Consumer Branding

Every day I am very intentional about what I wear. This may come as I surprise to many of my Consumer Behavior classmates, because I wear gym shorts, a white t-shirt, and tennis shoes to class every day. This says something unique about me: I have gym class every Tuesday and Thursday at noon. You can tell a lot about a person from what they wear. People choose the brands and styles they wear as a reflection of who they are. One of my best friends wears a variety of Toms or Chaco’s almost every day. While I make fun of her hippie feet, she takes pride in the fact that it demonstrates to people that she is outdoorsy and appreciates nature. She likes these things, because they help with self-branding.


I have worked in retail for several years, and can provide countless examples of customers coming into a store looking for nothing but a brand. When I worked at Polo Ralph Lauren, customers would buy anything with a pony on it. I have seen people pay more than ten dollars for one pair of socks, because the socks had a pony on them. The pony says something about the person that wears it: traditional, classy, and wealthy. If something changed about the pony, then it would affect the people that wore it. The pony is a part of the people that wear it. Changing the pony would change the person that wears it.

It is no surprise that when Gap changed its logo without input or warning, its customers were outraged. Gap has been trying to change its product offering. In the past it has been a company that has provided traditional, every day clothes. It is beginning to offer more trendy clothes, and the company wanted to change its logo to reflect its new product offerings. The traditional Gap logo was a navy blue box with GAP written in white. The new logo was Gap written in black in front of a navy blue box in the top right hand corner. After the new logo was released, the company received a massive amount of complaints. The company changed its logo back to the original by the end of the week. Professionals in marketing and branding have said that Gap, Inc. should have included its consumers in its decision to change the logo. Gap has not decided to keep its old logo forever, but has decided that it will be more inclusive of its consumers in the decision making process in the future.



Technology and social media have given consumers more control of branding than ever before. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites have provided consumers with open forums to discuss brands, quality, and performance. Advances in technology allow consumers to access information anywhere at any time. Word-of-mouth has always been a valuable source of information for consumers, but in this day and age a customer does not have to ask their next door neighbor for advice. A customer can go online in Winston-Salem, NC and get real time feedback from a customer in London, England.

Companies cannot overlook the impact that branding changes have on consumers. Changes in a brand affect the individual. With the advances in technology and social media, companies cannot afford to overlook the instant spread of information or the widespread effect of consumers’ opinions. Gap probably should change its logo to reflect its new product offerings, but it should definitely be more inclusive of it consumers in the future.

-Written by Leigh Vogedes