Dolce & Gabbana Brand Marketing Report by Kristy Liu

SHEFFIELD INSTITUTE OF ARTS SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY [DOLCE & GABBANA MARKETING REPORT] BY [KRISTY HAO YIN LIU] BA (HONS) FASHION MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATION

THE CANDIDATE CONFIRMS THAT THE WORK SUBMITTED IS THEIR OWN AND THAT APPROPRIATE CREDIT HAS BEEN GIVEN WHERE REFERENCES HAS BEEN MADE TO THE WORK OF OTHERS [MARCH 2019] WORD COUNT: 3245

CONTENT 1. Executive Summary ...........................................................................................................1-2 2. Introduction .......................................................................................................................3-4 3. Current Social Media/Influencer Marketing/Marketing Mix.........................................5-6 3.1. Macro Economic Analysis...............................................................................................7-8 3.1.1 . PESTEL Analysis .......................................................................................................9-10 3.2. Brand Market Position.....................................................................................................11 3.2.1. SWOT Analysis ..............................................................................................................12 3.3. Current Brand Market Position & Competitors.......................................................13-14 3.3.1 Competitors....................................................................................................................15 3.3.2 Brand Positioning Map .................................................................................................16 3.4. Consumer Demographic ............................................................................................17-18 3.5. Product Selection ......................................................................................................19-20 3.6. Social Media and Influencer Marketing...................................................................21-26 3.7. Marketing Mix ............................................................................................................27-28 4. Proposed Strategy (Recommendations) .....................................................................29-32 4.1. Collaborations With Artists.......................................................................................33-34 4.2. Collaborations With Korean Music Industry............................................................35-36 4.3. The Impact K-pop Has On The World.......................................................................37-38 4.4. BTS Vogue Photo-shoot............................................................................................39-40 4.5. Justification................................................................................................................41-42 4.6. Examples of Artists Who Have Collaborated with a Brand ...................................43-48 4.7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................49-50 4.8. Proposed Social Media/Influencer Marketing/Marketing Mix .............................51-52 5. Bibliography..................................................................................................................53-56 6. Proposed Consumer Demographic..............................................................................57-58 7. Proposed Market Position & Competitors .................................................................59-60 6. Appendix.......................................................................................................................61-66

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is based on Dolce and Gabbana’s (D&G) performance today and discovering new ways in which to improve the brand’s success. The report explores the brand’s history, comparing what the brand has become now and how it is struggling to keep up with other competitors. Researching the Dolce & Gabbana’s competitors will help analyse the brand’s difficulties. Creating survey through ‘SurveyMonkey’ was beneficial as it helped to understand the brand from a consumer’s perspective of the brand’s performance, as well as their competitors, and receive advice from research participants on the improvements that can be made. SWOT and PESTEL analysis are utilised to determine where the brand’s current position is. The main findings are the brand’s consumers loss of trust and respect due to the recent racial controversy in China and; our recommendation is collaborating with major music artists to reach a younger generation/demographics.

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this report is to also understand the brand’s initial goal and using all the research and findings to suggest new ideas and concepts which can keep up with the other brands and overcome the challenges Dolce & Gabbana are facing. Dolce & Gabbana is a world-famous fashion house which was founded in 1985 in Legnano, Italy by the Italian fashion designers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. However, in recent years, the brand has been struggling to keep up their success due to the controversies they’ve had. The recent racist advertisement about China has led to temporarily losing the Chinese market. The recommendations were to focus on the social media/marketing and collaborate with major music artists in the Korean and Japanese music industry to gain the Asian market back. Dolce & Gabbana’s debuted back in 1985 with the first runway show at the New Talent fashion show in Milan and a year later in 1986, the first collection, “Real Women” was produced. With not enough money to hire models for the show, the friends of Dolce & Gabbana helped instead. The brand had many past success stories showing the growth of the business: the first store in 1986, launching their knitwear line in 1987, producing the ready-to-wear line during the beginning of 1988, launching beachwear and lingerie lines and opening the first boutique in Japan in 1989, introducing the first men’s collection and opening the first women’s boutique in 1990 (Dudbridge, N.D.). The label created their first women’s collection fragrance launched in 1992 which received the Perfume Academy’s 1993 award. Two years after coming out with the first men’s fragrance, it had also claimed one more award from this Academy (Reinach, N.D.). The brand has successfully reached out to many music artists in the past including Beyoncé, Madonna, Missy Elliot, Kylie Minogue and many more. Famous companies and people have collaborated with Dolce & Gabbana to produce unique products or lines. The brand’s creations were known to often be trendsetting. Everything new they try was a success. For Madonna’s world tour, ‘The Girlie Show’ in 1993, there were around 1,500 costumes created by Dolce and Gabbana. They even designed for Madonna’s ‘Music’ album by dressing her and her entire ensemble as well as creating a backdrop for the tour (SMC Fashion, 2018).

