Contemporary Brand Management

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Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction.....................................................................................................................................1
2.0 Gap Brand........................................................................................................................................2
2.1 What is a Brand?..........................................................................................................................2
2.2 GAP Background..........................................................................................................................2
2.3 Brand Architecture......................................................................................................................4
3.0 Brand Positioning.............................................................................................................................6
3.1 Brand Positioning Analysis...........................................................................................................6
3.2 Brand positioning statement.......................................................................................................7
3.3 Positioning Comparison...............................................................................................................8
4.0 Brand Analysis...............................................................................................................................10
4.1 Brand Identity............................................................................................................................10
4.2 Brand Image...............................................................................................................................13
4.3 Brand Equity..............................................................................................................................15
4.3.1 Brand Equity Model (Brand and Johnson, 1997)................................................................16
4.3.2 Brand Resonance Model...........................................................................................................17
4.4 Brand Loyalty.............................................................................................................................19
5.0 Special Interest..............................................................................................................................22
5.1 Omni-Channel Retail Branding...................................................................................................22
5.1.1 Objectives of Gap’s Omni-channel Retail Branding............................................................24
5.1.2 Gap’s Omni-channel Retail Branding Strategy...................................................................24
5.2 Recommendations.........................................................................................................................26
6.0 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................27
References.................................................................................................................................................28

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1.0 Introduction

This report is a detailed and critical analysis of Gap brand. The primary objective of this
report is the explain what is a brand along with various theoretical concepts associated
with it such as brand architecture, brand identity and equity, brand image and brand
loyalty, and how these theoretical concepts are applied on Gap brand to analyze it
current brand position in the market. The last segment of this report will include the
recommendations and conclusion based on the report.

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2.0 Gap Brand
2.1 What is a Brand?

Haig (2005) said that brand is an expression of the customer’s loyalty. The brand is a
concept that can summarize the individual products as well as the corporate identity. A
brand represents a concept of the distinctive product or service. Dobni and Zinkhan
(1990) explained the concept of brand as a set of expectations, stories and memories
about the products that are accountable for customers’ choice to prefer one product or
service over another. It is a unique name, design, words, symbol or a combination of
these; to create a product that stands unique in the target market is called Brand.
Ellson (2004) further explained that your brand is not what we tell our customers; it is
what our customers tell each other. Branding is a process to create the brand name.

Keller (1993) said that brand is simply not a product; it is the experience your
customers have with the company. The concept of the brand is further explained by
Kalra (1998) that brand is the metaphorical story that connects the context of
customers’ emotions to be the part of the larger experience. On the technical ground,
product or service is used to define your brand. In case of GAP Inc., the product is its
clothing and accessories for men, women, and kids.

2.2 GAP Background

GAP Inc., commonly named as GAP is renowned worldwide American apparel and
accessories retailer founded by Donald Fisher and Doris Fisher in 1969. The company is
headquartered in San Francisco, California. The Gap Inc. is one of the largest apparel
retailers in the United States with approximately 135,000 employees. Gap Inc. has
3,000 stores along with 400 franchises worldwide and online presence in 70
countries (Gap, 2018).

The company operates in five primary divisions:

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Gap (the namesake banner): Gap offers modern clothing interpretation of its denim
roots to provide their customers better choices for their attire. Gap embraces a youthful
and trendy appearance to inspire individual style. There are 1,700 company stores and
franchises of Gap are operating worldwide with the availability of e-commerce site in 70
countries (Gap, 2018).

Banana republic: It endures contemporary classic style that matches the modern
fashion trends. Banana republic offers clothing line made up of luxurious material
designed with detailed craftsmanship. It has 750 retails worldwide (Banana Republic,
2018).

Old Navy: It is an affordable apparel line of Gap Inc. Old navy claims to break the
industry norms by offering casual and affordable fashion. In 1994, they opened the first
store and have been expanding since then. Old navy touched $1.0 billion targets within
four years. The apparel brand is now among the fastest growing retailers with 1,000
stores across the U.S., Canada and Japan (Old Navy, 2018).

Intermix: It is a specialty boutiques collection that offers compelling design and deluxe
styles of creative designers. Intermix has 38 stores in North America that offer highly
personalized shopping experience (Intermix, 2018).

Athleta: It is women-inspired sportswear that offers premium quality and feminine style
clothing range for professional athletes as well as women with regular fitness activities.
Athleta was founded in Sonoma County, famous for women athletes. Currently, the
brand has 130 stores for women to ignite their potential (Athleta, 2018).

