DOMINICA BUONASORTE STUDENT NUMBER 100455516
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report will analysis primary and secondary research on the brand Gucci, the research will entail analysis of their branding and marketing features and how the company can improve on in those areas. The report will look at the current communication mix and the different channels the company use to promote themselves. Information on the Brands identity and consumer will be collated which will be used to evaluate the success of their current situation in the market, feeding into a new commutation mix designed to improve Gucci and increase the brands engagement with their consumers.
C O
N T E N T S
H I S T O R Y B R A N D
I D E N T I T Y
B R A N D
C O N S U M E R
B R A N D
P O S I T I O N I N G
P.P.P.P C O M P E T I T O R S C O M M U N I C A T I O N I M P R O V E M E N T S
M I X
T H E Gucci is a global luxury fashion, leather goods and fragrance company. It was founded in 1920 in Florence by Guccio Gucci, the first store opened in 1921 on Via Vigna Nuova. (Bagista. 2018). By the end of the 19th century the brand ‘became one of the world’s most successful manufactures of highend leather goods, clothing and other fashion products.’ (Bagista, 2018). In 1938 Gucci opened a store in Rome, he hired the finest craftsmen and used the best materials to cater to international customer. Guccio Gucci died shortly after the opening of his first New York store, on 2nd January 1953, following this his sons inherited the company;
G U C C Gucci began to expanded and form into the brand we know today. In 1955 the intertwined double G’S which is famously recognised worldwide today became a registered trademark and were ‘added to all leather goods along with the first pieces of clothing’. In 1961 and 1963 the company open its doors in both London and Paris, in 1970 Gucci opened a store dedicated to clothing and in 1981 we saw the first readyto-wear collection shown at the Florentine fashion show. In 1990 Tom Ford an American Designer was hired to design for Women’s ReadyTo-Wear. (Bagista. 2018).
C I
S T O R Y
In 1994 the Gucci family walked away from the company and Tom Ford became creative director, this is where the brand identity changed forever. ‘Not only did he increases sales by 90% in the following year, the designer also gifted Gucci some of the most iconic fashion movements of the 90s’ (Hunger. 2016). Ford used seduction as a way to sell and promote product turning Gucci into a sexy and sophisticated brand. Ford left Gucci in 2004 leaving Frida Giannini as creative director she returned to the Italian tradition. Alessandro Michele an Italian fashion designer was appointed creative director of January 2015 after the departure of Giannini. (Vogue. 2015)
Since Michele Gucci profits have increased by 49%, the company has changed massively bringing a genderless approach with the use of bright, fun and streetwear elements to the collections.
T H E
G U C C I
‘The brand identity is the next branding element that is developed after the brand concept has been established. The identity of a brand is who the brand truly is and how consumers perceive the brand. In other words, the attributes and identifiable elements that make up the brand and how these are perceived and interpreted by the people that come in contact with the brand.’(Luxury Fashion Branding Trends, Tactics, Techniques, 2007)
I
D E N T I T Y
Gucci as a company has a very strong brand identity which is communicated to the consumers clearly. The interlocking double G logo and the red and green stripe is recognised worldwide and is a big part of the Gucci identity. The double G is placed on clothing, bags and belt which is an instant reminder that someone is wearing Gucci and is a part of the brand. Gucci reflects a perception of high quality Italian products and craftsmanship alongside bold and innovative pieces. The personality of Gucci is contemporary, bold and romantic which is replicated through their products. As Gucci has such a strong identity this creates a personal relationship with their consumer. By having a clear brand identity this encourages customers to shop at the company as it shows they are reliable meaning the consumers knows what to expect from the brand.
C O N S U M E R ‘The term consumer means the person is a member of the marketplace. (Bickle, M, 2011). ‘A target market consists of consumers on whom the company actively focuses its marketing efforts.’ (Bickle, M, 2011).
Statistic show the typical Gucci consumer is 20-50 is upper class with a starting salary of around 100k. The brand is now open to the middle-upper class market through products such as fragrance and t-shirts. The consumer has a large amount of disposable income which they like to spend on clothing, they look for good quality products when purchasing from a brand and have an interest in fashion and the latest trends. The consumer will live in an urban area for example a larger city like London. The target consumer will use social media and will have a relationship with brands who promote their products on these platforms in particular Snapchat and Instagram. They find it important for a company to have a large social following as this shows the brand is current and up to date with today’s society. The consumer enjoys social events and will eat out regularly at different restaurants during the week.