CURRENT SOCIAL MEDIA/INFLUENCE 5

ENCER MARKETING/MARKETING MIX 6

MACRO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS For this PESTEL Analysis, it showed the issues of Dolce & Gabbana’s performance within each category. For instance, the bad publicity has affected the brand massively. The attempt on winning the Chinese consumers for Dolce & Gabbana failed due to the “disrespectful and racist” advertisement campaign, which not only cancelled the ‘D&G Great Show’ in China but had loss the Chinese market, including many famous Chinese/Asian celebrities and supporters (Pan, 2018). Chinese consumers are known to have a huge impact in the market as they have found to spend over $7 billion each year on luxury goods which is almost one-third of the global market (Wiener-Bronner, 2018). This is why brands rely on the Chinese market greatly. Social media is another platform in which all brands depend on now to reach out to the younger audience. Brands like Dolce & Gabbana have not managed to achieve that due to the lack of content and new concepts. The brand has used influencers on the runway show including Cameron Dallas, Austin Mahone and major models like Ashley Graham but have yet to do more.

POLITICAL Bad Publicity: committing the tax evasion and causing a lot of controversies such as the racist commercial, sexist advertisements and homophobic comments (ChaseMarshall, 2018).

ECONOMICAL

SOCIAL

Loss of Chinese Market: It is a Bad Reputation: The attitudes major issue as according to the and behaviours they have come consultancy Mckinsey, Chinese across, creates a bad image for consumers have found to spend the label. Many have lost trust and over $7 billion each year on luxury respect towards the brands due to goods which is almost one-third numerous of offensive comments of the global market. This suggests said. Racist controversy: with China that Dolce & Gabbana and any goes under fire due to the racist other luxury brands deeply rely Social Media platforms: Brands all ad commercial they have created, on the Chinese market, therefore, rely on social media as it is a way along with the Stefano Gabbana’s once you lost the market, it will to reach out to consumers like the racist comment, which was take a lot of time to gain them new generation. Young people get supposed to be a celebration for back. Andrew Gilman, founder of inspiration from their influencers, the ‘D&G’s Great Show’ in China the crisis communications firm artists, celebrities and so on. To see that was later cancelled (Chung, CommCore Consulting Group, these major artists and influencers CNNOscar Holland, & CNN, mentioned that in order to win collaborating with a brand will also 2018). Because of this, they have back the Chinese consumers, they make fans and supporters buy from “temporarily” lost the Chinese/Asian must “find the biggest influencers the same brand. market including many famous they can... [and] get back in their Chinese, Asian celebrities and good graces”. He also explained supporters. that Dolce & Gabbana plan is to share a consistent message through its social media and any other platforms the brand uses to communicate with customers. To move forward, they must be aware of the Chinese culture as Gilman said, “You can be a global brand, but you have to have local sensitivities” (Wiener-Bronner, 2018).

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TECHNOLOGICAL Drones on Runway: In the past D&G have used drones as part of their runway show. The advantage of this is the brand was able to invent a new way to present their products using the technology we have created today (Ong, 2018). The advantages of creating new concepts that have not been done before suggests the brand is ahead of the game.

ENVIRONMENTAL

LEGAL

Ranked the Lowest in Tax Evasion: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dolce and Gabbana Sustainability: Many luxury were charged with apparent tax brands have a ranking for their evasion totalling 416 million sustainability and for Dolce & euros that was related to the 2004 Gabbana, they fall into the bottom, sale of the Dolce & Gabbana and leaving them with the lowest D&G brands to the designersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; sustainability scores. This is because Luxembourg-based holding of the policies for environment, company, Gado Srl. Italian tax carbon emission and labour police reportedly considered Gado conditions in low-wages countries essentially a legal entity used to (Rankabrand Website. N.D.). avoid higher corporate taxes in Italy. The investigations began in 2008 Animal Cruelty: There have also and were introduced by the Guardia been other issues such as the brand di Finanza, an Italian police force using fur and testing on animals. under the authority of the national This is another issue as competitors minister of economy and financeâ&#x20AC;? of the brand are aware of the (Zargani, 2018). problem and have managed to stop using fur. Unfortunately, because the brand refuses to follow along, they have lost a lot of followers (PETA Latino. N.D.) .

BRAND MARKET POSITION D&G has positioned itself as a high-end luxury brand. The brand has described themselves as authentic and unconventional – A style that expresses new forms of elegance, presenting itself as a modern classicism, based on superior sartorial content and creativity (Dolce & Gabbana Corporate. Last Visited Feb 25, 2019). D&G have had its success due to their unique, intricate designs of their modern-classic, Mediterranean style. However, over the past years, the brand has come across many issues with the public because of the way they have presented themselves. Furthermore, competitors of D&G have surpassed the company as they were able to create new concept which engage a wider audience. An online survey was demonstrated to see the public’s’ outlook on the current problems and strengths with D&G. Through this investigation, a SWOT analysis was conducted for the brand to get a better understanding of where the brand is at. It identified the brand’s strengths and how they could overcome the weaknesses and threats they are facing with the advices they were given from the public (for more details, see Appendix 1).