Weddington Way: San Francisco based brand that offers the one-stop shop for
weddings and offers the modern collection of bridal and bridesmaid dresses. It is
pioneered a community-oriented wedding shopping experience and facilitate the
wedding planning process. Weddington Way is acquired by Gap Inc. in 2016
(Weddington Way, 2018).

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2.3 Brand Architecture

Brand architecture integrates established brands in the process of brand building (Day,
1984). Brand architecture assists in the revival of low impact brands through acquisition
or merger with the big names in the market. It further reveals the attributes of the
competitive market where products are embedded and have a high probability to
proliferate (Dobni, 1990). Gap’s brand architecture is aligned with customers’
preferences that provide more opportunities for growth.

The Gap philosophy of brand architecture incorporates the structure of the organization
and its management directives (Crawford, 1985). The other areas to focus on brand
architecture are how different products perform over the time and what their natural
growth in the competitive market is. The approaches of brand architecture are the
house of brands, branded house and – a combination of both – hybrid (Aaker, 1990).

Gap adopted the hybrid approach that is a combination of branded house practices as a
single master brand to expand their business sub-products like Gap Women, Gap Men,
and Gap Kids and the House of Brand approach offers the stand-alone and independent
set of brands like Old Navy, Athleta, Weddington Way and the Banana Republic that
can operate in its own marketing domain (Kotler, 2003). The reason behind the
adoption of the hybrid approach is, Gap is an established corporate business with the
larger customer base. Further, the hybrid pattern helps Gap to build the corporate
image along with the product features for brand building strategy.

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 Hybrid Brand Architecture

House of Branded
brands House

Figure: 1. Gap’s Brand Architecture

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3.0 Brand Positioning
3.1 Brand Positioning Analysis

According to Aaker and Shansby (1982), the process of designing the corporate image
and its products and services in a distinctive place in the target marketplace is known
as brand positioning. Crawford (1985) explained the brand positioning as the changing
and reshaping the consumers’ perception about brands. Conceptually, brand positioning
is the construction of brand image based on consumers’ interpretation (Dobni and
Zinkhan, 1990, p. 117). Kotler (2003) told that the customer-oriented proposition
provides the base of brand positioning. Further, a successful brand positioning must
address the customers’ expectation to satisfy their needs (Day, 1984). The research
literature revealed that the brand positioning reshaped the consumers’ preferences into
the willingness to buy the brand, high customer loyalty, customer-oriented brand equity
(Kalra and Goodstein, 1998; Keller, 2003; Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007). Hence it is an
influential factor for consumers’ perception the main challenge is to design the brand
positioning strategy (Pham and Muthukrishnan, 2002).

Haig (2005), Ries and Trout (1986) say that a well-formulated brand positioning
strategy has potential to make powerful brands; however, if executed in the wrong
way, it is damaging for the business. Keller and Lehmann (2006) and Pham and
Muthkrishnan (2002) discussed the implications of different positioning strategies;
benefit-based positioning and customer-based positioning. According to many research
studies, benefit-based positioning is a (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2007; Wind, 1982).
However, this reality cannot be ignored that customers value brands that offer them
unique benefits (Ratneshwar et al., 1997). Benefits of the brands are those features
and attributes of the products that stimulate the customers’ buying decisions (Myers
and Shocker, 1981; Ratchford, 1975).

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Therefore, some of the studies claimed that benefit-based positioning is more relevant
in altering/shaping the perception of potential consumers about the brands (Lefkoff-
Hagius and Mason, 1993). In this particular case study of Gap Inc., the intended
positioning of the company is to persuade the potential target market that their clothing
line is superior with the reference to quality, and design. The target positioning, at the
corporate level, aims to find the most profitable consumers’ market along with the well-
differentiated marketplace from the competitors (Ellson, 2004).

Figure: 2. Gap’s Brand Positioning Analysis

3.2 Brand positioning statement

The brand positioning statement expresses the superiority of the products’ features and
attributes in the diverse marketing environment with reference to other competitors
(Tybout and Calder, 2010). According to Kotler and Keller (2012), brand positioning
statement explains the brand value to the potential customers. The brand statement
further helps the consumers to analyze the brand’s features and understand their
distinctive position in the marketplace (De Chernatony and McDonald, 2003). Kapferer

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(2012)’s Brand positioning model is used for constructing the brand positioning
statement of Gap.

