GUCCI
BRAND REPORT
INDEX Part 1 Brand Introduction Part 2 History and Timeline Part 3 Internal Company review Part 4 Comeptitor Analysis Part 5 7P Marketing Mix
BRAND INTRODUCTION Gucci, created by Guccio Gucci in Florence, Italy in 1920, was initially committed to making leather products, accessories and handbags. As its product line expanded, the brand began to produce shoes, ornaments, silk and knitted garments in succession. The brand introduced its first iconic print in the midst of political turbulence in Italy. Now, Gucci has been a famous luxury brand globally.
HISTORY & TIMELINE 1920./
1930./
1936./
1920s Guccio Gucci opens his first store in Florence.
1930s An equestrian-inspired line launches with resounding success leading Guccio Gucci to create his unique horse bit icon.
1936 The first signature Gucci print is invented, using new imported materials as opposed to leather goods, as a result of political rifts in Italy.
1960./
1970./
1980./
1960’s Gucci moves its New York store to Fifth Avenue next to The St. Regis Hotel. Stores also open in Florida, London & Beverly Hills. Jackie Kennedy Onassis wears the Gucci shoulder bag, which becomes known, as the ‘Jackie O' bag.
1970s The first Gucci perfume is created. Stores open in Paris, Beverly Hills, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The fashion department of Gucci increases – another store open in New York specifically for clothing.
1980s Gucci ready-to-wear collection is shown for the first time at the Florentine fashion shows with great success. The company faces issues regarding family arguments, tax evasion, poor management, all which affected the company reputation and profit.
1940./
1951./
1955./
1940s Leather is in short supply as a result of the League of Nations’ embargo on Italy’s Fascist dictatorship and due to the war. Gucci uses alternatives usually linen and bamboo - then Gucci Bamboo bag was born.
1951 The signature red and green becomes the hallmark colours of Gucci.
1955 Gucci house crest, the intertwined double G’s becomes a registered trademark. This is added to all leather goods along with the first pieces of clothing.
1990./
2000./
2004./
In the 1990s, Tom Ford (Tom Ford) was responsible for all women's clothing and later became creative director.
In the 2000s, Gucci appointed handbag designer Frida Giannini as the head of women's clothing. Later, she served as the creative director of Gucci from 2005 to 2015.
In 2004, Alessandro Michelle was appointed as creative director.
Internal Company Review B
rand identity is a kind of beauty-stimulating association brand strategists want to implant in people’s mind. From this definition, it can be seen that “brand identity is a kind of association” with the purpose of “stimulating a beautiful impression on people”. Identification of differences and visual description of relevance help to realize brand recognition updating.
classic design products— printed scarves, horsebit shoes, bags (bamboo bags, velvet bags) and garments. It possesses iconic color matching (classic red and green, red & blue & white), and classic animal “totems” such as bee, snake and tiger patterns. The iconic Gucci logo is an intertwined double G, which suggests the two initials of Gucci’s founder Guccio Gucci. As a registered trademark, the ucci is famous for its unique double G logo is printed on design, remarkable quality garments as a classic pattern to improve its brand identify and high-quality handicraft, among consumers. Gucci introduced a series of
G
GUCCI LOGO PAST
The company was not officially put into operation until 1933 when Guccio Gucci’s son Aldo Gucci inherited the family business. But at that time there was still no Gucci logo.
In order to avoid the same name confusion, the most common practice is that“Gucci” is placed above the double G logo.
While embarking on designing brand logo, Aldo combined the two initials of his father’s name Guccio Gucci into a double G logo.
The first is currently the main Gucci logo, generally seen in the combined character and icon. The second is an inverted “G� logo that was designed in 1990. The third was born in the reformed design by Alessandro Michele in 2016. The double G were overlapped and the font was in bolder line. The fourth one is often used in the patterns and found in different products.
Gucci logo is applied in a unique way. As the brand products change over time, its image logo will be tweaked or new design elements will be added to. Sometimes, the double “G” logo is placed above the brand name “Gucci”.In a rare situation when Gucci wants to make changes to the logo to suit it to stores or garments, the logo appears on the left or right side of the brand name.
In terms of color, the arresting black color is most commonly used for the logo in history. Over the recent decade, however, Gucci tends to directly use gold and silver colors since the two colors represent fashion, wealth and luxury as well. In addition, the green and red stripes were the distinguishing patterns on the early Gucci suitcases as well as a classic
design in Gucci’s history. Now, green and red stripes are commonly seen in reversely folded jeans trouser leg, hem, belt, leather goods, suspender and leather shoes.
BRAND CLIENT In its early founding days in 20th century, Gucci was mainly a shop for leather and equestrian products. Many Italian customers, local equestrian aristocrats in particular, tended to buy their favorite equestrian bags, gloves, shoes and belts in Gucci. A unique horsebit buckle pattern was designed in order to cater to them, which later became an eternal symbol of Gucci, along with the subsequent bamboo bag and red and green stripe ribbon.
In 1936, Gucci mainly served the international tourists to Florence, and 24 years later it was increasingly popular among many celebrities. The former American first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, for example, liked carrying her favorite Jackie handbag. As her official designer, Oleg described “it is Jaqueline Kennedy’s beautiful, natural and low-profile public image and symbolic meaning that bring the
American elegance into a new era”. Gucci, therefore, named this classic handbag as “Jackie O’bag”, which was transformed to a symbol of the brand.
