Gucci - Integrated Marketing Communication Plan

"Gucci Off The Grid" INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION PLAN FASH 763 | FASHION PROMOTION | FALL 2020 PROF. QUY CORY QUACH

BY KELSEY THORTON, ZIYI WANG, SARAH PASSMAN, EVARISTO PEREIRA

TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

03

BRAND OVERVIEW

04

"GUCCI OFF THE GRID" COLLECTION INTRODUCTION

05

POSITIONING MAP

06

TARGET CUSTOMER

07

CUSTOMERS' PRIMARY RESEARCH

08

COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES

12

COMMUNICATION MIX

13

BUDGET PLAN

14

COPY TESTING

18

CAMPAIGN TRACKING

19

POST-TESTING

19

ACTIVITY MAP

20

CREATIVE IDEA

21

PRELIMINARY SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION

22

MOODBOARD

23

STORYBOARD

24

MOCKUP PRESENTATION

26

SOURCES

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To increase comprehension of Gucci products among young, sustainable, stylish people, Gucci launched the new collection, “Gucci Off The Grid". This dynamic collection is designed to increase the association between Gucci and sustainable practices. In this project, we will develop an IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) plan to promote the “Gucci Off The Grid” collection, which will highlight the quality and the innovative techniques used in creating sustainable fabrics and yarns. The goal of this project is to increase customer reach and appeal among target customers. We will use quantitative methods to conduct primary research to analyze what kinds of features are important to environmentally responsible customers when shopping for luxury products first. Then we will integrate a multitude of channels to promote the campaign. Social media is the primary communication medium as it is the most effective way to reach Millennials and Gen Z. Secondary media utilized include billboards, print magazines, and events. Also, we will make a budget plan. At last, we will conduct a promotional video for the campaign. Elevating recycled materials to the world of luxury is an exciting challenge, and we are ready to launch the new collection to the top of the sustainable fashion marketplace.

03

BRAND OVERVIEW Founded in 1921 by Guccio Gucci in Florence, Tuscany, Gucci is a luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Now Gucci becomes a worldwide-known luxury brand, an icon of the Italian Dolce Vita. Alessandro Michele was appointed as creative director of Gucci in January 2015. Also, Gucci is a subsidiary of the French luxury group Kering. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, makeup, fragrances, and home decoration.

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“GUCCI OFF THE GRID” COLLECTION INTRODUCTION Gucci has developed the “Gucci Off The Grid” collection. It is the first collection from the Gucci Circular line, an initiative created to support the house’s vision for circular production. Every element of the collection is sourced from recycled, organic, or bio-based materials, and it is made of recycled or environmentally friendlier materials include metal- and chrome-free tanned leather; interlining fabrics made from organic cotton or recycled polyester. For example, abandoned fishing nets are one of the waste products used to create regenerated nylon yarn ECONYL®. Gucci was the first luxury brand to use ECONYL® recycled nylon thread for its products, beginning in 2016. It makes the collection more sustainable since the ECONYL® nylon partly comes from plastic waste in our oceans. Also, the collection is packaged in FSC-certified green-hued packaging that comes from sustainability-managed forests.

The collection includes luggage, accessories, footwear, and ready-to-wear items. Among various products, we choose the bag ranges as the marketing target of our campaign. The bag ranges in the “Gucci Off The Grid” collection feature three shiny and vivid colors: black, orange, and yellow. The multiple designs are characterized by softness and lightness, making them easy to use and wear. The core item is a backpack, which has been developed in two sizes, with three frontal pockets that enhance the style. In addition to these, there is a squared belt bag, a shoulder bag in two sizes, an East-West tote, a North-South tote, a backpack with a drawstring closure, and a duffle. All are embellished with a black leather tag displaying the Gucci script logo in gold embossing.

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High Price

POSITIONING MAP “Gucci Off The Grid” is in the more moderately priced range in terms of highend fashion with sustainability in its core.