SWOT Analysis:

STRENGTH

WEAKNESSES

Dolce & Gabbana have built a strong brand image due to its unique clothing that creates bold, elegant and intricate designs, combining it with modern classicism and Mediterranean style which represents Unfortunately, the major problem with Dolce & their brand identity. The brand has a wide range of Gabbana is they have a bad publicity. From the sexist different yet high-quality products that reaches out to advertisements, to homophobic comments, to the racist a larger market. In the past, the brand has collaborated commercial and to many more, the brand has received with many music artists and their tours like Beyoncé, heavy amounts of backlash. They have temporarily lost Madonna, Missy Elliott and Kylie Minogue. The use of quite a lot of consumers including the Chinese/Asian influencers, celebrities and YouTubers such as Cameron market due to the recent racist controversy about China, Dallas, Juanpa Zurita, Austin Mahone and so on have as well as losing Chinese celebrities such as Zhang Ziyi, helped gain attention (Munzenrieder, 2017). BodyLi BingBing, Chen Kun and Dilraba Dilmurat (E! ASIA positive models such as Ashley Graham and Alessandra STAFF, 2018). Many celebrities have boycotted the brand Garcia Lorido have worked with Dolce & Gabbana’s due to the attitudes of Dolce & Gabbana. Another issue is fashion show despite after the brand’s long history of that the brand is still refusing to go cruelty free. Quite a fat-shaming. This shows that the brand is wanting to lot of brands like Gucci have stopped using fur, however, reach out to a wider range of consumers. this is not the case for Dolce & Gabbana (PETA Latino, N.D.). Harming and slaughtering animals have resulted in the loss of a consumers as the majority of people are against animal cruelty. The social media side of it lacks creativeness and is generally quite repetitive, therefore, There are many ways for the brand to improve such as being aware new themes and styles are needed to attract the audience.

OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

of the ethical issues and prove to people changes and improvements the brand is willing to make. In order to win back the lost consumers, the brand must regain the consumers trust by changing their attitude and behaviour, understanding the situation caused by the company and exploring the different cultures, religions and so on. By doing so, the brand is able to find new ways and concepts for their next campaign which dedicates to the audience and showing the genuine appreciation it has for the country. More opportunities could be to focus more on social media. This will benefit the brand as it is a way to reach out to the younger demographic, increasing the target market. Street-wear trends have become a popular trend amongst the new generation, and it is sold slightly cheaper, therefore, Dolce & Gabbana could consider having a street-wear collection yet to still keep the brand’s style.

D&G’s competitors such as Gucci, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga and many more, have successful expanded the target market by presenting the audience with strong brand identities/images and revealing a wide range of products. D&G’s clothing compare to the other brands, are very traditional and again repetitive which does not fit with the trends today. If they do not experiment with new clothing designs, they will not be able to compete against the current successful brand.

CURRENT BRAND MARKET PO 13

ET POSITION & COMPETITORS 14

COMPETITORS Creating a brand positioning map will help visualise where about Dolce & Gabbana are currently at compared to other brands. Selecting high-street brands like Zara, & other stories, Mango, Topshop and Urban Outfitters as well as high-end brand, will be useful as it can how these more affordable brands reach out to the younger demographic, and what products do they genuinely go for. By placing brands to either the classic side or the more fashion forward side will give a clearer image of which section the successful brands are and compare it the ones who are not performing as well. Dolce and Gabbana have been placed in the high-end section but lean towards the classic side of it. The opposite to that are brands like Gucci and Balenciaga, who are more fashion forward. Brands like theses prove a point that the way to success, in this generation, is to concentrate on new trends and the social media platform, and to develop new clothing which market to a wider audience.

CURRENT CONSUMER DEMOGRAPHIC

CONSUMER DEMOGRAPHICS Through the primary research (see Appendix 2), and going through their social media as well as their websites, it was clear that Dolce & Gabbana has mainly targeted both female and male segments, from the ages of 25 to 50. Their consumers were often celebrities, businessman/businesswoman, managers, and so on. As a luxury brand, it mainly targeted upper-class people who had a high income to afford luxury items. Most likely these consumers had a busy yet luxurious lifestyle. They tend to be at a fashion events, socialising, travelling, golfing, shopping and so on. D&G consumers were mainly fashionforwarded people who went for exclusive and unique, detailed designs. In the interview, the retail assistant also stated that in the Cruise Fashion store, many women shoppers often purchase luxury handbags, accessories and shoes rather than clothing.