“Gap is a brand that offers their customers high quality, trendy and long lasting attires
and accessories for their wardrobes. Gap targets customers for all the ages from 3-45
years who like elegant, classic and simple apparel. Gap aims to reflect your lifestyle
through their trendy clothing line. For this purpose, Gap incorporates 15,000 talented
designers around the world who give it life to their potential customers.”

According to Davis (2002), this model defines the purpose of the brand, description of
the target market, identification of key features of the products.

3.3 Positioning Comparison

The gap is positioned among high price and high-quality apparel brands such as Levi’s,
LV, and Marks & Spencer, Next and Versace. It is essential to mention here that the
quality of the products and innovation of products are the key important factors in
comparison positioning (Ghodeswar, 2008). Moreover, the other affiliated brands of Gap
such as Old Navy and the Banana Republic are also positioned under the high quality
and high price items, which also show a competition within the group brands (Gap Inc.
2012).

It is important to mention that Gap’s approach of creating one store for the whole
family is considered as its unique selling strategy, as seen in Gap’s slogan “For Every
Generation, there’s a Gap” (Gap Inc. 2015).

The main target audience for Gap is the professional men and women aged 25-35, who
are also brand conscious and loyal to Gap’s brand.

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Figure: 3. Gap’s Positioning Comparison Analysis

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4.0 Brand Analysis
4.1 Brand Identity

According to Roy and Banerjee (2007), the brand identity mainly refers to the
characteristics, associated benefits along with values and differentiation and
personality, moreover, it can be anything that the brand owner expects from the
consumers in regards to the brand. Whereas, according to Randall (2000), brand
identity mainly refers to brand’s features that make a particular brand unique. Many
researchers argue that the features of the brand mostly determine the brand identity
which is also known as the brand’s fingerprint (Morgan and Rego, 2009).

Moreover, the identity is recognized as the asset of the company, whose value
increases over time. According to American Marketing Association, the brand refers to
the name, terms, sign, design, and symbol, followed by the goods and services of one
particular seller/ owner, which differentiate it from others in the market. According to
Keller and Lehman (2006), the brand identity is way beyond than its graphical
presentation as it is much more comprehensive and includes more details.

In addition to this, Kapferer (2008) while agreeing with other researchers further
argues that brand identity is the basic foundation for any brand, reflect and represent
the core values, beliefs of a brand. Also, it includes various influential factors such as
objectives, aims, and vision of the company along with the point of differentiation,
values, and sign of recognition (Aaker, 1996). Kapferer (2008) and Aaker (1991),
further explained that today brands are equipped with different great characteristics
such as serving as a strategic business asset, mandatory for businesses to grow and
compete effectively in the market.

The brand identity prism model by Kapferer (2004) is considered as a mechanism for
brand managers to measure the identity of any particular brand. The model mainly
consists of six facets i.e. Physique, Personality, Relationship, Culture, Reflection, and

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Self-Image. Considering brand as a speech that flows from sender to the receiver, the
brand identity facets i.e. physique and personality represents the sender and the brand
identity facets i.e. reflection and self-image represents the receiver, Whereas, The
culture and the relationship shows the values and the way of conduct between the
sender and receiver respectively (Kapferer, 2008).

Applying Kapferer’s brand identity prism on Gap, the detailed picture will be as under:

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 Classic Pair of Jeans  Trendy Clothing
 Distinctive Logo  Fashionable
 High Quality  Young & Casual
 Long Lasting Designs  Athletic
 Professional

 Style for Everyone

 Loyalty
 International recognition
 Trustworthy
 Excellent Relationship with
 Fair Value
customers
 Distinctive Features

 Trendsetting  Unique Designs

 Suitability  Stylish
 Fashion-conscious  Confident
 Individualism

Figure: 4. Brand Identity Prism for GAP

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Figure: 5. Brand Element Components of GAP brand

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Gap stores are comfortable and equipped with latest
facilities with the classic and modern interior, the
customer enjoys an excellent shopping experience. Gap
stores around the globe offer customers with free Wi-Fi
facility to connect and shop Gap’s top quality brands
(Gap Inc., 2018).

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4.2 Brand Image

According to Keller (1993), the brand image is the brand relations that are retained in
customers’ mind, determines the assumptions about any particular brand. Moreover, it
is further argued that the brand image building is an important matter for the firms if
they are marketing products and services.