BRAND COLLABORATION Because of great popularity among celebrities, Gucci has been a well-received brand in general public, particularly in young consumer groups.
Now, Gucci is glad to initiate co-branding campaigns with young brands, such as Adidas, CDG and Disney by introducing co-branded sports shoes that are very much liked by young consumers. Besides, various animal totems in street graffiti also appear in Gucci’s product, which, along with creativity marketing online, helps capture the attention of the young generation.
BRAND POSITIONING The ordinate of this brand positioning map represents the price—the higher, the higher price, vice versa; the abscissa represents the quality—the farther to the right, the better quality,
价格高
质量差
质量好
价格低
LV is a brand with the highest
In comparison, affordable
price and better quality
luxury brands, with affordable
among all, so LV is at the top.
price and medium quality,
Dior, Gucci and Chanel are
are in the middle of the
similar in price, but the former
map. Sports brands, with a
two has a higher quality than
lower price than luxury and
Channel. Balenciaga and YSL
affordable luxury brands but
are of lower price and medium
higher quality than fast fashion
quality among luxury brands
brands, are at the lower right.
in the upper right. In comparison, fast fashion Luxury brands are high in
brands are of lower price and
price and good in quality, so
quality, placed at the lower
they are in the upper right.
left.
BRAND BCG MATRIX
BCG MATRIX is used to
are all very mature products.
classify products. This figure shows the four types
Problem products refer to
of products: star products,
those with high market growth
problem products, dairy
rate but low market share.
products and dog products.
Gucci’s make-up products, with an uncertainty of market, are developing slowly.
Star products re fer to products with high market
Dog products mean the least
growth rate and high market
profitable products with low
share. Gucci’s star products
market growth rate and low
include leather products,
market share. Gucci’s dog
handbags, suitcases and
products include children’s
shoes, which are advertised
wear and gifts. Children’s
the most.
wear is very expensive, only afforded by wealthy
Dairy products refer to those
consumers. If they are
with low market growth rate
unprofitable for long, Gucci
and high market share.
can cease to invest.
Gucci’s dairy products are ready-made clothes, glasses, jewelry and watches, which
BRAND ONION Brand Onion is used to distinguish brand identity The core of a brand is actually the essence of the brand. Gucci’s brand value lies in its long history and loyal customer group. Its brand personality is unique, retro and gorgeous.
USP UNIQUE SELLING POINT
The unique selling points of Gucci 1.
Iconic logo is impressive to everyone. Its logo is
highly recognizable, making the brand image prominent. 2.
High-quality and expensive. It is produced in
the place of origin, which guarantees the quality and authentic technology. 3.
Classic design is highly recognizable.
Esp emotional selling point Advertisement Window display is gorgeous and amazing, fully reflecting the value of luxury brands and stimulating consumers’ impetus to buy luxury in the store.
SWOT ANALYSIS SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is an assessment report of the strengths and weaknesses of the fashion industry. The formulation of retail strategies is crucial.
The brand has a long history and strong reputation
Brand offline operation costs are high
The brand logo is very representative and memorable
Compared with competitors, Gucci cannot predict demand well, so Gucci has a lot of inventory
The brand has a strong influence in the international market
The sexually suggestive behavior in Gucci advertisements has led to a negative impact
There are many high-income consumer groups in the Chinese market
Economic depression will have a huge impact on brands and the entire luxury goods industry
A lower inflation rate brings greater market stability to the brand
The situation of trademark infringement and counterfeiting exist in many countries/regions for many years, and Gucci also has many trademark disputes
New technologies provide Gucci with an opportunity to implement differentiated pricing strategies in new markets.
P E S T
E L
Political factor: In case of multinationals such as Gucci, the political implications across not just the host country but across all the countries have to be taken into account. The political factors vary among changes in sudden regimes to political unrest or among major decisions taken by the government.Higher levels of taxation would result in high prices for the products of Gucci which would affect its profitability. The brand has earlier faced negative implications due to change in laws regarding import, export and increasing cost of operations. Economic factor: The economic factor in case of Gucci would focus more upon the purchasing power of the consumers. Gucci faced a couple of challenges in the market one of the main being skimmed prices and high insurance purchase sought after by the customers. Gucci’s positive contribution to the economy has resulted in increase in Gross Domestic Product and living standards of the economy.Since Gucci is a luxury brand, despite the adverse economic trends the luxury goods industry has experienced a positive effect on economic growth. Social factor: Gucci is a luxury brand and serves its products to high end customers who have specific demand for a particular product. It has always delivered the best luxury products that customer demands, including fur coat and leather bags etc. While this has successfully established a loyal customer base for the brand, the strategy has also resulted in social activist condemning the company’s policy to use the raw material for these products.Besides these factors the irreversible rise of civil society in the ASEAN countries has changed the way brands perceive and target its customers. Technological factor:Various advancements in technology affects the market coverage and the ability of the brands to target niche customers. The brand is focused upon developing new solutions by applying various technical innovations in order to improve efficiency in its production and logistics in the daily operations of the company. For example, setting up an incubator and start up environment to foster the environment of innovation within the company. The brand has also expanded its reach by creating awareness and marketing its products on various online portals such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest and Instagram. A variety of improvements in new technology would result in a reduction in cost of production, for the products of Gucci which helps the company to further increase its revenues. The company has also launched a Florence based call center which would help deliver personalized experience to the customers through their smartphones. Environmental factor: Gucci is a brand that strictly abides by the laws and regulations providing customers with their unique products in the market. Fair treatment should be provided to the employees in terms of working hours and treatment of employees. The company also has to protect its products from infringement. Legal factor:Gucci has a strong belief that the commitment to fight against the environment is essential for not only safeguarding the planet, but is also mandatory to ensure competitiveness. The company is setting ambitious targets to establish a new standard in luxury retail industry. One of the main goals of the company is to continually trace the procurement of 95% of its raw material.Therefore, the brand focuses on innovation and social responsibility, and is reluctant to deal with the cruel products inside.