B R A N D ‘Brand positioning describes how a brand is different from its competitors and where, or how, it sits in a particular market.’ (arg, 21018) Brand positioning is how a consumer places or categories a brand in the current market. They will look at different factors such as quality, price and competitors to position the company. Gucci shares a specific market with various brands, the market is high-end luxury. What makes Gucci apart of this sector is their use of high quality fabrics, craftsmanship. And heritage. One of Gucci’s main competitors is Balenciaga, if a consumer is wanted to purchase a t-shirt for example and Gucci do not have their size they will buy
P O S I T
one from Balenciaga instead. (Selfridges sale assistant, 2018). The differences in their positioning is Gucci reflects elements of its history through their current products by continuing to manufactured in Italy and combining Italian and modern silhouettes together to create innovative pieces. While Balenciaga does not use their heritage to marketing the brand, they mainly focus on new ideas. (Vogue, 2018) Gucci has its own style which is recognisable to many, their pieces are original and make a bold statement. One unique selling point of Gucci is the use of their heritage, the interlocking double G is to present the founder Guccio Gucci.
The symbol is a huge design feature in their collections, it is places on belts, bag fastening, shoes and clothing. This is an element only seen on Gucci products at it is their identity. Another unique selling point is Gucci use large amounts of floral prints and bright colours within their designs. They brought an Italian ceramics and tableware company; which has given Gucci hundreds of prints and designs to use. The Gucci style is making busy and chaotic clothing look trendy and elegant this is makes the brand unique in the current industry. An emotional selling point is the brands emotional levers which help the consumer buy the product, they are triggers which
T I O N I N G provoke and create a feeling or emotion. The consumer will use emotion instead of logic when purchasing the item and will justify later. (MTD, 2001) Gucci’s ESP is they make their consumers feel luxurious and stylish when wearing their products. Consumers will use their emotions such as feeling accomplished and confident when buying the product instead of logical thinking.
PRICE ‘The amount of money needed for the sale and purchase of a product or service.’ (Harris, C, 2017).
Gucci is a high end luxury brand their products are marketed with in the premium price range. Consumers are happy to pay these high prices as Gucci produce high quality goods which is replicated through their pricing. Gucci do not reprice their products or provide discounts as this would devalue the brand and their products which would change how their target market perceive them. (Gucci.com, 2018)
PRRODUCT ‘The fashiom item that are designed, made and sold to consumers.’ (Haris, C, 2017) Gucci sell high quality goods ranging from clothing, shoes, leather goods and fragrance. All their product reflects the brand identity of Gucci, they are elegant yet sexy and still manage to reflect a sense of their Italian heritage. The most successful products for both female and male are the t-shirts and hoodies which feature their Unique selling point of the interlocking double G. (Selfridges store, 2018)
PROMOTION ‘The spaces involved in distributing and selling items to consumers, including fashion stores, catalogues, and websites.’ (Harris, C, 2017) Gucci are very clever with their advertising they use different forms of promotion to interact with their consumers. Promotion is a key tactic to encourage and inspire a customer to pay a product. Through the use of social media, the company can connect to their target market instantly, through the use of magazines campaigns the company can reflect the elegances of the brand with the use of imagery which can provoke an emotion the viewer. PLACE Gucci is one of the world’s largest brands it has 550 stores worldwide and have 30 concessions stores in department stores such as Selfridges, Barneys and Harvey Nichols. Gucci use an omichannel such as their website to create another platform where their consumers can purchase their products. An omichannel is a cross-channel that is designed to better the consumers experience and make it easier. The channel allows products to be accessible online anyway through the use of desktops, tablets or phones. Their website is a successful platform it reflects the brand identity, by having campaign visual throughout the website it brings the feel off instore online which is hard to achieve. By having an engaging website, it will produce more sales and profit for the company.
PLACE ‘The way fashion business communicates with consumers in the marketing of its products and services, including ‘advertising, PR, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and visual merchandising’ (Tim Jackson and David Shaw, 2008)’ (Harris, C, 2017).
Gucci has a number of competitors within the luxury high end market ranging from Chanel, Prada and Louis Vuitton, there main competitor is Balenciaga which was founded in Spain by Cristobal Balenciaga in 1917. This is their main competitor as the company sells similar products to a similar target audience. Research from sale assistances show that consumers will purchase a product from Balenciaga if Gucci do not have their size. Looking through their products a black t-shirt from Gucci and Balenciaga were both priced at £309. However, the style of Balenciaga is somewhat different to Gucci, they design less bold and busy garments and focus more on oversized silhouettes. Chanel and Louis Vuitton are strong competitors but are more exclusive in price and products then Gucci, they are targeted at a more premium market. As Balenciaga’s target market is young like Gucci’s they focus on advertising their brand over social media like Instagram, looking through both Instagram pages Gucci portray their brand identity to the consumer more successful, the imagery used throughout the posts are more engaging to the viewers. Balenciaga used an omichannel; their website to sell products, the website is clean and slick who reflects the brand as being wealthy to the consumers. Instead of portraying Gucci like this the brand using their bold editorials over there screen to create desire for the garments to their viewers.