As Arslan and Altuna (2010) explained that the product brand image can be negatively
affected due to the brand expansion, however, the negative impact can be reduced by
developing a strong relationship between the original and expansion brands. As in case
of Gap Inc., the original brand GAP has further expanded into many others such as the
Banana Republic, Old Navy, Athleta and etc. It is important to mention here that the
decrease in the brand image can occur in the brand expansion if the if the image and
quality of the original brand are superior to the expanded brands (Herrmann, Xia,
Monroe & Huber, 2007).

According to Ogba and Tan (2009), there are some positive effects associated with the
brand image such as the apparent quality of the brand, consumers’ awareness about
the brand, pricing factor, consumers’ behavior about the brand image after the brand
expansion. Moreover, they further argue that the positive effect of brand expansion
results in improvement of brand image and customers’ loyalty towards the brand.

In addition to this, the maintenance and construction of the brand image is an

important part of brand management (Park et al, 1986). Moreover, products and
services associated with a particular band are mainly demonstrated through symbolic,
functional and some experimental elements, which play an important role in the
establishment of a brand image (Zhang, 2015). According to Fornell (1992), the
consumer satisfaction is mainly the general evaluation of their overall experience with
some particular brand which determines the image of the brand. To explain it further,
Heath and Scott (1998)’s image congruence hypothesis is considered as the appropriate
and effective tool. In figure 5 below is the congruence between Gap’s brand image and
their target self-image.

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 Figure: 5. Brand Image Congruence Hypotheses of GAP brand.

4.3 Brand Equity

Brand equity mainly refers to the value of the brand in the marketplace. It is important
to mention here that the high equity brands normally have high value in the
marketplace (Keller and Kevin, 2003). Generally, the term brand equity defined as the
marketing effects uniquely attributable to the brand. As there are a number of different
views and opinions about the brand equity by various researchers however, they all are
generally consistent with the basic idea that brand equity basically represents the
“added value” that is related to the specific product or service, due to the past
investments made by the firm in the marketing for the brand (Keegan, Moriarty and
Duncan 1995).

According to Clifton & Simmons (2004), a brand mainly represents and entails set of
promises and benefits to its consumers as such; the brand equity is the perception or
represents a desire that a brand will fulfill the promises and benefits to their customers.
There are different models to measure the brand equity; some of them are mentioned
as under.

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4.3.1 Brand Equity Model (Brand and Johnson, 1997)

The brand equity model by Brandt and Johnson (1997) explained the elements and
differences that are mainly associated with a brand, which also form the brand equity.
These elements are awareness, loyalty, preferences, availability, familiarity, brand
image and personality and related associations with the brand.

Figure: 6. the Brand Equity Model

Relating to awareness, Gap is a global brand, listed at No. 57 in 2017 as per Rankings
the Brand website (www.rankingthebrands.com), with Athleta at No. 22 in sports,
leisure and travel fashion. The Banana Republic, another Gap’s brand is at No. 74 in top
100 brands for millennial in 2016, whereas Old Navy stands at No. 20 in the ranking of
top brands for millennial in 2016. Relating to availability, Gap has 3,727 stores
worldwide, out of which 2,406 stores are in the U.S. With strong brand image, people
across the globe are familiar with the brand, stores expansions are being made in Asian
countries to expand the business and clothing market share. Gap’s customer is loyal to
the brand; however, the growing competition in the clothing industry is a real challenge
for Gap.

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4.3.2 Brand Resonance Model

Keller’s (2013) brand resonance model provides a clearer picture of the brand equity
than the Brand and Johnson’s (1997) brand equity model. The brand resonance model
by Keller (2013) highlighted four steps, involved in building brand equity. These four
steps include Consumer Recognition, Consumer Perception, Consumer Response and
the Consumer Bonding, in order to achieve and build brand equity. Johansson and
Carlson (2014) used the same approach, however; they’ve further included the effect of
rational and emotional responses into Keller’s brand resonance model.

Figure: 7. the Brand Equity Pyramid by Johansson and Carlson (2014)

The application of brand resonance model by Keller (2008) on Gap brand is presented
in Figure 8, as mentioned below.

