Can the Gap be saved?

by Lifestyle Guru

The Gap has gotten a lot of press lately for low sales, possible selling off from parent company, lack of traffic in stores and on the website. So, what happend? In my opinion, I think the Gap lost sight of it's customers.

They seemed to be more interested in getting the latest celebrity to star in their commercials and ads instead of keeping an eye out on consumer trends and new target markets.

A trend that was brewing was teen marketing. The Gap also had more competitors than they previously had in the past for instance: Abercrombie & Finch, American Apparel, American Eagle and speciality boutiques selling designer apparel. Had they realized they could have branched off and created a teen specific store to get a jump on their competition. Many teens started to feel that The Gap really wasn't cool enough to them.

They also didn't seem to know who their target market was anymore. Who were they trying to attract? Teens, college students, 20-somethings, 30+ market or everyone?

Another market that they could of attracted is the college graduate. Many wore Gap clothes while attending college (including myself). An opportunity would of been to promote their affordable career category that they have in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Essence, GQ and Maxim (for the guys) and different TV shows. Many of the college graduates "graduated" to Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, The Limited, Express and designer apparel. They had a "what to wear to work" page on their website for a short time. In my opionion they should of kept it.

Can the Gap be saved? I hope so, I am a fan and I still think they have great clothes there. I just think they need to focus on the customer and less on the celebs. Let me know what you think.

Some of you might be asking, What do I know? Even though I am a young professional in Marketing and PR, some of my strengths and areas of expertise are:

Trend analyst
Creative development
Identifying new target markets
Customer Relationship Marketing
Integrated Marketing Communication
Focusing on the teen, 20-something and lifestyle markets
Trouble shooting problems and spotting weaknesses
Marketing, public relations and event planning