PRODUCT SELECTION Dolce & Gabbana has a wide range of products for its consumers. This included well fitted, intricate design suits for businessmen, elegant flowery patterned dresses for women who preferred classy styles. D&G consumers mainly shopped for handbags, accessories and shoes. On their D&G website, the most expensive bag costs £5,750 and the lowest price at £365; most of their handbags were at the price of £1,100 to £3,650 and was made from calf skin. The majority of their products were very business-like and aimed mostly towards the older generation. Brands like Gucci and Balenciaga had grown rapidly as they were aware of their younger audience; by selling mainly street-wear styles. D&G had slightly moved to a more fashion forward design with a combination of military khaki colours and uniforms with street styles in their ‘#DGMillennials’ collection. However, the pricing for one of their collection such as the ‘Military Patch Work Jacket Lined with Fur’ was at the price of £7,300, which was too expensive for the younger consumers (Dolce & Gabbana Online Store, Last Visited Feb 20, 2019). Engaging the younger audience meant creating styles which would both be affordable and suitable for them.

SOCIAL MEDIA & INFLUENCER MARKETING Observing a brand’s use of the social media platforms can identify the brand’s true identity/ image and seeing if the brand has successfully marketed themselves to their audience. Social Media is an important tool to engage a wider market. Everything is about technology today; millennials and Gen Z have grown up in a technology-driven world. According to Todd Maute, partner at New York-based brand agency CBX, “the Gen Z is all about social media.” He suggested that the brands should put themselves out there “in a way that is both meaningful and emotional to get Gen Z to respond”. A part of a strategy is to work with influencers to engage the younger demographic to their brand (Covino, 2018). Dolce & Gabbana has built a great brand identity for their brand with their traditional, modern-classic, elegant designs. However, bad publicity and lack of skills marketing, has led to create an unwanted image for the label, along with the recent loss of the Asian consumers. Through their social media, it was clear to see what needed to be changed. The company has managed to regularly post on social media especially on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and partly YouTube. Dolce & Gabbana has gained 19.7 million followers on Instagram with 8,159 posts consisting of new collection, campaigns, D&G celebrities, runway shows, behind the scene of fashion shows videos and so on. For Facebook, the brand has over 11 million likes and followers, and in Twitter, 5.2 million followers with 15.7k tweets (D&G Social Media. Last Visited Feb 20, 2019). For audiences to keep up-to-date with D&G, they uploaded same posts and captions on all of their social media. Although posted frequently, the content did not fit with what the younger demographic were looking for. Angie Read marketing expert believes that the best way to engage this generation is to collaborate with a social media influencer who is “their age, music and humour”.

Through a website called ‘Social Blade’, it was able to provide all the data of Dolce and Gabbana’s social media; showing the average likes, comments, tweets, followers and shares they get each day. This information gave a better understanding of the brand’s performance on social media. For example, it showed posts which affected their number of followers and the amount of attention they were getting, depending on the number of likes and comments.

INSTAGRAM

YOUTUBE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

MARKETING MIX PRODUCT

PROMOTION

D&G is a luxury fashion brand who aim at men, children and women with their large range of products. The brand is known for “its exclusive style, superior creativity, innovative collections, contrasting features, and brightly coloured designs”. (Bhasin, 2018). The brand sells many clothing such as jackets, dresses, suits, beachwear and so on, however, their consumers tend to shop for either shoes like sneakers and heels or accessories such as bags, purses and jewellery or even perfumes. D&G also have a make-up and skincare line.

Promotions: D&G have created some bold ad campaigns that were presented in fashion magazines, billboards and at fashion shows. D&G have collaborated with many music artists. In 1991, Madonna wore a jacket and corset by D&G which created instant credibility and recognition for the brand. Later they designed a full collection for Madonna’s international tour. They also designed for other major artists like Mary Blige, Beyoncé and Missy Elliott during their international tours. The brand was also the costume designer for the movie ‘Romeo + Juliet’. D&G received the Perfume Academy’s 1993 award for their women’s fragrance then later on claimed on more award for their men’s fragrance. Several models have been associated with the brand like Marpessa Hennink and Madonna. Scarlett Johansson was the face of their cosmetic section advertising campaigns. Emily Clarke being the current brand ambassador of D&G; she has been featured in many ad campaigns such as ‘The Only One’ fragrance.

PLACE D&G have spread in several parts of the world throughout thee years. They have their headquarters located in Milan, Italy. In 1985, the brand launched its first collection at Milan which a year later they opened its outlet in the same city. Eventually the company exported their products to overseas market with Japan being the first and then to other countries such as the United States, India and China. In 2009, D&G had 93 boutiques along with 11 factory spaces and its products were sold in more than 80 countries. The brand currently has outlets in the US such as New York City, Las Vegas, Houston, Chicago, Beverly Hills and Bal Harbour. The outlets are for architectural exhibitions, book launches, photographic exhibitions and art exhibitions. They have also limited their store numbers so that it maintains its exclusive label.