ANALYSIS COMEPTITOR DIOR Dior has always been synonym for magnificence and elegance. Christian Dior set up a fashion shop in 1947 and became a well-known fashion designer by introducing the tailoring, contour and lines in traditional clothing and self-made H-Line, A-Line and Y-Line series to the fashion industry. Dior gives a full expression to the elegant, sexy and weird temperament of women by emphasizing the artistry of decorative clothing.
Dior’s design focuses on the female’s figure instead of color, with a wide range of products such as fashionable dress, accessories, perfume, beauty makeup, jewelry and watches. Initially, Dior only produced fashionable dress, but in response to the huge needs of society and personal wishes, various products were launched, such as cosmetics, children’s wear, glasses and perfume. With its reputation and trustworthiness among consumers, the diversified product line it introduces is favorably received among the public.
ANALYSIS COMEPTITOR BALENCIAGA
The brand was founded by CristĂłbal Balenciaga in 1919 and made a name for itself in Paris in 1936. With exquisite tailoring and sewing techniques and continuous innovation of fabrics, this French brand defines modern elegance. Known for its fashionable, elegant and finely tailored and sewed clothes in the fashion industry, BALENCIAGA has become a favorite brand among European and American celebrities and stars. The clothing of this brand radiates personal confidence and taste, fashionable style as well as elegance of French style. With meticulous details, comfortable fabrics and workmanship and its
signature tailoring skills, BALENCIAGA is unconventional in structural methods, and its accurate use of bias or rotation curves and unique insights on fabrics make the whole process from design to sample dress perfect and everything seems to be appealing. Its product line includes haute couture, high fashion for men, leather accessories, perfume, leather products, shoes and accessories. Under the leadership of Demna Gvasalia, Balenciaga grew rapidly in 2015–2018, outperforming other popular brands of Kering and ending up being the fastest growing brand. Nowadays, Balenciaga’s fashion is hailed as a revolutionary trend.
ANALYSIS COMEPTITOR LOUIS VUITTON Louis Vuitton was founded in Paris, France in 1854. From serving royal family to becoming a top craft workshop, Louis Vuitton has never ceased its passion for and inheritance of travel, tradition and innovation. Various classic designs confirm to the important period of travel history. Its products are diverse—fashionable dress, jewelry, sunglasses, leather shoes, suitcases, handbags, watches, vintage wines, cosmetics, perfumes and books. Louis Vuitton, the world’s number one luxury brand, keeps an attractive brand image all the time in an ever-changing fashion world. The concept of “travel” permeates the design of the whole brand line—clothing, furnishing and books, making Louis Vuitton not merely a luxury brand but a life attitude.
7P MARKETING MIX Product Price People
Physcial Evidence Process
Place Pomotion
Product Here is the product classification of Gucci. The five categories are clothing, bags, shoes, accessories and other products, all of which can be subdivided into finer categories.
Price
Place Official website The concise interface design in the official website brings consumers good visual experience. In comparison with other buyer e-commerce websites loaded with too many brands, the products in the official website are more complete. The video advertisements on the homepage are attractive to consumers who, once seeing the ads, will be motivated to buy the products.
WeChat Mini Program
Official website app In order to cater to current younger and digitalized luxury consumers, Gucci App integrates many high-tech functions— trying on Gucci sports shoes, trying on Gucci cosmetics, trying on hats, sunglasses and masks. The function of trying on shoes by AR is a jointly cooperated technology between Gucci and Wannaby, a Belarusian high-tech startup. Open the camera, place your feet in the frame according to guidance, and you can change different shoe styles at the bottom of the screen at will and take a picture in case you find your favorite style. After the picture is generated, there will pop up the official website purchase link of this shoe and meanwhile you can post the picture on other platforms too. This function will bring consumers more convenient experience since they needn’t go shopping offline.
Many ads are available on the homepage of Gucci App, where each series, the latest style and events are listed so that consumers can have an intuitive knowledge of the new products. There is also 3D try-on function on the product promotion series.
Gucci App also launches a game section where users can interact with Gucci’s iconic symbols. All games are designed in accordance with Gucci’s iconic aesthetics— unique in style and consistent with the mass entertainment. Through the innovative and interactive game, Gucci leads users into a new dimension of brand concept and products. Alessandro Michele, CCO of Gucci, once again demonstrated his idea of combining retro with contemporary, and created an eclectic and innovative narrative style using modern technology. The game not only gives Gucci more room to play in content, but also integrates Gucci’s brand culture, philosophy and values into it and gets rooted in consumers’ mind. In interaction the users’ memory of the brand images is deepened. Compared to the physical store and e-commerce in real life, game has been becoming a virtual parallel world Considering that young people in modern society switch between reality and virtuality, Gucci tries to create and dominate the emotion exchange between users and brand, and strengthen brand memory by this approach. It still needs to grope for more ways and make bold innovation.
