Why I chose Dolce and Gabbana:
- Because of where I shop and what I’m interested in I don’t know much about the brand which I wanted to look more into. -After hearing vague reasons why people don’t like Dolce and Gabbana I wanted to know why that was. - I don’t ever consider looking at designer pieces which meant I’ve never known what the competition is like. - I wanted to choose a brand that I don’t know anything about and also have never considered shopping at.
Current brand position:
- Dolce and Gabbana is an Italian fashion house, founded in 1985 in Milan.
- Their main competitors are Gucci, Armani and Guess. - Each of the competitors do have variation between them. Including pricing, ethics and products they sell. - Within the market they are at risk because of an ad released in China which caused D&G of being accused of racism. Making a lot of people in China deciding to boycott the brand. - Because they have been accused of things that cause offense to people this affects their brand market position as it causes them to loose consumers.
Findings/methodologies:
- I created a survey that showed me that the main reason people didn’t shop at D&G was because of their price. I also got them to rank D&G and its competitors in order of preference. The result of this was Gucci being first with D&G second. I asked if D&G’s ethics influenced their opinion on the brand and majority of people said no, this could also be because people don’t know enough about the brand in general. - I am currently carrying out a Instagram evaluation which I am doing for a week to see how they keep up with their social media following and how often their posts are and how many people interact with the brand.
Future strategy for the brand: - Become more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
-Be more open on their website about their ethics to allow consumers to have a better understanding of the brand and encourage them to support them. - Create a plus size range. - Stop animal cruelty. - Interact more on social media with their audience by doing Instagram polls and making them feel more connected. - Become more welcoming to everyone and not being offense to people making them boycott the brand.
Elements of interest:
- I think it is interesting how offensive the brand has come across with being racist, sexist and homophobic. Although I never had heard about them being that way until researching them. - I found it interesting how different some of their competitors are to them, the difference between the products they sell and the pricing. - I was surprised at how many celebrities do shop their considering their ethics might push their fans away.