PRICE D&G’s current consumers are rich and privileged class of people who prefers exclusive and unique products which are very trendy yet elegant and classic. The cost of their products is within the premium pricing range as it is a luxury brand. Likewise, the company sells these products to those wear it as a status symbol and are not particularly bothered about the price range.

PROPOSED STRATEGY (RECOMMENDATIONS)

As mentioned previously, Dolce & Gabbana had the potential to grow but with due to the controversies, the challenges against other brands and the lack of connection with the younger generation, has caused the brand to fall back down. Our recommendation to improve the label was to focus on expanding their target market to a younger audience through social media. In this generation, everyone, especially Millennials and Gen Z, revolves around technology. Technology has become part of a lifestyle; it is created to communicate and connect with people. On the Pew Research Center website about ‘Millennials stand out for their technology use, but older generations also embrace digital life’, it stated that “More than nine-in-ten Millennials (92%) own smart-phones, compared with 85% of Gen Xers (ages 38 to 53), 67% of Baby Boomers (ages 54 to 72) and 30% of the Silent Generation (ages 73 to 90).” In addition, according to their data, the “Millennials (85%) say they use social media.” This suggests that brands should concentrate mostly on their social media content to engage the younger demographic (Jiang, 2018). Brands must understand: - What inspires them: music, art, beauty, lifestyle, fashion etc. - Who inspires them: artists, influencers, celebrities, YouTubers etc. - How they are exposed to it: social media such as YouTube and Instagram. By being aware of their consumers would improve on the brand’s image.

COLLABORATIONS WITH ARTISTS A recommendation to connect with the Millennials and Gen Z was using the idea of collaborating with music artists. On the Campaign website, ‘Should brands collaborate more with music artists?’, Lucien Boyer (the president and global chief executive of Havas Sports & Entertainment) mentioned, “For us, music is a major part of communication because music inspires positive emotion, it ignites fashion but it can also help brands create meaningful stories that generate experiences, content and social engagements.” Music would be a great advantage to connect with the younger generation and help build a relationship between the brand and their future target market. Furthermore, producing content which would make the audience feel relatable and inspired, creates a better image for the company. “Fashion and music are very similar in many ways, both can be categorised by genre or style, each of them has the ability to create a community around them, both reflect the personal identity and sense of self and both are universal” (Rochlani, 2016). This statement proved that the concept of having fashion combined with music could truly bring success to a brand as it both had elements in common.

COLLABORATIONS WITH KOREAN MUSIC INDUSTRY Going back to the issues between Dolce & Gabbana and China that happened on 19th November 2018, which caused the temporarily loss of Asian Market, China to be specific, D&G needs to find ways to gain back them back. Referring back to the PESTEL analysis, D&G, like any other brands, deeply relied on the Chinese market as most luxury products were bought from the Chinese people. It was suggested that the idea of using music to expand their target market could be more developed by introducing the collaboration between D&G and Korean-pop music industry as this would possibly gain the Chinese and Asian market back. Today, fashion has “entered a new era where the street and luxury intersect” due to the “rise of premium streetwear brands like Vetements, Supreme and Kanye West’s Yeezy line, and the youthful ready-to-wear collections of luxury labels such as Gucci, Fendi and Burberry” (Tai, 2018). K-pop has developed many different genres and concepts ranging from traditional Korean trot pop music and indie rock to hip hop and R&B and so on. “The songs are catchy and well produced and accompanied by flashy and highly choreographed videos; with most girl or boy bands featuring at least one rapper, K-pop has become the perfect musical counterpoint to the burgeoning street-style movement in Asia.” (Tai, 2018). Because of this, fashion brands have started collaborating with K-pop idols to target the young Asian consumers. A consultant at Hong Kong-based luxury marketing firm ‘Cherry Blossoms’, Bettina Ding explained that “the brands have even begun engaging K-pop idols as ambassadors to help them gain the Chinese audiences”. This proves that ‘Korean stars are the faces of the new era of luxury street style in Asia’.

THE IMPACT K-POP HAS ON THE WORLD During 2016, South Korean band, BIGBANG, known as “Kings of K-pop”, opened ticket sales for their 10th anniversary Seoul concert which over 2 million Chinese fans bought the tickets. Back in May 2018, another South Korean band, BTS, took K-pop to another level when they won against popular artists such as Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber with an award for ‘Best Social Artist’ at the BBMAs. Later in November 2018, BTS was also invited to perform at AMA’s as well as making an appearance on many popular interviewing shows such as Ellen and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Recently this year, the group earned their very first Grammy recognition at the upcoming 61st Annual Grammy Awards. They were nominated for ‘best recording package’ with the BTS’ Love Yourself: Tear album, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in May. The band was not the first or only K-pop group to make an impact internationally. Over the past decade, artists and bands like PSY, BIGBANG, 2NE1, Girls’ Generation, Sistar, Rain, Jay Park SHINee, HYUNA and Wonder Girls appeared in Western interviewing shows, music charts, award stages, TV/reality shows and films. This reason has given many younger K-pop artists and groups like BTS, EXO, TWICE, BLACKPINK and many more, a chance to grow internationally (Inspire Me Korea, 2017).

