Parker, of course, starred in the successful six-year run of Sex and the City on HBO, in which she had portrayed a relationship columnist. Most of the shows revolved around four professional women’s search for the perfect man and, in Parker’s case, the hunt for the perfect ensemble. So it was no surprise that a viewer attributed high-fashion shoes to the current Gap spokesperson.

Neither was it a tremendous surprise to find that the campaign did not deliver the fabulous sales that Gap executives had anticipated–nor that Gap’s weak sales have continued. In early March, Gap reported that its same-store sales fell 11 percent in February. Not coincidently, customer traffic also dropped 12 percent. At press time in late March, shares of Gap were down nearly 20 percent from one year earlier.

To be successful today, a retail brand must represent something in the mind of the consumer. A brand must be an idea–one that an expensive spokesperson can reinforce. A fashion plate like Sarah Jessica Parker fronting a somewhat nebulously defined retailer like Gap? You do the math.

The lesson here for retailers–and for anyone investing in them–is that beyond a company’s ability to spend millions of dollars on a well-known spokesperson, the company itself had better stand for something more than a celebrity’s smiling face or it will end up a category placeholder–well known, but not for anything in particular.

Substance Over Style
More and more retailers find themselves in this situation, discovering that what used to represent "meaning" has now become the price-of-entry to the retail category: reasonably priced, well-made and well-designed clothes, available at convenient locations. This is the type of thing that consumers can now get virtually anywhere and often at cheaper prices than at big-name brand stores like Gap. Sears and Kmart have also fallen victim to this level of competition and have seen their same-store sales drop.

To offset this commoditization, retailers that have not been able to symbolize something meaningful continually turn to celebrity spokespeople. They do this because they assume that celebrities will be recognized and liked by consumers, will boost attention levels and imbue their brand with meaning. And sometimes they do. Three years ago, Charles Osgood was the perfect front man for Eddie Bauer; his voice alone was able to reawaken the values and love of the great outdoors that had once clearly differentiated the retailer. Nike has successfully leveraged celebrities such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, among others.

Yet even very famous spokespeople need to be more than just famous. Their association with the brand they are pushing must first and foremost reinforce that brand’s meaning. Madonna was a disaster for Versace. She had reinvented herself as a performer-author-mother-celebrity so many times that she did not communicate any single, easily understood value.

Some retailers forget how their brand strength needs to be measured in the 21st century. It has nothing to do with awareness. Many retailers are already as well-known as their celebrity spokespeople. They need to be relevant. But relevance–a surrogate for meaning–is a measure that comes from understanding what meaning the customer attributes to the brand. This comes from understanding how the consumer views a category, compares offerings and behaves positively toward the brand.

Retailers and potential investors should understand that convenient locations and reasonably priced merchandise that is neatly presented and civilly sold in stores are only the table stakes. They are not good enough reasons for individuals to patronize or invest in such retail entities. Category placeholder retailers, like Gap, are increasingly facing the danger of turning into commodities. And in this sector, commodities do not represent the best possible investment.

Robert Passikoff, PhD, is founder and president of Brand Keys, a New York brand and customer loyalty research consultancy.