Great piece from John Moore over at Brand Autopsy about the 'resignation' of Gap CEO Paul Pressler, following a series of poor sales results over the last couple of years.
John picks up on an article in Fortune at the time of Pressler's arrival which highlighted the cultural mis-match between him and the Gap brand. Previous posts on this blog have suggested the best way to get true insight is not to understand the consumer, but to BE the consumer. It seems clear from the interview that Pressler was miles away from this:
“It took me weeks to start wearing jeans here,” admits Paul Pressler, settled into his window-lined L-shaped office on the 14th floor of Gap's San Francisco headquarters. An admitted clotheshorse whose taste runs to Armani and Zegna suits, he was known as the best-dressed executive at Disney, where he ran the theme-park business. Now he is six months into his new job as CEO of Gap, and it's obvious that this is not a natural fit.
This distance from the consumer explains why Pressler resorted to focus groups to test t-shirt designs, as mentioned by John's second post on the Gap. Contrast this with the approach of Harley Davidson and Nike to hire people who are into the products they sell, and spend time hanging out with bikers and sports fans, not watching them behind a mirror.
my teacher made me write bacuese I'm a high school student. B4 I even finished packing my bags in the comfort of my home I looked around I saw the roaches on the wall homeless people on my street and drugs being sold on my corner I realized that this is what I would have to come home to. When we got off the plane onto our bus as we started driving off if the night all I could do was weep. Not bacuese of the things that I seen but bacuese I was actually there. Lords knows all the things I went through to make it there from arguing in our small groups to almost not being able to go bacuese my mama was in jail and I had no birth certificate but glory be to God the King of Glory I was there. It was truly a blessing. But I turned my blessings into a form of depression. I could only think about the hardships waiting on my street waiting for my return. Somewhere in africa I felt I lost my joy of writing. Because I cant write a hit song and make enough money to change the welfare of africa. I walked into Kibera feeling that I'm responsible for it all. It's my fault that 200 yards away from the slum lies condos with wifi running water cable tv and electricity. I still don't kno what to do besides let go and let God!!!! But idk
Posted by: Andre | August 05, 2012 at 03:56 AM
Your points are excellent: Paul Pressler did not fit the image or culture of the GAP, and never understood it. They tried to dumb him down, make him less classy, putting him in GAP clothes to project a trendy image - but it flopped.
I saw him at Disneyland once, a dapperly attired corporate executive: Impeccable pinstriped business suit, silk tie perfectly tied, crisp white shirt, fancy black wingtips polished like mirrors, every hair in place. He even went on a ride dressed to the nines! Corporate, slick, smart and uptight.
It was foolish to force this natty clothes-horse to trade in his Italian suits and silk ties and cufflinks and put on GAP jeans and tee shirts and try to be something else.
They even forced him to take off his Gucci wingtips too and walk around in flip-flops, like a true slacker. Why? Who was impressed? A barefoot Paul Pressler? He WAS dumbed down: he lost his "smarts" along with his shoes and socks. He never understood the company or its market.
No wonder it didn't work out.
Posted by: Jim Wellington | March 13, 2007 at 10:47 PM