Gucci App also launches podcast series. Each of the episode features the voice of CCO Alessandro Michele, the narration of the eclecticism of Florence Fashion House founded in 1921, the insight into inspiration and
vision. Of note, the voices of brilliant and talented activists and artists who cooperate with the House of Representatives are included. The sense of balance of Gucci is introduced and the sound in the community unified. This is
essentially a storybased content marketing strategy.
Luxury e-commerce website
NET-A-PORTER Net-a-Porter, founded in 2000 by British Natalie Massenet, is an online franchised store for fashion luxury. A good variety of luxury brands are available on this website, including Alexander McQueen, British Kifus, Christian Louboutin, Pucci, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, Lanvin, Miu Miu and Valentino. It is affiliated with Richemont, the second largest luxury group in the world.
A total of 655 Gucci products are sold in this website, ranging from clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, jewelry, watches to underwear and beauty products.
MATCHESFASHION MatchesFashion, with over 20 years of history in luxury industry and 11 boutiques in London, is a British fashion luxury retailer popular among all hipsters. It provides as many as 400 famous designer brands and traditional luxury brands— Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, ChloÊ, Isabel Marant, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney and Max Mara. Besides, it supports direct mail in more than 140 countries and regions around the world.
EMAIL MARKETING Customer needs to register a Gucci membership by email. Each purchasing will bring consumers points. New season products will be promoted via emails, which is a good marketing approach.
907 pieces of Gucci products are sold on this website, such as:Accessories， Bags，Clothing，Homeware，Shoes， Sale.
FLAGSHIP STORE Gucci’s flagship stores are located in the downtown street of first-tier cities in many countries, such as London, New York and Shanghai. The flagship store is usually the brand’s largest store in a city with the most comprehensive product portfolio.
RETAIL STORE In London, the Gucci retail store is usually opened in wellknown department stores, such as Harrods, Sefdrige, harvey nichols and so on.
BUYER'S SHOP When founded in 1970, Browns lay in a prime area between Selfridges Department Store and Bond Street. For decades, it has made its name as an authoritative niche brand buyer shop by virtue of unique vision in selecting goods. Joan Burnstein put a special emphasis on independent designers’ products by helping them open up local and international retail markets. In this way, Browns becomes an important base for designers’ brand development. Gucci products are sold in Browns too, online and offline, ranging from bags, belts, shoes to clothes and sneakers.
POP-UP STORE Definition: pop-up store refers to brand store that is not permanently located in a certain place, characterized by “opened immediately and closed randomly�, i.e. a shorttime fashion store. It is usually located in busy shopping district, crowded square, pedestrian street, shopping mall, department store or in the college campus and near the university. The purposes of POP-UP store: 1) selling goods 2) attracting customer flow 3) promoting brands 4) market trial
The purposes of POP-UP STORE: It is divided into four purposes: selling goods, attracting customer flow, promoting brands and market trial ch are sales type, drainage type, brand promotion type and market test type. ① Selling goods: the purpose is to sell goods on the site ② promoting brands: It works to attract the attention, strengthen brand image and obtain new customers by use of installation art, without caring the sales performance ③ attracting customer flow: they are mostly experiencebased pop-up stores opened by e-commerce or APP, mainly serving to present the commodities and brand philosophy. Interactive activities such as saloons, lectures will be organized to guide customers in becoming registered users. The emphasis is put on increasing customer flow and conversion rate in the store. ④ market trial (testing the market): it serves to test the market accessibility or preferences on certain style before a new brand is launched to the market, paying more to collecting the market data. The pop-up store itself may turn into a long-term store.
Activity name: Gucci Retro Pop-up Store Activity theme: a celebration was held in Pop-up store to honor the first batch of winners of Gucci Changemakers North America Fund. Activity content: GG psychedelic series, inspired by the surreal psychedelic style in the 1960s and 1970s, was introduced for the first time. In response, the space design was noted for the retro disco. Place and time: N. Morgan St.160, Chicago. February 14–March 2, 2020 Activity purpose: promoting brand
Activity purpose: market trial Activity name: Gucci Gift Giving Series Pop-up Store Activity theme: Gift Giving 2019 series, highlighted by Ophidia handbags decorated with classic Flora patterns. Activity content: AR technology was used for Gucci Pin to provide an immersive digital interactive experience. Place and time: Canton Road Store in Hong Kong Activity purpose: promoting and selling Theme: Makeup Pop-up Store with Art and Retro Style Contents: The 20th century Hollywood dressing room was restored by side-by-side display of makeup mirrors and Gucci commercials being run on the retro TV, so as to refresh consumers’ concept of Gucci lipsticks. Place and time: Beijing SKP Activity name: Gucci Retro Pop-up Store Activity theme: a celebration was held in Pop-up store to honor the first batch of winners of Gucci Changemakers North America Fund. Activity content: GG psychedelic series, inspired by the surreal psychedelic style in the 1960s and 1970s, was introduced for the first time. In response, the space design was noted for the retro disco. Place and time: N. Morgan St.160, Chicago. February 14–March 2, 2020 Activity purpose: promoting brand
Promotion Gucci has invited many domestic influential celebrities to advertise the brand and let them sell and promote goods directly on various social platforms. This move is of great benefit for the brand promotion
Online Promotion
Weibo, TikTok, Ins, Facebook and Xiaohongshu Celebrity endorsements, brand fans and selling goods by stars Red Book Red Book is an e-commerce platform for lifestyle and consumption decision, where users can share experience in overseas shopping as well as makeup, skin care, sports, tourism, furniture, travel, hotels and restaurants. This platform covers everything in consumption experience and lifestyle. After registering an account in Xiaohongshu, Gucci released 58 pieces of notes, regarding makeup and matching strategy that combines texts and pictures as well as fine goods sharing. 60,000 fans have been attracted so far. Weibo Weibo, with over 300 million users in total, is an influential domestic platform with a huge number of active users. After registering an account in Weibo,
Gucci has accumulated 1.97 million fans. By releasing fashion ad blockbuster, accessories matching guides and videos of celebrity wearing bags, live streaming of fashion show, launching new products and releasing weekly product information on Webo, Gucci attracts more active users. Tiktok TikTok is a short video platform for music and creativity, with 1.5 billion users globally. Gucci registered an official TikTok account on April 29, 2020. Two months later, the number of its fans rose to 646,000 and there were 3.986 million “likes� in response to the 30 videos it released. Gucci will release creative illustration animations, short star advertising videos, weird and creative videos regularly, where Gucci products are embedded, to promote the brand. Facebook Facebook, a top social App of photo sharing, has a login user number of 2.45 billion each month and an active user number of 1.62 million each day. Since registering a Facebook account, Gucci has accumulated 19.3 million fans in recent years, which exceeded the number in other social platforms at home and abroad. Gucci would upload many advertising blockbusters and release the latest products on Facebook.