As shown in the positioning map, this places the collection in a position to attract the attention of people who want to experience sustainable luxury products, but still not alienating those in the lower-income range of their target audience.

Least Sustainable

Most Sustainable

Low Price

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TARGET CUSTOMER Gucci’s most rapidly growing audience is the younger generation, with parent company Kering’s chairman and CEO Francois-Henri Pinault stating that around 50% of Gucci’s sales come from Millennials. We will focus our advertising campaigns on young people, mainly Millennials and Gen Z. Our target customers of “Gucci Off The Grid” are young people from the middle to high class. They are well-educated and have both sustainable and fashionable consciousness.

CONSUMER PERSONAS Villanelle (35) Villanelle is a working mother of two kids living in the Upper Eastside of NYC. She likes exercising in the gym to keep her body in shape. She is a vegetarian whose cabinets are often stock with green and organic foods. She is looking for a sustainable and luxurious tote bag that can match her daily look, which also has enough space for sportswear to go to the gym after work.

Kim (22) Kim is a fashion influencer living in Atlanta. As a young woman, her fashion style is a mixture of highend and fast fashion brands. She likes to share her OOTD on Instagram to engage with her followers.

Besides, Kim has strong social consciousness: she supports gender equality, racial equality, and environmental sustainability.

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CUSTOMERS' PRIMARY RESEARCH

SURVEY GOAL We want to learn what kinds of features are important to environmentally responsible customers when shopping for luxury products.

SURVEY METHODS First, we will use demographic questions to acquire participants’ names, ages, and gender. Then we will ask Means-End Laddering questions to understand participants’ thoughts about sustainability and fashion. At last, we will use ordering to encourage participants to rate which is most and least important to them when they are shopping for luxury products since ordering is a simple and easy way, which is easy for participants. Also, it tends to be more instinctual than direct questions, which prevents psychosocial projection.

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SURVEY PARTICIPANTS

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SURVEY QUESTIONS What is your favorite luxury brand? (Ex. Gucci, Prada.)

Do you think it is important that the fashion industry becomes more sustainable? Why or why not?

Do you ever purchase clothing or handbags that are more environmentally responsible than their competitors? Can you name examples of items?

What is the most expensive item of clothing or handbags that you have ever purchased? How much did it cost?

What is the most important to you when shopping for a luxury fashion item?

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SURVEY RESULTS & SUMMARY In the primary research, we reached out to as many friends as possible, especially our most fashion-conscious and environmentally conscious friends. Most of the participants are young people aged 18-29, with a few outliers. We figured that although individuals agree that sustainability is the key to the fashion industry, and they support sustainable fashion products, sustainability cannot be the factor to convince them to buy a luxury item.

When the quality, style, and durability of the luxury item are on a high level, sustainability can be seen as a flashpoint. The price range for a luxury item between $300-$1000 could be acceptable for most participants. By conducting projective technique of ordering, we found that participants consider craftsmanship is most important for a luxury item. From the perspective of luxury fashion promotion, participants prefer visual storytelling on multichannel social platforms. This research is beneficial to lead our strategy of the campaign in the right direction. Our strategy will focus on presenting the sustainability, quality, and craftsmanship of the products of “Gucci Off The Grid” with unique storytelling.

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DAGMAR MODEL

UNAWARE

COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES AWARENESS The goal of the strategy is to increase the level of awareness of “Gucci Off The Grid” sustainably made products and the identity of Gucci as a sustainable luxury brand.

AWARE

COMPREHENSION & IMAGE

COMPREHENSION Customers will understand that quality can be associated with recycled products. Also, they will have a concept of what the sustainability message is behind “Gucci Off The Grid" products.

LIKABILITY This campaign will increase the likability of “Gucci Off The Grid” products and create a positive feeling about purchasing these products.

PREFERENCE Customers would prefer to buy “Gucci Off The Grid” products when they think of sustainable luxury.

