Exploring Offline and Online Communication in Gap Inc

The research paper delves into the strategic communication practices of Gap Inc, emphasizing the importance of robust human resources management (HRM) in facilitating decision-making processes within offline communications like boardroom discussions, letters, and memos. It also explores how online strategies, particularly social media usage through platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, contribute to marketing and stakeholder engagement efforts. The case study highlights the company's response to a crisis involving labor issues, showcasing their adept use of stakeholder communication to rebuild its image. Overall, this analysis underscores the dual significance of offline and online communications in fostering Gap Inc's corporate social responsibility initiatives and enhancing brand reputation.

Running Head: Stakeholder communications 1
Stakeholder communications
Institution
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Stakeholder communications 2
Introduction
The Gap Inc Retail shop is popular American global clothing and other accessories retailer. The
company has developed since its inception in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher, with its
headquarter located in San Francisco, California. The retail shop further operates under five
primary divisions which include the Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Intermix and Athleta. The
company has developed with strong emphasis on its communication aspects, both offline and the
online, which includes use of the social media.
Effective communication within Gap Inc is built around the management’s departmental
coordination (Hussain & Ahmad 2012). It therefore, means that having a well established Human
Resources Management is crucial in enabling strategic success of the communication options
employed (Shen et al. 2009). It is also important to underline the relevance of HRM in
coordinating the organizational functions and how it facilitates decision-making around
communication issues (Turner, Huemann & Keegan 2010). Both offline and online
communication determines how the company adopts or achieves its marketing goals. For the Gap
Inc, offline communication would mostly revolve around boardroom and internal issues while
the online communication for the public interest.
The company ensures a constant online and offline communications to address on the advertising
strategies and the stakeholder relations. Offline communication within the company involves the
internal departmental communication inform of letters, memos and notes. It also involves offline
confidential telephone conversations within the corporation (Men 2014). This offline
communication is the most crucial communication that is used in the decision making process
within the boardroom. However, the marketing aspect is mostly left for the online
communication through the effective use of social media.

Stakeholder communications 2
The Offline Communication
Corporate communication is the pillar of the organizational progress. It can determine its growth
or the decline (Slabbert & Barker 2014). The Gap Inc had an initial problem in the brand
coordination. The Company had come under increased criticism and faced some spells of public
protests when in 2009, a certain investigative story exposed that some locals in Lesotho
including children had severely suffered from the effects of improper dumping of dangerous
chemical wastes from the company. There was a similar case 10 years ago, which led to massive
losses for the company, battered employee morale and even affected the children.
However, the second case called for Gap’s shrewd response to the problem. The company moved
swiftly to address the problems in Lesotho through a strategic stakeholder engagement, using
effective offline communication, and sooner, the story vanished. Among the interventions
associated with the recovery was the Gap establishing a very healthy relationships and
interactions with labour groups, the government, human rights organizations, and other
stakeholders using stable action-oriented meetings; which proved to be a longer process but
inevitably transformed the image of the company from the chains of child labour reputation to a
company committed on its corporate social responsibilities.
The Gap understood very well the significance of having systematic mutual relationships with
the stakeholders through systematic communication. It was however a tedious process which
required patience but the end results were very favourable for the company. Stakeholder
engagement has a number of benefits including boosting the company’s brand image, resolving
complex issues, reduces the risks of bad headlines and it also boosts the stakeholders’ trust in the
company. All these are facilitated by an effective offline communication plan.

Stakeholder communications 2
The Online Communication
In a digital age in which the world has arrived, it is interesting to see how the companies cope
with the ever changing technological advancements. In the hotel and tourism industry, whereby
complex marketing strategy is required; online communication plays a very significant role. It is
now common for the customers to have their bookings completed from their homes and all the
necessary information provided through the company website. Social media has taken over the
marketing mantle, with twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google plus among others taking the
centre stage in promoting and marketing products and services. Several brands are basing their
image building on the effective use of the social media (Gruber et al. 2015).
The Gap Inc through the subsequent transformation has fully undertaken the use of social media.
Their communication team have established and verified accounts from twitter to Instagram and
Facebook. They also have primary website with all the necessary information about the company
provided, including the physical address, contacts, their vision and mission, the objectives and
their corporate social responsibility (CSR). The company has also created an online forum in
which people with various questions can raise and have them addressed by the management for
the full customer satisfaction.
Twitter is a powerful social media tool and very formal, whereby the company posts short videos
about their brands, tweet, retweet and respond to their followers’ contributions about the
company. The Gap has developed a culture of social media interactions such as on Facebook by
providing real time interactions with the fans, responding to their questions and providing an
interactive session by posting latest clothing products photos as a marketing strategy. Instagram
offers a photography platform as well, and it is highly relevant for the Gap given the industry
requires providing what customers deem trendy and captivating.

Stakeholder communications 2
The table below illustrates The Gap Inc’s use of online communication platforms.
The Website
Category Functions
About Provides information about the company,
contacts, address, and vision and mission
statements.
Services and Products Information about the clothing product line
offered by Gap inc.
Entertainment This is a video and photography section, with
the running ads about the company.
Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (Social Media).
Media Frequency of update Interactive sessions Impact
Pictures Weekly Fans and followers
give their views about
the pictures
Creates mutual
relationship with the
company.
Videos Weekly Fans express their
comments after
viewing the videos
Creates awareness
about important
aspects of the firm to
prospective clients.
Messages Daily Responding to
inquiries.
Ensures
professionalism.
References

Stakeholder communications 2
Gruber, DA, Smerek, RE, Thomas-Hunt, MC & James, EH 2015, 'The real-time power of
Twitter: Crisis management and leadership in an age of social media', Business Horizons,
vol 58, no. 2, pp. 163-172.
Hussain, M & Ahmad, M 2012, 'Mostly Discussed Research areas in Human Resource
Management (HRM) – A Literature Review ', International Journal of Economics and
Management Sciences , pp. 10-17.
Men, LR 2014, 'Strategic Internal Communication', Transformational Leadership,
Communication Channels, and Employee Satisfaction.
Shen, J, Chanda, A, D'Netto, B & Monga, M 2009, 'Managing diversity through human resource
management: an international perspective and conceptual framework ', The International
Journal of Human Resource Management.
Slabbert, Y & Barker, R 2014, 'Towards a new model to describe the organisation–stakeholder
relationship-building process: A strategic corporate communication perspective',
Organizational management and Strategic Communication, vol I, no. 40.
Turner, R, Huemann, M & Keegan 2010, '.A Human resource management in the project-
oriented organization: Employee well-being and ethical treatment', International Journal
of Project Management.