Offline Promotion Outdoor Advertising Gucci has set up extensive outdoor advertising that targets all groups of people on the buildings, streets, square, or in the form of billboards, wall paintings and posters. A longterm display of the brand on a regular place is an effective strategy to improve the brand exposure. Subway advertising Gucci has launched subway advertising in many Chinese and foreign subways, in the form of channel posters, 12-light box advertisements, subway car billboard, tunnel LED advertisements. A combination of online and offline media helps to display the brand and products. The wide human traffic in subway is also conducive to improving brand exposure, attractiveness and recognition..
Outdoor advertising Pop-up shop advertisement Subway advertising Magazine advertising Video advertisement Gucci Print Ads Gucci has shot many magazine blockbusters on Vogue, Bazaar, Elle, W, CG, Cosmopolitan, and invited celebrities for endorsement too. Gucci will give a detailed text-and-picture description of many fashion items such as handbags, clothes, accessories, ready-made clothing and haute couture in magazines and attach matching recommendations, introduction to different style, brand story, design philosophy, CCO’s design inspiration to the description too. This is a smart brand promotion approach, enabling more customers to understand the history and culture behind the brand in depth.
PEOPLE
1 9 9 4
-
2 0 0 5
2 0 0 5
-
2 0 1 5
2 0 0 5
-
n
o
w
Tom Ford 1994～2005
2005～2015
Frida 1994～2005
Giannini 2005～2015
Alessandro 1994～2005
2005～现在
2005～2015
2005～现在
Michele 2005～现在
Tom Ford
During Tom Ford’s tenure as Gucci’s CCO during 1994–2004, the very precarious Gucci was transformed to one of the largest and profitable luxury brands in the world. Tom Ford practiced his own motto “All fashion is for sex” to the fullest by holding a bold and sexy design style and launching sexually seductive advertisements, blatantly challenging people’s bottom line time and time again. The controversial ad blockbusters have put Gucci at the forefront of public opinion for a long time.
The overall style and characteristics of Gucci during Tom Ford
In the Milan Fall Winter Fashion Week 1995, Tom Ford launched the sensational velvet and satin series. Gucci gradually captured the mind of the European and American celebrities and became again one of the most influential fashion brands. With a redefined eroticism, Tom Ford gradually found his own direction by denying the original market positioning and replacing the previous gorgeous and reserved style with decadence and sexiness. At last, Gucci came back to life, ending up being almost the sexiest brand in contemporary times.
What followed was the 1996 Men’s and Women’s Clothes Show, providing super sexy clothes for women, fashionable suits and hip-hop
The then Gucci was famo leather products, scarves with almost no story to tel from Vogue still remembers had to plead the fashion e in the Tom Ford’s debut w but in 1995 the journalists admission opportunity. To series of powerful designs:
ous for out-of-season s and satin knitwear, ll at all. Sarah Mower s that Gucci’s PR staff editors to participate women fashion show were begging for the om Ford launched a
Tom Ford’s design also attracted countless celebrities in the 1990s: Madonna wore a blue silk satin shirt—simple, sexy and classic, as early as the first season. It now still has unique selling point.
What contribution does Tom Ford bring to the brand ďź&#x; The actresses on the red carpet all love his risky yet sexy evening dress. It resembles the image and atmosphere in porn movies, a world of muscular men, slim girls, fur and crocodile skin.
The 2004 fall/winter show is the last Gucci series of the extremely talented fashion designer Tom Ford. This series once again gave a perfect presentation of Gucci female image: sexy and confident. The era of Tom Ford finally came to an end.