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Figure: 8. Brand Resonance Model (Keller, 2008), Applied on Gap Brand

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4.4 Brand Loyalty

Brand loyalty is a biased response to customers and consumers towards a brand or

product, developed over a period of time. Moreover, the brand loyalty is defined in
accordance with the purchasing habits of the consumers, based on the consistent
regular purchase of the items associated with a particular brand (Mellens, Dekimpe,
and Steenkamp, 1996). As Riezeboz (2003) explained that there are many
advantages associated with brand loyalty that a particular brand can enjoy such as
the premium pricing, greater bargaining power with the channels of distribution,
limiting the new entrants into the market with same products and services, reduced
costs and etc. Moreover, these benefits also provide a competitive edge to a
particular brand over the other existing brands in the market. In addition to this, the
brand loyal consumers are always ready and willing to pay even higher prices for the
items and services, which ultimately benefit the company in the form of increased
revenue and profits (Smith, 2003). Aaker’s (1991) brand loyalty pyramid is given
below in figure 4.6.

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 Figure: 9. Aaker’s (1991) brand loyalty pyramid

Aaker’s (1991) brand loyalty pyramid has five different levels and divides or groups
the customer accordingly into the loyalty pyramid.

 Switchers:

The first level of the pyramid represents customers and buyers who are totally
indifferent to the brands as they purchase items of any brand which is offering
products at a price that is suitable for these customers.

 Habitual:

This level includes the customers that are satisfied or at least not completely
dissatisfied, with no dimension of dissatisfaction to stimulate a change.
Moreover, these buyers are vulnerable to the competitors that can create a
perceived benefit if switching.

 Satisfied:

The third type includes the satisfied customers with switching costs such as
time, money, loyalty benefits and etc.

 Likes:

This level includes the customer who truly likes the brand. These customers
also have an emotional attachment to the brand; based on their experiences
they have a long-term relationship with the brand.

 Committed Buyers:

The committed buyers are those customers who feel proud to have used the
brand. For these customers, the brand is very important both as the
representation of their personality and also functionally.

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Applying this model to Gap’s brand, the first type of customers i.e. switchers, are not
brand conscious as they generally looking for the products with a budget in their
mind and can buy any brand that comes within the price reach such as H&M,
Foreover21, and New look. The habitual customers, on the other hand, are not truly
dissatisfied with the brand; however, they can switch loyalty to any other brand,
offering benefits and similar clothing within their price range. As the competitors of
Gap are offering to clothe at comparatively low prices, such as Hollister, American
Apparel, the customer in the Habitual category can switch their loyalty towards other
in such scenario. The satisfied customers with the brand mainly keep their loyalty
with the brand. The fourth levels of customers are the one who truly likes the Gap’s
products and has an emotional attachment to this brand. Such as the Gap’s jeans
loving customers and the Gap’s maternity clothing customer. The committed
customers Gap are those who consider Gap’s clothing as a part of their personality
and are always loyal to the brand.

Overall, Gap Inc. has a strong brand loyalty, the customers who are looking for
trendy, formal and sports clothing with high quality prefer the brand.

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5.0 Special Interest
5.1 Omni-Channel Retail Branding

Omni-channel retailing is an advanced and important concept that refers to

connecting the consumers and companies digitally via multiple access points in order
to provide unique customer experience to the consumers (Brown and Thorpe, 2014).
Omni channel retailing influences the use of digital media such as mobile phones,
tablets in order to purchase items or services through internet and also develop
strong relationships between shoppers and retailers (Internet Retailer, 2013). In
addition to this, the Omni-channel retailing is important for investors as it marks a
new way of thinking for both retailers and consumers.

It is important to mention here that the latest mobile technologies i.e. smartphones
and tablets play an important role in Omni-channel retailing and are critical to its
growth (Levis, 2013). With Omni-channel retailing facility provided by a retailer to its
customer, a consumer can get an instant access to retailers’ store and the products
they are offering, enabling customers to enjoy the unique shopping experience while
sitting in their homes, offices, restaurants and even in any other country (Nelson &
Symes, 2012)

Retailers are playing the key role and supporting this new trend of shopping by
making huge capital investments in technology, logistics, and store efficiency to
improve their Omni-channel offerings (Yuen and Waters, 2014). Furthermore, it is
true that the investment in technology and logistics by the retailers are different from
their strategies a decade ago when the primary focus of the retailers are to expand
the businesses by opening new physical stores.

It is true to mention that, still the in-store sales are comparatively much higher than
the online or Omni-channel sales, however, the increase in online sales over the past

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2 years is exceptional and people are enjoying this experience of buying products
online (Khan, Smith and Sparklin, 2014).

It is essential to mention here that the Omni-channel environment mainly requires an

integrated customer experience, as such while developing an Omni-channel strategy,
retailers are strongly recommended to develop an integrated operating model, based
on the following key points.