C O M P E T I T O R S Any person or entity which is a rival against another. In business, a company in the same industry or a similar industry which offers a similar product or service. The presence of one or more competitors can reduce the prices of goods and services as the companiesattempt to gain a larger market share. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/ definition/competitor.html)
C M O I M X M U N I C A T I O N
C A M P A I G N S A N D A D V E R T I S I N G
Communication mix is a company’s specific methods to promote themselves, this can be done in serval ways. By using promotion, it will engage consumers and inspire them in purchase from your brand. Gucci promotes their products successful through advertisement, through the use of medias such as magazines. By using editorials and billboards it replicates the wealth of the brand to the consumer and matches their brand identity. understand and use to their best ability. The campaigns capture the heritage and identity of the brand perfectly. The magazine editorials scream luxury and high quality which is what Gucci stand for, each story is dramatic and electric which reflect the feel of the collections to the consumer. The imagery use in the campaigns are engaging as bright bold colours are used to draw the attention of the viewer.
S O C I A L is the MSocial E D I media A most current form of promotion andthe Social media is one of most sucmost current form of cessful platforms promotion and one to most achieve this of successful is throughtoInsplatforms achieve tagram and snapthis is through Inchat as and these are stagram snapthe most engaging. chat as these are As Gucci’s target the most engaging. market are target young As Gucci’s this field of peomarket are young ple will this fieldbeofinvestpeople ing in this media will be investing in and will time this mediaspend and will daily time on the interspend daily on net. Gucci have a the internet. Gucci strong platform on have a strong platsocial form on media socialtheir media Instagram is updattheir Instagram is ed through the week updated through the frequently with week frequently with products and and camcamproducts paign photographs. photographs. paign One feature feature Gucci Gucci One are using using on on their their are Instagram which which Instagram their competitors competitors their such as as Balenciaga Balenciasuch ga are is conare not,not, is consumsumers to ers are are ableable to purpurchase items dichase items directly rectly fromInstatheir from their Instagram. On a gram. On a number number of of postsofofposts products products have Gucci haveGucci linked linked the website direct the direct website item conmeanitem meaning ing consumers sumers can tap can and tap and instantinstantly buy from ly buysocial from their their media social media app. app. This is another This of is an another form omichanform of an omichannel, this is a
current and fast way of selling which interacts and engagers the customer directly this a push strategy as the products are being brought to the viewer. One way Gucci could improve their social media profile is with snapchat. Gucci have an account but do not post regularly, by posting videos of products and outfits this on this media will create awareness and desire of the brand to the consumer and will create a bigger profile for Gucci. W E B S I T E Gucci use their website to visually communicate their brand to the consumer through the use of video streams. Gucci have used this platform to showcase their collection campaigns on instead of television adverts. This allows viewers to watch the campaigns anywhere anytime
instantly through the use of their phones. This platform makes promotion for Gucci free and easy, by promoting their products directly to their consumers through the use of technology. ( gucci. com, 2018) C E L E B R I T Y G I F T I N G Another communication channel Gucci use alongside their competitors is celebrity gifting, this is when a brand gifts an outfit for example a dress or suit to a celebrity for a red carpet event. (Instagram, 2018) This creates awareness and interest for the brand when the celebrity is asked ‘who they are wearing’ when walking the red carpet. This is a free promotional tactic which is extremely successful, Gucci’s target market will look at celebrities for outfit inspiration and will follow brands they wear.
H O W
C A N G U C C I I M P R O V E ?
Even though Gucci is communicating to their consumers successfully through the use of different channels there is room for improvement, how Gucci can improve is by bringing technology into their stores. Gucci are huge over social media and keep their brand current on this platform but loose this element in stores. One way they can do this is by designing a video steam of their products which can be played throughout the different stores. Instead of using visuals just from their catwalks the videos can showcase the products being styled in everyday wear. This will create an interaction with the consumers and will establish a further relationship between customer and brand. By using visuals of the products as outfits this will not just inspire the consumer this will also help them style their items and may even encourage them to buy more products which are being shown to them on the video streams.