JUSTIFICATION Overall, using these South Korean artists would be crucial when a brand wants to target not only the younger demographic but also the Asian market. As explained before, South Korean artists creates many genres and concepts in which a brand can use many designs they have produced to fit to the certain theme. Due to the increase popularity of K-pop, once the brand has successfully earned a collaboration with the idols, their company would gradually grow because these artists are also influencers to younger audience as they create content in which their fans can relate to and connect with fans through their social media. To add, the Korean Music industry have the knowledge and understanding of the use of social media and ways in which can build their label and artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; images and popularity.

EXAMPLES OF ARTISTS WHO HAVE COLLABORATED WITH A BRAND:

Kris Wu – is a Chinese-Canadian singer, actor and model who was a former member

of EXO. The singer had several fashion collaborations. Back in 2016, Burberry announced Wu’s runway debut at Burberry’s Fall 2016 Men’s Show in London. He was selected as their global ambassador which made him the first Asian person as the face of the brand. It was later stated that Burberry partnership with Wu was a huge success. The brand had a rapid growth in sales and awareness with the Chinese consumers due to Wu’s campaign. (Okwodu, 2016).

G-DRAGON – is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer,

entrepreneur and fashion icon, who is known as the leader of K-pop group, BIGBANG. Being one of the biggest fashion icons in the K-pop industry, the artist became Chanel’s new brand ambassador back in 2016. The artist appeared in a series of highly contrasting Polariods, showing off the two-tone derby shoes from the 2016/17 Cruise collection. (Goh, 2017). In 2017, GD was also starred in the Chanel’s ‘Gabrielle Bag’ campaign alongside with Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne, Pharrell and Willow Smith.

TAEYANG – is a South Korean singer, dancer and songwriter who is a member of a

well-known South Korean boy band, BIGBANG. The singer’s style is very “experimental and youthful – street with a slight punk affectation” Taeyang has embraced a “variety of hair colours and hairstyles and isn’t one to shy away from eyeliner”. (Tai, 2018). In 2017, the artist collaborated with Fendi called “FENDI for Young Bae” (Taeyang’s real name) capsule streetwear collection. The collection consists of jackets, t-shirts, hoodies, and accessories. The designs also have signature elements by the singer, such as daisy-shaped motifs (Taeyang’s favourite flowers) and has included positive words like “Passion”, “Faith”, “Saved”, and “Grace”(Yong, 2017).

CONCLUSION In conclusion, this report found that Dolce & Gabbana are a well-established high-end brand who present themselves with their bold, traditional and intricate designs. There have been many supporters for the Italian brand, however, the competition against other brands are high too, which D&G struggle to keep up with. Likewise, the brand has yet to build their trust and respect for consumers and because of this, it has been recommended that the way Dolce & Gabbana should move forward is to collaborate with East-Asian artists to reach the younger demographic as well as the Asian market.

PROPOSED SOCIAL MEDIA/INFLUENCE 51

UENCER MARKETING/MARKETING MIX 52

BIBILOGRAPHY Bhasin. H. June 10, 2018 of Published. Marketing mix of Dolce and Gabbana. https://www. marketing91.com/marketing-mix-of-dolce-and-gabbana/. Campaign. April 16, 2015 of Published. Should brands collaborate more with music artists? https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/brands-collaborate-music-artists/1342651. Chase-Marshall. K. November 21, 2018 of Published. A Brief History of Dolce & Gabbana Being Racist, Sexist and Homophobic. https://www.out.com/popnography/2018/11/21/ brief-history-dolce-gabbana-being-racist-sexist-and-homophobic. Chung. S, CNNOscar Holland, & CNN. Novermber 22, 2018 of Published. Dolce & Gabbana cancels China show amid ‘racist’ controversy. https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/dolce-gabbana-shanghai-controversy/index.html. Covino. R. June 6, 2018 of Published. If You’re Looking to Attract Gen Z, Technology Is the Way. https://csnews.com/if-youre-looking-attract-gen-z-technology-way. Dolce & Gabbana Corporate. Last Visited Feb 25, 2019. Brand. https://www.dolcegabbana. com/corporate/en/brand/brand-dg.html. Dolce & Gabbana Facebook. Last Visited February 20, 2019. https://www.facebook.com/ DolceGabbana/. Dolce & Gabbana Instagram. Last Visited February 20, 2019. https://www.instagram.com/ dolcegabbana/?hl=en. Dolce & Gabbana Online Store. Last Visited Feb 20, 2019. https://store.dolcegabbana.com/ en/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIroX_5IXc4AIVy53tCh0xewc_EAAYASAAEgKi8PD_BwE. Dolce & Gabbana Twitter. Last Visited February 20, 2019. https://twitter.com/ dolcegabbana?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor. Dolce & Gabbana YouTube. Last Visited February 20, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UCnsNsFAFPvFwpbaHJf2JtCQ. Dudbridge. S. N.D of Published. Dolce & Gabbana. http://www.catwalkyourself.com/fashionbiographies/dolce-gabbana/. E! ASIA STAFF. November 22, 2018 of Published. Chinese Celebrities Are Boycotting Dolce & Gabbana’s Shanghai Show Over Racist Comments. https://www.eonline.com/ap/ news/989456/chinese-celebrities-are-boycotting-dolce-gabbana-s-shanghai-show-overracist-comments. Goh. A. November 17, 2016 of Published. K-pop G-Dragon fronts Chanel as new ambassador. https://www.mariefranceasia.com/fashion/latest-news/fashion-news/g-dragon-chanel-newambassador-218884.html#item=1.

