Risk and bold choices are what distinguishes a stellar leader from just a person in the crowd. The retailer Gap recently decided to shift management with the objective of reviving a renowned brand with lackluster sales. Perhaps an indication that Gap was in sore need of new management was the attempt to revitalize the logo with a "fresh" new look and appeal and then yanked the logo off of the market one week later. Kind of a now you see it and now you don't move.
Also what contributed to the switch in leadership were sobering statistics. According to Business Week, “It’s been six years since Gap North America has posted an annual increase in sales at stores open at least a year, a prime measure of a retailer's health. During December, the height of the holiday selling season, Gap North America same-store sales dropped 8 percent. That's in sharp contrast to the average 3.2 percent gain at all U.S. retailers. Sales at the U.S. unit are down almost a third from where they were in 2004.”
When putting new management in place, Gap took a different approach by putting unlikely candidates into the job. This is either a genius move or an egregious error which would clearly be more severe than pulling a logo.
Gap’s Chief Executive Officer Glenn K. Murphy appointed Art Peck to become the company’s new president. A recent Business Week article revealed how Peck, began his first blog post, “Who am I?...If you Google (GOOG) me, you won't find much…That’s right. I’m not a merchant." Gap hired a business guy. Peck has an MBA from Harvard, spent many years at the Boston Consulting Group and has been at the Gap since 2005 helping craft international strategy.
In addition to Peck’s unorthodox appointment on February 2, Murphy appointed Seth Farbman as a new head of marketing. Farbman was the worldwide managing director at advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather. Pam Wallack , another improbable executive candidate and virtually unknown within Gap, was promoted to run the new Global Creative Center. For first time the design, production, and marketing teams for the brand will be under one umbrella. Wallack was the creative director for Gap's kids and adult clothing at its San Francisco headquarters and is moving to New York to take on this post.
Peck says his first priority is "to understand what's keeping us from being more consistent. We have to put clothes in our stores that our customers emotionally connect to. That's … a statement of the profoundly obvious. If we don't do that, nothing else matters."
Yes, his words were obvious and refreshingly honest. Gap does not have time to waste considering the economy, competition and fickle consumer loyalty. Only time will tell how the executive suite shake up will have impact on bottom line sales. However Gap is taking a page from Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios who also chose unorthodox moves to revitalize a slacking studio with a big brand.
When executives make bold moves and take large-scale risks, they demonstrate to employees to do the same. How many of you would line up to work for an organization that fosters attributes such as creativity, innovation and broad thinking? The Gap is accepting applications…
No comments:
Post a Comment