Case Study Analyses: the Gap, Inc. Essay

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The central purpose of writing this Case Study Analyses on The Gap, Inc. is to identify and isolate key issues and their underlying implications and offer practical solutions and plans for implementing those solutions.

This will be done by highlighting the social influences that influence the Gap, Inc. marketing strategy, segmentation strategies with respect to distinct retail markets, and positioning strategies that can be used or changed in a retail setting, as requested in the course assignment (as cited in the course module).

History, Development, and Growth

In 1969, Don Fisher opened the first Gap store in direct response to frustrations he was feeling as an inconvenienced customer. His objective was to provide a classic …show more content…
This became a threat that Gap responded to with a trendier style of clothing intended to target a teen audience, however, it failed because it still tried to market to the older crowd as well (Etzel, et.al., 2004).

Former CEO, Drexler, summed up this mistake by saying, "We changed too much, too quickly, in ways that weren't consistent with our brands." (Etzel, et.al.,2004). The Gap became too big and because of its size, smaller chains were able to meet the changing needs of the market much quicker. The Gap just couldn't keep up.

The worst threat of all to the Gap was itself. By trying to meet the needs of too many market segments it ultimately didn't meet the necessary needs of any of them. Sales dropped as a result. Having said that, the Gap has more than adequate opportunity to overcome that threat by going back to the basics that made it successful to begin with.

Key Issues and Recommendations

Understanding the key issues underlying the Case Study is imperative to determining an appropriate plan of action. Two key issues stand above the rest in this case; 1) Rapid growth of business acquisitions and expansion without properly researching the wants and needs of its customers, and 2) Trying to be all things to all people and losing focus by introducing a product mix incongruent to the desires of the target market.

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