All consumers like purchasing products to be easy and fast one way Gucci can improve on this is introducing tablets into their stores. This brings the element of online into stores, staff members will be provided with a tablet and a card machine this will allow consumers to choose and pay for their items instantly. To keep the luxury perception of Gucci the costumes will not be taken to a till and forced to wait in a queue for their items to be packaged they will be able to take a seat and their purchases will be brought to them gift wrapped. This is successful way to make shopping fast without making the consumer feel rushed, this will improve the overall experience for the customer. I recommend that Gucci begin to open pop up event across the world, this is a form of personally selling to the consumer.
It creates a stronger engagement between both customer and company and can be a successful push strategy for their collections. A push strategy is method of bringing the products to a consumer. (marketing. made. simply, 2017) T-shirts are one of Gucci’s most purchased items however some consumers feel they need to have a more conceptual approach, by designing a personalising t-shirt pop up event this can solve that issue. Consumers shop at Gucci for unique and stylish pieces by adding the element of personalisation this creates a personal meaning for each t-shirt, which will strength the personal relationship with the consumer. This is smart way to engage the customers as it is something new for the brand and pulls the consumer in with a new approach to their t-shirt line.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y Bagista.co.uk. (2018). Gucci - The Brand Story. [online] Available at: https://bagista.co.uk/blogs/news/gucci-brand-story [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. Childrensalon.com. (2018). Iconic Italian Style: The History of Gucci. [online] Available at: https://www.childrensalon.com/blog/iconic-italian-stylethe-history-of-gucci/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. HUNGER TV. (2018). 23 Iconic Tom Ford for Gucci Moments. [online] Available at: https://www.hungertv.com/feature/23-iconic-tom-ford-for-gucci-moments/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018].
Bickle, M. (2011). Fashion marketing. 1st ed. New York: Fairchild Books, p.49. Bickle, M. (2011). Fashion marketing. 1st ed. New York: Fairchild Books, p.154. Bowles, H. (2018). Inside the House of Gucci: Meet the New Creative Director. [online] Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/gucci-alessandro-michele-creative-director-profile [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. Association for Qualitative Research (AQR). (2018). Definition: Brand positioning. [online] Available at: https://www.aqr.org.uk/glossary/brand-positioning [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. Gibson, J. (2017). Push pull marketing strategies - Marketing made simple. [online] Marketing made simple. Available at: http://marketing-made-simple. com/push-pull-marketing-strategies/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. Gucci.com. (2018). Gucci Official Site – Redefining modern luxury fashion. [online] Available at: http://www.gucci.com/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. Harris, C. (2017). The fundamentals of digital fashion marketing. AVA publishing, p.24. Harris, C. (2017). The fundamentals of digital fashion marketing. AVA Publishing, p.112. Karmali, S. (2013). Gucci Makes Offer On Ceramics Company. [online] Vogue. co.uk. Available at: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/gucci-makes-offer-on-ceramics-tableware-company-richard-ginori [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. McPheat, S. (2009). Emotional Selling Proposition - Better Than A Unique Selling Proposition? - MTD Sales Training. [online] MTD Sales Training. Available at: https://www.mtdsalestraining.com/mtdblog/emotional-selling-proposition-better-than-a-unique-selling-proposition.html [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018].
mower, s. (2018). Balenciaga Spring 2019 Ready-to-Wear Fashion Show. [online] Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/ spring-2019-ready-to-wear/balenciaga [Accessed 3 Dec. 2018]. Okonkwo, U. (2014). Luxury fashion branding. [Place of publication not identified]: Palgrave Macmillan, p.110.
P H O T O G R A P H S https://fashionista.com/2017/12/gucci-spring-2018-ad-campaign https://hiveminer.com/Tags/christmas%2Cgucci/Timeline https://www.thedailybeast.com/gucci-museo-in-florence-celebrating-the-brands-history-photos https://www.hungertv.com/feature/23-iconic-tom-ford-for-gucci-moments/ http://ivaniasmode.com/gucci-resort-2018/ https://www.wmagazine.com/story/gucci-spring-2018-campaign-ignasi-monreal https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/AfCRoA7pvAjLjxQV-PP_WuwvD1wei9kuMlCu7tBGurhrMrYZ_99720GJlq5SbI7E2b8mw_72LQma5VKSmA3DmD0/ http://tokyofashion.com/harajuku-retro-style-paisley-shirt-gucci-jeans-vintage https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/2533343525638194/?lp=true