Inspire Me Korea. December 6, 2017 of Published. K-pop and Its Impact On The World. https://blog.inspiremekorea.com/k-music/k-pop-impact-world/. Jiang. J. May 2, 2018 of Published. Millennials stand out for their technology use, but older generations also embrace digital life. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/02/ millennials-stand-out-for-their-technology-use-but-older-generations-also-embracedigital-life/. Munzenrieder. K. February 25, 2017 of Published. Dolce & Gabbana’s List of Models Has to Be Seen to Be Believed. https://www.wmagazine.com/story/dolce-gabbanas-models-milanfashion-week-show. Okwodu. J. January 11, 2016 of Published. Zayn Who? Meet Kris Wu, the Former Boy Band Superstar Member Who Took Burberry’s Runway by Storm. https://www.vogue.com/article/ exo-kris-wu-burberry-runway. Ong. T. February 26, 2018 of Published. Dolce & Gabbana used drones to carry handbags down the runway instead of models. https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2018/2/26/17052896/ dolce-gabbana-drones-handbags. Pan. Y. November 19, 2018 of Published. Is it Racist?: Dolce & Gabbana’s New Ad Campaign Sparks Uproar in China. https://jingdaily.com/dolce-gabbana-racism/. PETA Latino. N.D of Published. Dolce & Gabbana Exposed: Investigation Reveals Rabbits Are Tortured For ‘Orylag Fur’. https://support.petalatino.com/page/5055/action/1?locale=en-US. Rankabrand Website. N.D of Published. How Sustainable is Dolce & Gabbana? https://www. rankabrand.org/sustainable-luxury-brands/Dolce+&+Gabbana. Reinach. S. N.D of Published. Dolce & Gabbana Brand History. https://fashion-history. lovetoknow.com/fashion-clothing-industry/fashion-designers/dolce-gabbana-brand-history. Rochlani. D. August 16, 2016 of Published. Music for Marketing: How to use music to amplify your brand and find an audience for your products. https://www.ilovefashionretail.com/ branding/how-to-develop-a-music-branding-strategy-that-compliments-your-fashionbrands-image/. SMC Fashion. August 23, 2018 of Published. Success stories: Dolce & Gabbana. https://smcfashion.com/blogs/business-and-fashion-blog/success-stories-dolce-gabbana. Stanovick. K. 2018 of Published. Ashley Graham Walked for Dolce & Gabbana Despite Its Fat-Shaming Past. https://stylecaster.com/ashley-graham-dolce-gabanna-body-fatshaming/. Tai. C. July 20, 2018 of Published. How K-pop stars became the faces of luxury street style in Asia. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-luxury/article/2133391/how-k-pop-starsbecame-faces-luxury-street-style-asia. Wiener-Bronner. D. November 24, 2018 of Published. Why Dolce & Gabbana’s China blunder could be such a disaster. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/24/business/dolce-gabbanachina/index.html. Yong. J. June, 23, 2017 of Published. Big Bang’s Taeyang and FENDI to Release a Capsule Collection. https://straatosphere.com/taeyang-fendi-capsule-collection/.

Zargani. L. December 22, 2018 of Published. Dolce, Gabbana Claeared of Tax Evasion at Fiscal Level. https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/dolce-gabbana-cleared-of-tax-evasion-atfiscal-level-1202941089/.

Image References Images of Dolce & Gabbana are all from their official website and social media. Dolce & Gabbana – https://www.dolcegabbana.com. Dolce & Gabbana Facebook. – https://www.facebook.com/DolceGabbana/. Dolce & Gabbana Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/dolcegabbana/?hl=en. Dolce & Gabbana Online Store. – https://store.dolcegabbana.com/ en/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIroX_5IXc4AIVy53tCh0xewc_EAAYASAAEgKi8PD_BwE Dolce & Gabbana Twitter. – https://twitter.com/dolcegabbana?ref_ src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor. Dolce & Gabbana YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCnsNsFAFPvFwpbaHJf2JtCQ. Social Blade. Last Visited February 25, 2019. Dolce & Gabbana Instagram. https:// socialblade.com/instagram/user/dolcegabbana. Social Blade. Last Visited February 25, 2019. Dolce & Gabbana Facebook. https:// socialblade.com/facebook/page/dolcegabbana. Social Blade. Last Visited February 25, 2019. Dolce & Gabbana Twitter. https://socialblade. com/twitter/user/dolcegabbana.