ATTITUDE

ACTION

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PURCHASE This campaign will eventually lead to an increase in sales of “Gucci Off The Grid” products.

COMMUNICATION MIX PRIMARY MEDIUM The campaign's primary medium would be social media. It will be available on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter. We want to target Millennials and Gen Z consumers to increase the likability that will lead to purchase. Tik Tok is the best way to engage the Gen Z customers and advertise our short campaign videos, which will also be a great way to increase the frequency and reach. Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter will be used for longer and better engagement with the consumers. The campaign will also run on the Gucci main website with a microsite. This microsite will allow us to monitor the click rate and site visit to gain the levels of interest in the campaign. Also, we will launch two game apps. The first one will allow customers to dress their character in "Gucci Off The Grid" outfits and then share on social media. the second game aims to encourage customers to recycle plastics. Customers can get points on the game app when they follow our instructions to recycle plastics, these points can be converted into discounts on our products.

SECONDARY MEDIUM The secondary medium will focus mainly on the print format. Vogue and Instyle are popular fashion magazines amongst Millenials and Gen Z with a great online presence. Therefore, we will advertise in Vogue and Instyle magazine, which will ensure that we reach even more Millennial consumers.

Additionally, billboards will be located in high-end shopping districts and next to the luxury retail malls.

We will also hold a virtual press release party to create excitement on social media platforms.

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BUDGET PLAN In 2019, Gucci had total revenue of 9,628.4M EUR, which is around $11.5B (Department & 14, 2020). Gucci spent a total of around $100M (Radar, 2020) on advertising, which means Gucci spent about 0.9% of its total revenue on advertising in 2019.

Since Gucci is a luxury fashion brand under the large corporation Kering, we used the common approach -- Bottom-Up Budgeting to evaluate the cost of advertising the campaign of “Gucci Off The Grid”. We began with the necessary promotional activities and then assessed the cost of all those activities, and the total estimated advertising cost was $1,212,628. Based on Gucci’s 2019’s marketing strategy and budget setting, the expecting revenue of our campaign should be around $135M. The average price of the collection item is $1,000, so we should sell about 135,000 items during our launching time.

Reference: Gucci Off The Grid: Sustainable Fashion: GUCCI®. Gucci Off The Grid | Sustainable Fashion | GUCCI®. (2020). https://www.gucci.com/us/en/st/capsule/circular-line-off-the-grid?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhJDIp__x7AIVjZ-zCh0Olw_KEAAYASAAEgKuivD_BwE. Department, P. by S. R., & 14, F. (2020, February 14). Global revenue of the Kering Group, by brand 2019. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/267476/global-revenue-of-the-kering-group-by-brand/.

Radar, M. (2020). The House of Gucci. MediaRadar. https://advertisers.mediaradar.com/the-house-of-gucci-advertising-profile.

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ADVERTISING BUDGET FOR "GUCCI OFF THE GRID"

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Reference: Estimate Cost To Build An App. Crowdbotics. (2020). https://www.crowdbotics.com/build-an-app?utm_term=app+development+price.

How Much Does it Cost to Advertise on Instagram? WebFX. (2020). https://www.webfx.com/social-media/how-much-does-it-cost-to-advertise-on-instagram.html.

How to Set the Budget for Your Facebook Ad. Facebook for Business. (2020). https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/lessons/how-to-set-a-facebook-ad-budget.

About Budget. TikTok: Business Help Center. (2020). https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article?aid=6712393859751477254.

Twitter. (2020). Campaign dates and budget. Twitter Business. https://business.twitter.com/en/help/campaign-setup/campaign-dates-and-budget.html.

Johnson, T. (2020, February 25). How Much Do Influencers Charge? Tinuiti. https://tinuiti.com/blog/paid-social/how-much-do-influencers-charge/.

How Much do YouTube Ads Cost? [Updated 2020]. Influencer Marketing Hub. (2020, July 21). https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-do-youtube-ads-cost/.

