advertisement allows them to be able to reach their target market. They can promote their product and help educate consumers about their brand. Social media also allows the company to address any customer issues or problems
(Heine, 2010).
The third alternative solution would be to go back to their original roots and push their signature styles. Jeans and khakis are what brought the brand to major success. The company needs to create an advertisement strategy through television and social media advertisements, promoting these styles. The new advertisement strategy needs to start with focusing on the companies target market. Gap’s current target market is men and women ages twenty -five to thirty –five
("Gap struggles to,"
2011).
The company hasn’t been ignoring their target market, just simply confusing their market
("Gap struggles to," 2011).
With all the different changes the company has made throughout the years, it has confused the consumers
("Gap struggles to,"
2011).
A great campaign for the company would include, real life people in everyday

situations. America is known for their pride in their country and Gap is the all around American brand.
The best option for the company to directly take on their issue of decreased sales would be a combination of all three alternative solutions. The company needs to bring back their original television advertisement, increase their social media presence and create a signature style campaign. The television campaigns were successful for the brand before and it will continue to help the brand image for
5 consumers. The company can collaborate with celebrities or other brands in the commercials. Increasing their social media presence and online promotions will increase sales for Gap and also help bring Gap’s customers to the companies sister brands like Old Navy and Banana Republic. Focusing on the companies current target market and coming up with an American style campaigned will allow the company to put a strong brand image back in consumers eyes. While it’s important for the company to move forward and continue to be innovative, the company needs to remember their heritage. The main purpose of the alternative solutions is to increase Gap’s annual sales and become the leader in American apparel like it once was. By combining all three solutions, Gap will be able to reposition their brand and allow consumers to reconnect with the brand.

Reference
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