I picked up this piece in Campaign Middle East about global fashion retailer Gap putting its cash into social media instead of TV advertising to promote its new line of denim wear.
Great! I thought. Though it turns out advertising is still very much in play, with cinema, outdoor, banner and print ads - so just about everything except TV - being used to push people to a branded Facebook page featuring Gap's 'Fit Engineer.'
There's then the option of the punters being able to upload their own material and an iPhone app.
I guess time will tell whether it's a success but there is a clear need for Gap to try something different. That's especially when you look at the table below (click for larger image), which comes from the May Insights Survey measuring brand trust in the UK.
For non-UK readers, John Lewis, Debenhams and BHS are department store chains, but everyone will be familiar with Ikea and Gap, which is almost as ubiquitous on the British High Street as it is in US shopping malls. And as you can see, Gap trails the brand trust scale in the UK - even among existing brand customers it is second from bottom!
Why is that? My guess is it is because Gap is Gap wherever you go - it's as if it has been dropped down from on high.
It has no real local roots and isn't seen to be adding any value by shoppers. It's one of the poster boys of what in the earlier part of this decade used to be called 'generation bland' - the, at the time, Friends watching, Starbucks coffee drinking 20 and 30 somethings.
Their (our!) time has been and gone. Now the key is to be providing a sense of meaning, to establish a dialogue and to be seen to have some kind of customer connection. Whether a top down promo, even if on Facebook, is the way forward remains to be seen.
And talking about Starbucks, it's interesting to see the more grass roots and real world approach the brand is taking with its new local coffee stores. There's a good discussion over at Ben Kunz's blog about it, which is worth checking out.
My view is I am not sure whether customers will ultimately be convinced, but the overall principle of what they are trying to do is sound.
Images - Takeratta, Insights Survey
- Starbucks Becomes the Most Popular Brand on Facebook (insidefacebook.com)
- Less than 1/20 social networkers pay attention to ads (thisisherd.com)
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