 Role of Omni-channels
 Distribution issues relating to home delivery, small or large volume deliveries
 Inventory planning and demand prediction, in order to facilitate customers to
order any product at any place and time
 Organizing category management and marketing
 Managing large data
 Adaptation of Omni-channels by employees, incentives, and encouragement
 Collaboration with suppliers

Below mentioned is a framework for Omni-channel integration by A.T. Kearney

(atkearny.com).

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 Figure: 10. The Omni-channel Integrated Framework for retailers.

As mentioned in the above framework, all three elements are consumer based i.e. th
primary focus is on pleasing the customers and enhancing their customer experience
by reinforcing the primacy of old-fashioned retailing.

Applying this framework on Gap’s Omni-channel retailing, we can see that Gap’s
Omni-channel retail branding is mainly based on five objectives and motives:

5.1.1 Objectives of Gap’s Omni-channel Retail Branding

 To increase the product awareness about Gap’s products and affiliated brands
 Use Omni-channel as an effective marketing tool to maximize the profit and
revenues
 Expanding sales volume
 Provide excellent customer support to Gap’s customers across the world
 Finally, achieve customer success through successful execution of customer-
related activities

5.1.2 Gap’s Omni-channel Retail Branding Strategy

Important elements of the Gap’s Omni-channel retail branding strategies are as

under:

 E-Catalogues:

Development and online publishing of Gap and its related brand’s catalogues
such as Old Navy, Banana Republic, Athleta, Intermix and Weddington Way
(Gap Inc., 2017).

 New Physical Stores

The opening of new physical stores different regions across the globe in order
to promote brand awareness and providing quality wears at customer’s
doorstep. The Opening of new Old Navy’s stores in China which is known as

25
 the world’s 2nd largest apparel market, sales are expected to reach $1 billion in
three years (Gap Inc., 2018).

 Mobile Apps:

The Gap is developing mobile phone apps in order to provide consumers with
the one-touch delivery facility. GPS (Gap Personal Shopper) a mobile phone
app that provides consumers’ excellent service through ordering, sizing,
digitally apparel trying facility to improve customers’ experience with Gap (Gap
Inc., 2017)

 Reserve in Store Facility:

The Gap is providing customers reserve in store facility through Omni-channel

with no financial obligations (Gap Inc., 2018).

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5.2 Recommendations

5.2.1 Developing New Marketing Strategies

In order to improve Gap’s brand image and brand equity, it is essential for the Gap to
execute a country wise advertising campaign to enhance the market share and also
to gain trust and favorable perception of the consumers. As being one of the top
brands in apparel, it is essential for the Gap Inc. to promote their brand through the
effective marketing campaign to achieve customer’s loyalty by offering quality
products at competitive prices to their customers (Gap Inc., 2018).

Gap has taken adequate steps to promote the brand such as, Gap is collaborating
with Sarah Jessica Parker to launch limited edition kids collection (Gap Inc., 2018)
Banana Republic expands partnership with style ambassador Kevin Love for the
launching of limited edition men’s capsule collection (Gap Inc., 2018). In addition to
this, in recent years, large numbers of stores were closed in UK as such, in order to
re-establish brand image, an effective advertising campaign along with a marketing
plan is necessary to revive the brand.

5.2.2 Omni-channel Retail Branding

With the rapid technological development in communications, people are more

comfortable and tend to order products and services online, rather than visiting the
stores personally. In relation to this, Gap has built highly profitable online and mobile
business with double-digit sales growth (Gap Inc., 2018).

The brand has various e-channels and platforms with range of capabilities including
cross brand shopping, Omni-channel services, and reserve in store and pick-up in
store services for the customers. However, significant investment shall be made in
this area to provide consumers with top quality digital experience using artificial
intelligence (Gap Inc., 2018).

27
6.0 Conclusion

Overall Gap has a strong brand with prominent market presence around the globe
particularly in US, Europe and the Middle East and Asia. With the improvement in the
quality of the product, promising sales trends are reported in Gap’s brand such as
Old Navy and the Banana Republic. With technological development, Gap has availed
the facility to manufacture their merchandise on a just-in-time basis.

Finally, the detailed analysis is provided in this report for Gap’s brand that how the
brand is maintaining and improving brand equity and image. Recommendations are
also given in the last section of the report to improve brand image, especially in the
UK as numbers of stores have been closed over the past few years.

28
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