During Tom Ford’s “reign”, he quickly streamlined the product range of fashion houses, as many as over 20,000 kinds of products, with harness and furniture included. By scraping more than 15,000 products, Tom Ford elevated Gucci once again to a premium brand. Ford unified all product lines of the brand together and improved the status of Gucci by putting it into domination. Allegedly, Tom introduced a more commercial method to the brand to make it more acceptable globally and more recognized of its fashion image. In 1993, Gucci announced a revenue of 203 million euros, an annual loss of 23 million euros. It is reported that the financial situation was so challenging that Gucci even failed to pay employees’ salaries due to lack of sufficient cash. As Tom Ford and De Sole began to reshape Gucci in 1994, the revenue increased by 73.2%, up to 351.5 million euros, with a profit increase of 173.9% to 17 million euros. By 2004, Gucci announced a revenue of 1.5 billion euros and an annual profit of 535.6 million euros. During the ten years of Tom Ford and De Sole, Gucci achieved an increase of 1.3 billion euros. As calculated by FashionUnited, its annual average income has increased by 22.5% and annual average profit by 65.8%—a great feat indeed.
Frida Gianini
In 2005, Gucci announced Frida Giannini as CCO of its ready-to-wear series. Faced with her predecessor’s huge halo, Frida Giannini withstood the pressure and shocked the world in her debut show. In subsequent years, the sales of Gucci’s leather products and shoes rose rapidly.
Gucci 2006 Spring and summer ready-to-wear series If Tom Ford is the designer who saved Gucci, then it is Frida Giannini who let Gucci make a great fortune. Frida Giannini changed the previous sexy and coquettish style to a pure, pleasant, luxurious and classic temperament.
Michele
Alessandro
Gucci promoted Alessandro Michele, the chief designer of accessories, as the brand creative director. The first series he presented to the world was a huge success, giving a satisfactory answer to the fashion circle. His dramatic new designs revolutionized Gucci image from a mature and sexy woman to a quaint and quick-witted retro girl, which brought continuous increase in sales.
The Utopian Fantasy Spring/Summer 2018 is jointly finished in the cooperation between Alessandro Michele and Spanish artist & illustrator Ignasi Monreal. Monreal combined fashion art with surrealism and reshaped the famous oil paintings in Renaissance and imagined a Gucci world in the form of animations, by which manner many art lovers were attracted.
“The Gucci effect” continues to be in vogue. The retro & mix and match trend set by Alessandro Michele is a global sensation not only in design world but also in the entertainent industry—many entertainment stars wear Gucci.
Tom Ford 1 9 9 4
confident
2 0 0 5
Sexy
Velvet
silks and satins
Frida Giannini 2 0 0 5
Pure
-
pleasant
luxurious classical style
2 0 2 0
embroidery
Retro, gorgeous and trendy
-
Bright color
Alessandro Michele 2 0 1 5
2 0 1 5
printing
gender mobility
pastoralism
assorted colors
minimalism
bee, tiger head, coral snake and totem
Physcial Evidence
Name: Ni Ni Age: 32 Gender: Female Height: 170 Occupation: Star Place of Residence: Nanjing Monthly Salary: 100000+ RMB Hobbies: Swimming Holiday Destination: Disney Favorite Shops: Gucci Music: Rock music
Name: Xiao Zhan Age: 29 Gender: Male Height: 183 Occupation: Star Place of Residence: Chongqing Monthly Salary: 100000+ RMB Hobbies: Photography, painting, cooking Favorite Shops: Gucci Music: Soft music
STORE DESIGN
The store is clearly displayed and well-lit, and products are arranged according to different styles and theme of the season; different categories of products—men’s and women’s wear, accessories, shoes, bags and leather products—are displayed in a specific area. Each part of the area is well spaced so that consumers are eager to buy the products. Gucci perfume is sprayed in the store, creating a pleasant atmosphere and shopping experience for consumers.
PACKAGE Gucci’s packaging design is full of simplicity and grace—a classic black and white color with a bow in usual time. In holidays, it will release limited version of theme-related gift bags that accord with the new series. Besides, small cards and exquisite cloth bag are attached inside Gucci’s packaging box.
The interior style in this Gucci store is pink girl series, with a good variety of shoes and belts displayed and many mannequins wearing fashionable clothes showcased in the store. The ceiling of the store is uniquely designed, with second floor connected by a huge staircase, which, coupled with the dim light on the second floor, creates a sense of mystery for customers, which well confirms to the tonality of visual marketing of luxuries.
WINDOW DISPLAY Shop window marketing is essentially an artistic retail. Shop window designs of different series are released in each season, full of unique brand style and combined technological elements, use of optical principles and animal and plant images. Gucci’s shop windows are eye-catching and attractive enough to stimulate the shopping desire.
Gucci: Fall Winter 2016/17 Gucci’s shop window design in this season was inspired by the fall winter fashion show (men’s series) 2016/17. The red patent leather wall is decorated with a fluorescent pink neon lamp panel.
Gucci: Cruise 2016 Shop window in this season shows the rose prints of plant specimens, also the basic element in the new window design. Every shop window has become a flat surface, with rose prints all on the floor, walls, chairs and mannequins. The chair is extended horizontally from the back door or hung upside down on the ceiling, which creates a fanciful optical dreamland— surreal and destructive, with our sense of scale and gravity totally changed.
