GAP a copycat?

SITUATION: French contemporary label Zadig & Voltaire is taking Gap Inc. and Gap France to court, alleging the world-wide fashion giant knocked off its best-selling T-shirt. The label, which is a stylish staple for Parisian company, filed a claim against Gap for counterfeiting and unfair competition. Named the Tunisien, the style was launched in 2002 and has a curving neckline with five decorative buttons whom the designers feel bears a strong resemblance to the Gap T-shirt. The Gap model shirt is being sold for almost one third of the price that the real Tunisien retails at. The court has set a date of Oct.25 for Gap to respond to the claim.

OBJECTIVES: As the representative of Gap we feel the need to protect our strong reputation and deny these rumors that we have made a counterfeit product. Gap has never, and will never be a "copycat" company.

AUDIENCE: We will be primarily speaking to our main target markets which are women aged 19-40 as well as middle to higher class families. These consumers believe in our product and it is our duty to live up to the standards we have portrayed since Gap was established.

STRATEGY: We will go with the strategy that proves to people that the Gap company has never, and will never be a copycat company. To protect our image we will promote our track record which is flawless. Gap has always been a fashion empire that reaches everyone in the family and has the latest and greatest styles for many different types of people. Not once has Gap been in a legal copyright situation like this and we will use that in the press.

TACTICS: We will have Press Releases and articles in the major newspapers so people know that Gap is not just going to sit back and be attacked by another company.

TIMETABLE: 3 days to release.

METHOD OF EVALUATION: We would have surveys at all the stores that customers would fill out. There would also be online surveys that would be on the Gap website. We would also look at sales records to see if our damage control affected sales positively.