Social Blade. Last Visited February 25, 2019. Dolce & Gabbana YouTube. https://socialblade. com/youtube/user/dolcegabbanachannel.

Images of Proposed Strategy (Recommendations): Ariana Grande – No Tears of Cry (Music Video). Published on 19 April 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffxKSjUwKdU. BLACKPINK – DDU-DU DDU-DU (Music Video). Published on 15 June 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHNzOHi8sJs. BTS – BTS: Photos From the Billboard Cover Shoot. Published on 15 February. https://www. billboard.com/photos/8099781/bts-photos-billboard-cover-shoot. BTS – BTS Takes on L.A. With Vogue–And It’s “Hella Lit”. Published on 25 January, 2018. https://www.vogue.com/article/bts-kpop-band-in-los-angeles-vogue-video-shoot. CL – ‘Hello Bitches’ Promotional Photoshoot. https://www.imagenesmi.com/imágenes/clfashion-4e.html. G-Dragon – Chanel. http://www.bigbangmusic.info/bigbang-archive/bigbang-favouritemoments?start=40. G-Dragon – W Korea. https://theqoo.net/bigbang/455731851. Kris Wu – Burberry Photoshoot. https://sg.asiatatler.com/style/own-a-piece-of-rapper-kriswu-with-his-latest-collab-with-burberry. Kris Wu – Burberry Runway Show. https://www.vogue.com/article/exo-kris-wu-burberryrunway. Taeyang from BIGBANG – Concert. https://shopee.co.id/inspirasi-shopee/hobbies/kpop-101ini-5-barang-yang-jadi-incaran-fans-kpop-selain-album/. Taeyang – Fendi. http://cleo.com.my/fendi-tae-yang-collaborates-fendi-young-bae-capsule-collection/. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/492018328030844919/?lp=true.

PROPOSED CONSUME 57

SUMER DEMOGRAPHIC 58

PROPOSED BRAND MARKET PO 59

ET POSITION & COMPETITORS 60

APPENDIX SURVEY An online survey was taken place through a website called ‘SurveyMonkey’. The purpose of this was to discover people’s thoughts and opinions on D&G. From this survey, it also showed their perspective on why they thought competitors were doing well, what they believed in making a brand successful and the advices they had given to D&G. “What makes a brand successful?” - Appeal to younger generation - Social media - Brand’s identity/Originality - Open minded – by including everyone in their brand. Show NO discrimination of any type - Good advertising communication - Good ethics “What D&G should do to improve?” - Do something different to what they have shown to the public… show what the brand actually stands for - Think about the new generation - Improve reputation - Market better - Focus on positive things, make people feel welcomed. Change their attitude to society

These feedbacks helped to develop ideas in which the brand could improve on. The majority of the people mentioned that the brand should improve on the marketing and the social media side of it to widen their demographics. Therefore, rather than focusing on changing the brand’s identity, as it was not the main issue, it was decided that the brand’s main focus was to communicate with their consumers through social media.

65 PRIMARY RESEARCH

CRUISE FASHION A primary research was carried out at Cruise Fashion, an outlet store, in Newcastle. The Cruise website stated, “there are currently 8 Cruise stores in the UK, each with their own personality and tailored brand mix to reflect the individuality of its city and the customers who shop there”. In the store there were about 12 Chinese consumers, all which looked like university students, from the ages of 18 to 25 and a few locals in their late 20s to 30s. These people mainly looked at the Gucci or Balenciaga section as they sold more trendy street-wear to which clear reaches for the younger demographics. Interviewing a retail assistant at Cruise Fashion: Questions: - Who are the current consumers? - Who are they wanting to target? - Are consumers mainly shopping online or in-store? - Have D&G sold many of their products? - What are their best-sellers? - Any competitors who are doing better? Dolce and Gabbana have their own audience who are more middle aged, high class people. – Unlike other brands who have been expanding their target market. Customers who often shop for brands like Gucci, Balenciaga and Saint Laurent have a larger demographic. On the other hand, not many people shop for D&G as they do not have a lot to offer unlike their competitors. Depending on the brand, a few like Louis Vuitton are only sold in store as people prefer to purchase their luxury goods there. Other brands have products which are sold only online, therefore, that is when consumers tend to go online shopping. As a retail assistant for women’s wear, they mentioned that the best-selling products are genuinely handbags, accessories and shoes. Not many actually go for the clothing section.