Hoo, F. S., & Binkley, C. (2019, February 5). How much a runway show really costs. Vogue Business. https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/cost-of-runway-show-christian-siriano-discount-universe.

Matt, M. (2020, October 22). Business Website Setup Cost: Here's How Much You Can Expect To Pay. Digital.com. https://digital.com/how-to-create-a-website/how-much-does-website-cost/.

InStyle 2020 MEDIA KIT. (2016). https://www.instyle.com/promo/2020-media-kit/instyle-media-kit-2020.pdf.

VOGUE MEDIA KIT 2020. (2020). https://cnda.condenast.co.uk/static/mediapack/vg_media_pack_latest.pdf. says:, R., says:, J., says:, L., & says:, M. D. (2020, June 10). How Much Do Billboard Advertisements Cost? 2020 Updated Pricing. DASH TWO. https://dashtwo.com/blog/how-much-does-billboard-advertising-cost/.

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COPY TESTING We will focus on testing cognition, affect, and conation of our campaign’s ads with a large number of respondents, which allows us to continually refine our learning about our campaign.

Pre-testing of Social Medias (Video Ads): We will email some target customers the link of the test ad, and after a few days, we can recontact the respondents to assess their brand awareness. The following questions are some samples we may ask: What thoughts and feelings come to mind when you see this ad?

This is an open-ended question or cognitive response question. It gauges what people think and feels about the test ad through their responses in terms of positive, neutral, or negative sentiments directed at the execution.

If you have to buy a sustainable luxury bag, how likely you will choose the bag from “Gucci Off The Grid"?

This question evaluates the buying predisposition and brand consideration of the respondents towards the brand after the exposure. We can know respondents’ preferences as well as our competitors.

What do you think the message of the ad is?

This question can assess the respondent’s comprehension to the message.

Pre-testing of Traditional Medias (Print Ads): We will place the test ad in the magazines to make it appears like any other ad in the publication. Then the mock magazine is sent to some target customers. We will subsequently recontact and interview these respondents. For example, ask them if they remember various brands and ads they have seen in the magazine, if so, how they think of them. The questions will include cognitive response, purchase predisposition, brand attitude, brand beliefs, ad attitude, ad distinctiveness, ad comprehension, branding, adjectival descriptions, and brand awareness.

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CAMPAIGN TRACKING Our marketing team will keep tracking social media effectiveness by comparing the number of followers, hashtags, likes, and comments through various social media platforms in the six months. Also, we keep contacting the target consumers to discuss their reactions and responses to the campaign. Through these steps, we will measure if the message of the ad is delivered and received well, thereby evaluate the outcomes and make some adjustments to gauge the success.

POST-TESTING OF TRADITIONAL MEDIAS (PRINT ADS) Starch Methodology We will conduct a post-campaign evaluation after the campaign concludes. After interviewing a representative group of the target audience who recall they have read the ad of the campaign, we will ask them what ads and products they can recall; then we will show it to them and ask them to look it again; after looking through the ad, we will ask them Whether they remember seeing this ad.

Whether they saw or read the brand before.

Whether they read at least half of the ad.

By tabulating the percentage of the target audience who answered these questions, we can obtain the following recognition scores: Noted score – percentage who remembered seeing this specific ad.

Associated score – percentage who saw or read the brand or logo of the ad.

Read most score – percentage who read at least half the ad.

These recognition scores allow our marcoms manager to compare the ad with others and hence gauge its effectiveness.

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THE LAUNCH DAY: The launch day will be on World Oceans Day, June 8, 2021. World Oceans Day is a celebration of shared action taken for our shared oceans.

ACTIVITY MAP

Social Media Teasers start coming out a few weeks before the YouTube Ad, which allows the team to test the waters for the concept and make adjustments before launching. Besides, most large-circulation magazines, like Vogue, require the ads to be bought and submitted at least 2 months before publication. Securing those in March will allow for their release in the June issues right around Launch. Billboards need a similar lead time of about 6 weeks. Purchasing and developing the ad for April means the billboards will go up right around June.

