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PRIVATE BRAND IMPOSSIBLE?
Exploring How Legendary Brands Can Be Upturned You have heard the “nothing is impossible” motivational speech from athletes, agencies and philosophers, but do you know one of the most iconic examples in Private Brands? You have to leave the world of food and grocery, and transport yourself to the fashion industry, where this own brand triumph is having its 30th year anniversary. It is a notable achievement for any retailer, when you can transplant a successful CPG brand with a Private Brand and do it without any pain, without any repercussion from the consumer. But this is what happened in July 1991, when it was announced in the New York Times and other news agencies.
“Gap To Drop Levis” Levis was a truly iconic brand, one that every consumer knows, and in the 1990s one that almost every consumer had in his or her closet. It is legendary, ubiquitous, and its roots in America are deep, and in turn, almost every fashion retailer sold the brand. The Gap with its 1110 stores at the time (now around 3000), was one of those retailers who sold Levis and it was, not surprisingly, their #1 selling brand.
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GLOBAL RETAIL BRANDS / MAY 2021
First Gap in San Francisco, 1969. Photo credit: New York Times, September 17, 2019
Photo credit: The Philadelphia Inquirer But even with Levis brand equity and power, it didn’t differentiate The Gap, and it didn’t provide uniqueness to the store’s experience, not to mention margin to the bottom line. This idea of developing an own brand to supplant a Legendary Brand didn’t happen overnight, and the decision to drop it didn’t happen overnight, but it was a heretical idea nevertheless.
In the late 1980’s, Levi’s accounted for about one quarter of The Gap’s entire sales, and this was down from 100% when The Gap store and eventual chain was launched in San Francisco. So, when you are trying to displace a brand that is dominant, it takes planning, courage and a strategy, and most of all, it takes the will to be the owner of your own destiny through differentiation and innovation.