Gucci Galeries Lafayette Paris The shop window on Boulevard de Haussemann is equipped with Gucci Garden theme, with Michelle’s embroidered butterflies, gem ants, dotted ladybugs and flamingo outlined on the pink and turquoise wall. A pattern of “love beauty” was embroidered in neon lights, which was visually fantastic so that one cannot help but look a few more times. Accessories are displayed on Red Velvet tufted footstool, accompanied by tassels. All the red themes are shown in the new red velvet mannequins. Gucci: Spring Summer 2016 Inspired by the Gucci Spring Summer Fashion Show 2016, a monitor that displayed the scene of the show was installed on the wall as a background wall. The exaggerated pattern on the background wall was in a visual contrast with the pattern on the body of models in catwalk.
Process
After-sale service The after-sales service is thorough and satisfactory. Any products, if unused within 14 days or there is a quality problem within 7 days after purchased, can be returned unconditionally.
The outlet service is wonderful too. Once you enter the store, a clerk is ready to serve you, asking what you need and recommending suitable products or introducing new series, assisting you trying on and even serving you snacks, cakes, beverages while you are selecting products. When guiding you through the products, the clerk will also tell the brand stories to give you a deeper understanding of the brand.
CELEBRITY
In recent years, luxury brands and Chinese celebrities have become closer and closer. These brands announced their collaborations with Chinese celebrities one after another, and accompanied a series of online and offline marketing activities to earn enough attention and exposure in Chinese market. Gucci ‘s Chinese spokespersons in the Chinese market are Ni Ni, Li Yuchun, and Lu Han. The reason why the Gucci brand will look for these spokespersons is: Li Yuchun and Ni Ni are not considered the “prosperous beauty” in the mainstream aesthetics, but she still has her own Unique and most distinctive personality. As she once said in an interview, the beauty of women lies in the moments when she is not defined. Personality is very important for brands like Gucci.
Lu Han is the first male celebrity to join the family of GUCCI endorsers. Luhan is one of the most in-demand brand ambassadors in China, particularly among the younger generation.After he officially announced the GUCCI brand spokesperson, the first set of commercials released, the main product is not ready-to-wear or other series, but Gucci's new beauty line. In the traditional concept, this kind of beauty endorsement should be made by female stars. However, Lu Han’s interpretation of the appearance fits GUCCI's characteristics of "breaking through gender restrictions" and "strong self-awareness".
As the spokesperson of Gucci, after Lu Han posted gucci's promotional information on Weibo, it becames a super hot topic on Weibo, receiving 1 million reposts and 1.11 million likes, and nearly 140,000 comments
Nowadays, luxury brands have pleased many fans by enabling popular celebrity endorsements. However, factors such as the qualifications, temperament and style of popular celebrities are still subject to great controversy. In the face of controversy, we cannot deny that traffic celebrity endorsements are indeed It brought considerable exposure and sales growth to the brand in the short term.
GUCCI MARKET STRATEGY ANALYSIS Part 1 Analysis of Gucci’s emphasis on digital marketing strategy Various luxury brands start to carry out sales by adopting the digital sales mode for increasing the sales volume of their luxury goods in China. In terms of other luxury brands, such as Burberry, Dior, Gucci, even though they are not the first several luxury brands which carry out sales by adopting the digital sales mode in the Chinese market, they are the few luxury brands making great achievements within the field of E-commerce. Gucci has infused its brand DNA no matter when it comes the construction of its official website platform or the relevant design and operation for its mobile APP ever since Alexandro, the creative director took up his official post in 2015. Moreover, he is also successful in promoting the commodities to the targeted customer group. In such a background, the digital marketing is infused into the design of all the Gucci series by him with the construction of global brand image of Gucci being improved accordingly. For instance, Gucci has highlighted and envisioned more fashion communities in China except for operating its public home pages on mainstream Microblog and Xiaohongshu. It is expressed by Michele that Gucci is able to attract more brand-new fans by delivering the brand stories with the medium as music, literature and movies.
Establishment of official website Gucci pays great attention on the establishment of its official websites, which is manifested by a large-scale rectifications for the websites and it realizes the integration of its brand design style with the overall planning for the official website in a innovative way accordingly. In this regard, its craftsmanship is much more manifested. Moreover, it also makes the design inspiration and unique concept related to the commodities deeply penetrate inside the splendid short video which is carefully crafted by the digital media. Then, the audience are able to see them at a glance after the layout of each plate is carried out, furthermore, customers are able to feel the short distance between the brand and themselves. Development of APP Regarding the mobile APP of Gucci developed for mobile terminal, its innovation is not second to the construction of its official website since it is able to provide more interaction and interests among customers by relying on its features of mobile terminal. When users click and open the APP, a propagation video of Gucci will be automatically played. Then, the gorgeous images together with the fair-sounding background music can really attract the attention of customers so that they can be deeply mired into the customers’ mind within just a few seconds. Exclusive customization in E-commerce platforms The design director, Alessandro Michele was leading the team and fully engaged inside the project when Gucci attempted to enter the E-commerce platform initially, then the series of capsules exclusively for the platform was designed by him in NET-APORTER which is known as the famous online shopping platform in the UK. There are as many as 20 pieces for the project ranging from sweaters, skirts to bags and shoes, which is foundation for its digital road.
