This study will evaluate the participation of Gap, a global clothing retailer based in the U.S, in the Product (RED) initiative launched in January of 2006 by the cofounders Bono and Boby Shriver and its impact on the firm’s image. The study will analyze how Gap's participation in the effort established the company as socially responsible and accountable. Corporations all over the world grapple with the negative publicity that portrays them as profit-minded and as entities that have no social ideals. Many companies have caused human suffering in pursuit of their profit motives, and unfortunately, the negative perception derived from such actions is suffered by all businesses across the world. Corporate social responsibility has arisen as one of the ways by which organizations redeem their public image. Environmental preservation stands as one of the approaches that companies have taken as a way of demonstrating their concern for the people who live around them. Moreover, CSR activities have gained prominence over the years due to their ability to endear people to the business.
Unfortunately for them, many business entities, Gap included, have suffered negative publicity over the years in the eyes of people who view them as profit-minded bodies which have less concern for the people around them. It is essential to indicate that Gap was facing a problem of conflicting values of making profits and maintaining social ideals. The solution that Gap Corporation implemented to solve the problem of the negative public identity of being profit-minded at the expense of the social models worked because there was an increase in the number of people who purchased the Red products to support the initiative as evidenced by the increased sales volume of the products.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The solution that Gap adopted in dealing with the problem of a negative image arising from the thought that most business enterprises pursue profits at the expense of the people within which they operate worked effectively. Broadly one of the objectives that pushed the company to participate in the (RED) campaigns besides the CSR initiative was to distinguish the company’s products from the rest in the market. The exclusivity provided by the licensing arrangement enabled the company to achieve the goal. The campaigns classified world goods into two broad categories as good and evil. The act of participating in the Product (RED) campaign enabled the cloth retailer to portray itself and its products as a socially conscious alternative in the competitive retail clothing marketplace.
Moreover, the socially conscious image enabled the company to get over the negative image of profit-driven entities with little regard for human welfare. Individuals who purchased the (RED) Product did so with the conviction that they were supporting an enterprise which had the welfare of person living with Aids in Africa at heart. The move indicated that consumers had changed their minds regarding the corporation and isolated it from the rest that still bore that negative image.
It is imperative to indicate that the primary goal of Gap participating in the Product (RED) campaign was to improve its image in public. The company realized an increase in the number of positive online reviews, which indicated that the campaigns had had the desired impact. Firms with many positive reviews attract the attention of competent employees who in turn, deliver quality and enhance productivity. Most reviewers cited the firm’s participation in the initiative as the biggest reason for their review. Companies that enjoy good public image also happen to experience massive sales of its products. Gap scored highly by changing the perception of the public regarding its social consciousness and by that strategy endeared consumers to its products. People would always want to associate themselves with good deeds and the fact that Gap portrayed the image of a corporation engaged doing public good, its products received favor from the populace, which explains the increased sales and profit margins.
Gap Red Campaign set out to change the long-held negative image of corporations as profit-driven entities with little regard to human welfare and succeeded to a considerable extent. The company joined an initiative that aimed to contribute finances that would go towards the efforts of combating the prevalence of Aids in Africa. The action appealed to the public who perceived the effort as humane and felt the need to participate in the same. The Gap Red Campaign entailed a series of activities such as promotion that popularized the initiative making it a public agenda. The publicity that the effort acquired helped in pushing the sales of the clothing products for the corporation and establishing it as a unique good in the market. The initiative succeeded in the sense that half of the profits that Gap generated were channeled to the program, and the company improved its image amid the prevailing negative publicity on business entities.
Having realized that donations alone cannot help resolve the main challenges faced by third world countries, Gap succeeded in establishing a reliable stream of resources that go towards providing solutions to problems that the countries grapple with even as they strive to develop their economies. Gap portrayed itself as an entity that provides solutions to the problem that bedevil humanity rather than a profit-driven enterprise out to exploit the people. The public perceived the company as a solution provider and a reliable source of resources essential in solving desperate cases in the poverty-ravaged countries. Importantly, the company acquired a different personality in the eyes of the public, which helped in drawing consumers close to its products.
