The Wall Street Journal wrote this piece on Gap's "Watch me Change" "viral" campaign created by Crispin + Porter.
For those of you that haven't seen it yet, I would say, "get out the dressing room, closet or rock you've been hiding in or under and check it out."
So...do you love it or hate it? I'm interested to hear your points of view, and in the interim, I'll give you mine.
I love it. But maybe not for the reasons you might think. I love it because its different...for Gap...especially in light of 2 major points:
1) They have been addicted to celebrity borrowed interest in the form of 30-second predictable creative and media execution.
2) Sales have sucked royally for the retail chain.
1) + 2) are not mutually exclusive!
So let's recap: We spend oodles of money overpaying celebrities and buying media and our sales go down (although Joss Stone is certainly benefiting from it) The only business where that kind of relationship is acceptable (and might even get you promoted) is the (gulp) media business....where audience numbers decline and rates increase. Hint: Go Google Giffen Goods (alliteration)
OK, so now let's segue to whether it's on brand or not.
The Gap promotion is a surprising departure for the mainstream brand, which lately has been billed by Chief Executive Paul Pressler as being about "fresh, casual American style."
Watch me change is certainly fresh. Perhaps its authentic too...after all, who doesn't dance around in their underwear when no one's supposed to be looking? 'er, just me and Tom Cruise. Ooops. Seriously...there is present what people in the advertising world like to call "insight"
In terms of branding...the gap logo that appears and disappears is most likely client dictated. What I like is the square door handle which doesn't take a genius to figure out is the Gap logo with the Gap.
Is it offensive? I can't imagine anyone who shops at Gap would be offended by something like this. You bring me someone who shops at Gap and has never sworn, lied, cheated on a test or a loved one, stolen, watched a dirty movie, watched HBO, etc., and I'll rethink my point of view.
Secondly, the experience (and it is an experience) takes place in a dressing room...which is the next best thing to taking place in a store.
Thirdly, it's all about having fun, which shopping for clothes should be.
Forthly, it's as close to trying on the clothes as you'll ever get to trying on the clothes.
Fifthly, it's engaging (dang...I promised myself I wouldn't say it) and as far as time spent is concerned...should ring-a-ding-ding those Richter scales.
Sixthly (is that even a word?), it got written up in the Wall Street Journal which is always fun for egos and investors and investor egos.
Seventhly (now it's just getting plain silly), it certainly injects live and irreverence into a brand that desperately needed it. Gap was in danger of becoming Crap. It's middle of the road, sameness, was quickly becoming as colorful as their white T-shirts.
Will watchmechange piss off a few people? Who cares. Maybe it will and maybe it won't. The site and experience is not being overtly marketed (maybe it should) and it completely permission-based/consumer initiated. If you don't like it...leave it.
So ultimately....it's going to boil down to the obvious question, "did it or will it move product? did it influence sales?" which I'm fairly comfortable saying, (quote) do me a favor: before you pass wind on judging watchmechange, be truthful and dilligent and responsible by judging the litany of old marketing that has up to this point been flushed down the toilet. (end quote)
I really feel strongly that critiquing anything that is worthly of being called "viral" is misguided and misdirected. Perhaps what we should be doing is being more constructive as an industry, for examples:
- what would you have done differently?
- could/should GAP have used their 30-second arsenal to reinforce, promote, direct, extend, etc watchmechange or would that have marginalized its success?
- should/could watchmechange have been a little harder (or softer) sell? Some might feel that the Gap logo wasn't necessary at all, where as others might feel that there should have some kind of offer waiting at the end of the dressing room rainbow?
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