Part 2 Gucci highlights the marketing strategy of "young generation" Gucci has been mired into negative sales growth for two consecutive years since 2013, what was worse, its performance in the first quarter of 2015 was the worst in the past five years. Afterwards, the Italian luxury brand started to re-locate its position in the market, which helped to attract more new consumers, especially the millennials being intrigued in pursuing novelty and fashion on social media. Additionally, the brand also expanded its product line to the preliminary leather goods, jewelry and scarves series in this regard. With the design for younger generation, it was successful in wining some of the old consumers. When it comes to business strategies, Gucci completed and redecoration of 34 stores in 2015 and 50 stores in 2016 for making Gucci back to the high-end field. Furthermore, it also terminated some stores in the low-end shopping malls with discount stores and price-reduction for sales promotions being decreased as well, meanwhile, it promoted the development of tourism channels. Then, its new strategy was also promoted with the medium of the Internet. By the end of 2015, Gucci repromoted its website in the region of North America whose content is much more enriched. With numerous perfect images, carefully-selected content and brand stories, the enterprise has constructed a platform with the objective to establish connection with customers. Moreover, the co-branded products of various artists were also promoted by Gucci in the online stores for attracting the young consumers and the budget for online advertising was also enhanced in this aspect, since online advertising is able to reach a more expansive range of customer group. Although the practical consumer group was much smaller than the planning, more traffic flow were able to assist the brand to communicate with customers and understand their demands and requirements in a better way.
Both Gucci and Versace are the luxury brands originating in Italy, analysis of competitive products highlights their positioning and AD
Analysis of the brand marketing strategies for Gucci vs Versace As the luxury brands rooted in Italy, the two brands have won powerful influence and popularity within the fashion industry for many years. Enve if Gucci and Versace are within the same industry, the marketing strategies and overall actions taken by them are not similar at all. In this regard, it is necessary to analyze and compare the marketing strategies of the two brands accordingly.
Part 1 Analysis of advertising on Instagram
Advertising of Gucci on Instagram
It is a advertisement with bold and unique features and it is able to quickly attract the attention of audience. In the AD, the message that Gucci intendes to convey to the audience is contained. “The notion of freedom of expression of the Gucciss20…” Consumers are encouraged to claim their freedom of speech with such an inspiring comment. In the AD, the combination of horse and woman provides the audience with comfort and freedom.
Advertising of Versace on Instagram
The AD of Versace aims at introducing its new range of products. The AD picture is bright and intriguing with very interesting details and colors being combined. The fabrics and colors which are not commonly-seen in life are combined by the brand and the model looks very confident and he is very satisfied with the appearance of the role he has played. From the tie, it is obvious for us to observe the novel and distinctive visual experience delivered by Gianni Versace to the audience.
Part 2 Analysis of target customer groups for Gucci & Versace
Analysis of target and segmented market of Gucci
This is Gucci bloom which was promoted by Gucci for advertising in 2017 and the AD is featured by three wellknown and successful women. Moreover, they look very young, beautiful, confident, outgoing and free. Seemingly, they like the companionship of each other and feel very relaxed in the entire video. In the time they spend together, they enjoy and cherish each moment and they jump into the lake with Gucci clothes, indulging the freedom and fun of the rain. It is manifested that Gucci chooses the Hedonist market segment as its target. after analyzing the AD. In terms of the Hedonists, they are a group with outgoing features and they like the companionship of others. With spontaneous motivation, they take actions at will and and attempt to play as much as possible in life. The group of people prefer to buy products of mainstream brands when it comes to the shopping preference as they believe that brand labels will affect the personal image of them in a direct way. Generally, they highlight quantity rather than quality and they are fond of clothes making them stand out. Usually, Hedonists never list the shopping items while most of them are the impulse buyers. Moreover, they are fond of the authenticity of the brand and following the fashion. Recently, Gucci has satisfied the shopping psychology of such consumer group by highlighting youth and popular items sold by live show of stars in terms of its design of cloth.
Analysis of target and segmented market of Versace
As the commercial AD promoted by Versace in 2018, it depicts that a couple are forced to separate at last. The woman wears Gianni Versace clothes which are fashionable and beautiful. The video is accompanied with classical music and various cultural works and statues are also included. Moreover, the AD is completed in a museum. It is easy for us to find out that the target and segmented market of Gianni Versace is Carpe Diems after analyzing the AD itself and the relevant details. With diversity and vitality, Carpe Diems expect to enrich their lives.
With extrovert attitude, they like to spend good time with friends and enjoy life from the overall perspective. Then, they know the importance of good career very well with the expectation to earn money by themselves and keep independent in any sense. Extremely focusing appearance, they always follow the trend and try every possible means to keep tidy. Carpe Diem has intimate relationship with culture, which is similar to visiting cultural activities, the museums and exhibitions. Carpe Diems takes the brand as orientation and they are inclined to select quality rather than quantity. Additionally, they will be very loyal to the brand that is selected originally. Consequently, they seldom transform between brands and shopping habits. Every time when they are shopping, they are always seeking the personal fun. They find out that shopping and consumption process are pleasing with the wish to obtain the best prices.
It is found out that different marketing strategies are used by the brand in accordance with groups of different positioning by relying on the two parts which include the analysis of segmented market based on plane AD and commercial advertising. In terms of Gucci, its target group is the young hedonistic consumers. The brand has highlighted the development of youth for past two years by relying on the sales of online live show, especially the stars who are able to attract great flows and create some hotsale commodities for satisfying the psychology of hedonistic consumers. For Versace, its target group is mainly the female group who are successful independent and confident with high income, so it emphasizes on enhancing the stickiness of users. Moreover, it enhances the interaction with the part of customers and their loyalty with some high-end activities in the store.
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