Dolce & Gabbana By Kristy Liu
D&G: Current Brand Position/History
Research • Primary Research: SurveyMonkey • Purpose: To find out people’s views on D&G, their competitors, and advices they would give to D&G • How this survey helped me come up with my proposed brand
STRENGTH:
WEAKNESSES:
Strong Brand Image: Unique clothing that creates bold, elegant and intricate designs, combining it with modern classicism and Mediterranean style (which represents their brand identity) Wide Range of Different Products: They are also high-quality that reaches out to a larger market. Collaborations: In the past, the brand has collaborated with many music artists and their tours like Beyoncé, Madonna, Missy Elliott and Kylie Minogue. Use of Influencers/Celebrities/YouTubers: Cameron Dallas, Juanpa Zurita, Austin Mahone and so on have helped gain attention. More Diverse Models: Body-positive models like Ashley Graham and Alessandra Garcia Lorid have worked with Dolce & Gabbana’s fashion show (despite after the brand’s long history of fat-shaming). This shows that the brand is wanting to reach out to a wider range of consumers.
OPPORTUNITIES:
Bad Publicity: From the sexist advertisements, to homophobic comments, to the racist commercial and to many more, the brand has received heavy amounts of backlash. Racism Controversy: They have temporarily lost quite a lot of consumers including the Chinese/Asian market due to the recent racist controversy about China, as well as losing Chinese celebrities such as Zhang Ziyi, Li BingBing, Chen Kun and Dilraba Dilmura. Celebrities Boycotted D&G: Many celebrities have boycotted the brand due to the attitudes of Dolce & Gabbana. Animal Cruelty: Another issue is that the brand is still refusing to go cruelty free. Quite a lot of brands like Gucci have stopped using fur, however, this is not the case for Dolce & Gabbana. Harming and slaughtering animals have resulted in the loss of a consumers as the majority of people are against animal cruelty. Lack of Creativeness in Social Media: The social media side of it lacks creativeness and is generally quite repetitive, therefore, new themes and styles are needed to attract the audience.
THREATS:
Regain Their Trust: 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. Learn to Respect: Find new ways and concepts for their next campaign which dedicates to the audience and showing the genuine appreciation it has for the country. Be Ethical: Be more aware of the ethical issues and prove to people changes and improvements the brand is willing to make. Focus on Social Media/Expand the Market: This will benefit the brand as it is a way to reach out to the younger demographic, increasing the target market. Consider creating a new collection: Streetwear trends have become a popular trend amongst the new generation, and it is sold slightly cheaper, therefore, Dolce & Gabbana could consider having a streetwear 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. Current Trends: 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.
SWOT & PESTEL ANAYLISIS POLITICAL
ECONOMICAL
SOCIAL
TECHOLOGICAL
EENVIRONMENTAL
LEGAL
Bad Publicity: committing the tax evasion and causing a lot of controversies such as the racist commercial, sexist advertisements and homophobic comments. Racist controversy: with China goes under fire due to the racist ad commercial they have created, along with the Stefano Gabbana’s racist comment, which was supposed to be a celebration for the ‘D&G’s Great Show’ in China that was later cancelled. Because of this, they have “temporarily” lost the Chinese/Asian market including many famous Chinese, Asian celebrities and supporters.
Loss of Chinese Market: It is a major issue as according to the consultancy Mckinsey, Chinese consumers have found to spend over $7 billion each year on luxury goods which is almost onethird of the global market. This suggests that Dolce & Gabbana and any other luxury brands deeply rely on the Chinese market, therefore, once you lost the market, it will take a lot of time to gain them back. Andrew Gilman, founder of the crisis communications firm CommCore Consulting Group, mentioned that in order to win back the Chinese consumers, they must “find the biggest influencers they can... [and] get back in their good graces”. He also explained 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."
Bad Reputation: The attitudes and behaviours they have come across, creates a bad image for the label. Many have lost trust and respect towards the brands due to numerous of offensive comments said. Social Media platforms: Brands all rely on social media as it is a way to reach out to consumers like the new generation. Young people get inspiration from their influencers, artists, celebrities and so on. To see these major artists and influencers collaborating with a brand will also make fans and supporters buy from the same brand.
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. The advantages of creating new concepts that have not been done before suggests the brand is ahead of the game.
Ranked the Lowest in Sustainability: Many luxury brands have a ranking for their sustainability and for Dolce & Gabbana, they fall into the bottom, leaving them with the lowest sustainability scores. This is because of the policies for environment, carbon emission and labour conditions in lowwages countries. Animal Cruelty: There have also been other issues such as the brand using fur and testing on animals. This is another issue as competitors of the brand are aware of the problem and have managed to stop using fur. Unfortunately, the brand refuses to follow along, they have lost a lot of followers.
Tax Evasion: Dolce and Gabbana were charged with apparent tax evasion totalling 416 million euros that was related to the 2004 sale of the D&G brands to the designers’ Luxembourg-based holding company, Gado Srl. Italian tax police reportedly considered Gado essentially a legal entity used to avoid higher corporate taxes in Italy. The investigations began in 2008 and were introduced by the Guardia di Finanza, an Italian police force under the authority of the national minister of economy and finance.
My Recommended Future Strategy For D&G • Improve on marketing: New concepts > engage a larger/new market
• Understand: - What inspired them: e.g. music, art, beauty, lifestyle, fashion, culture - Who inspires them: e.g. artists, influencers, celebrities, youtubers - How they are exposed to it: e.g. social medias including YouTube and Instagram.
• Reflecting on their past success (collaborations with artists, celebrities and influencers)
• Music • Korean Pop Culture: Music Videos (well known for its amazing visuals/concepts)
• Major artists: Ariana Grande: Music Videos (“No Tears Left To Cry”, “God is a Woman”, “Thank U, Next” & “7 Rings”)
3 individual elements that I have found to be of particular interest to my outcome. • D&G have said they are highly influenced by Italian cinema, especially characters from 1960’s La Dolce Vita when they design their clothing • Gabbana has emphasise the importance of identity for a brand. Rather than focus on skirt length and trends, he says that most important thing is to maintain a specific stylistic identity. • Past success stories: Collaborating with Madonna. Around 1,500 costumes were designed for her “Girlie Show” tour.
End of Presentation. Thank You.