The GAP’s recent press release contained the following statements:

we’ve seen an outpouring of comments from customers… we moved to address the feedback… our customers have always come first. We’ve been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week…. we are clear that we did not go about this in the right way…

ooooohh, oooooh, what could it be? A customer service failure? One of their brands was found to be operating a sweat shop? They cheated their customers?

No. The GAP’s new logo was scrapped for the old one in just a few days after launch…… wait! What?!? … All this over a logo?

What’s the big deal?

That’s what a lot of people are asking. A survey by Ipsos Observer found that 80% of people didn’t even know about the logo switch. Only 29% said that a new logo would impact their decision to purchase a product from the company. And I bet of that 29%, very few would actually not buy something they wanted/liked because a corporate logo was different.

And what about the *huge* backlash from “customers” about the new logo? Less than 10,000 people were vocal in their dislike of the new logo in the social media arena. Of those 10,000, how many were actual customers of The GAP, buying GAP products regularly? My guess: not that many.

Then consider that GAP has 15 million or so customers, and the loud vocal minority (much less than 1 percent) made a company scrap months of design work and planning in just a few short days. Amazing…

Don’t take your eyes off the prize

The GAP focused a lot of energy on something as small as a logo. People don’t buy clothes from The GAP because of the logo. It was a small issue that dominated the company’s time and energy. And ultimately they made what I consider a knee-jerk reaction based on a few comments and opinions.

It seems The GAP lost sight of what was and is important – Bettering their service to their customers. A logo change (or in this case “no change”) does not help better serve their clients.

Focus on what’s important

I often see small merchants focus on the little things that do not matter. I’ve seen:

• merchants obsess over how a javascript notice appears, or where it appears on the screen

• too much energy and time wasted over the colors of a dropdown menu

• a merchant trying to incorporate design changes based on the feedback of one customer when that change will not improve their site’s usability

The above examples may be important (and worth fixing / changing), but not if those merchant stores have:

• glaring SSL Security Issues on checkout

• their site does not render well in a popular web browser

• their on-site search is not optimized

Make sure you’re focusing your time and energy on those items that matter the most. In many cases, this focus should directly relate to selling more products, increasing profit, or achieving your company’s objectives. Don’t let the little things get in the way and distract you from those things that enable your business to grow and thrive.

In short, don’t fall into the same trap as The GAP, where a simple logo change became the center of their company’s attention. In the end, they scrapped all their work and energy due to a small backlash and tech blog hoopla… and probably blew off more important tasks like gearing up for the holiday shopping season.