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CREATIVE IDEA

"Gucci Off The Grid" We used qualitative exploratory research to gain insights about various concepts of “Gucci Off The Grid”, which led to three potential positioning concepts – young, sustainability, and quality. We expect our campaign to convey all these three metrics. The concept aims to show in a rebellious light the luxury and quality of "Gucci Off The Grid" products to sustainability.

STORYLINE At a Gucci party, a group of young people is having fun. One of the ladies just came in and put her "Gucci Off The Grid" bag on the table. The camera zooms in on the bag, and it transfers the shots to the ocean, and a group of people is collecting plastic trash on the beach. Then the camera zooms in on the waves, we can see the plastic trash turns into ECONYL® fabrics, which is being manufactured, and a sewing machine piercing the fabric.

The view snaps back out to the party. The lady grabs the bag, it suddenly turns to water bottles on the table at her touch, and the music and the party stop and stare. She touches the water bottles again, and they snap back into her fabulous bag. At last, the party continues.

EXECUTIONAL TACTICS • Natural turns, compact storyline.

• Connecting rebellious party that represents Gucci lifestyle to sustainability.

• It can be easily shortened into 5-second clips for social media ads.

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PRELIMINARY SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION Comprehension: The selling point of our campaign is sustainable and stylish products for Gen Z and Millennial customers who have both fashionable and environmental consciousness, so to communicate with and not confuse target customers, the information conveyed by the campaign’s video will be concrete as well as easy-to-understand.

Association: The various forms of our campaign’s ads will be launched on the same day at World Oceans Day, June 8, 2021, which can remind customers that "Gucci Off The Grid" is inseparable from sustainability. Besides, our pictures, headlines, brand name, and slogan will convey the same notion of young, sustainability, and quality. There is creative unity so that all the elements reinforce each other.

Persuasion: We will use the persuasion style of entertaining argumentation to persuade target customers.

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MOODBOARD

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STORYBOARD

PART 1: In a Gucci's fancy party, our character just came in, and put down her "Gucci Off The Grid" bag. The camera zooms in on the bag.

PART 2: As the camera zooms in on the bag, the scene snaps to the ocean, and a group of people is collecting plastic trash on the beach. There is a plastic bottle in the ocean that we zoom in on.

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PART 3: Zooming in on the plastic bottle, the scene cuts to the factory where ECONYL® thread is being manufactured.

It cuts again to the Gucci Off The Grid fabric is being sewn.

PART 4: Cut back to the Gucci party, the lady reaches for her bag from offscreen. When she touches the bag, it becomes a pile of water bottles. After a break in the music, the bag becomes a "Gucci Off The Grid" bag again. At last, the party continues.

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MOCKUP PRESENTATION

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BILLBOARD

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PRINT AD

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"STYLE UP" GAME

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GUCCI GO GAME

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SOURCES

Gucci Off The Grid: Sustainable Fashion: GUCCI®. Gucci Off The Grid | Sustainable Fashion | GUCCI®. (2020). https://www.gucci.com/us/en/st/capsule/circular-line-off-the-grid?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhJDIp__x7AIVjZ-zCh0Olw_KEAAYASAAEgKuivD_BwE. Department, P. by S. R., & 14, F. (2020, February 14). Global revenue of the Kering Group, by brand 2019. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/267476/global-revenue-of-the-kering-group-by-brand/.

Radar, M. (2020). The House of Gucci. MediaRadar. https://advertisers.mediaradar.com/the-house-of-gucci-advertising-profile.

Estimate Cost To Build An App. Crowdbotics. (2020). https://www.crowdbotics.com/build-an-app?utm_term=app+development+price.

How Much Does it Cost to Advertise on Instagram? WebFX. (2020). https://www.webfx.com/social-media/how-much-does-it-cost-to-advertise-on-instagram.html.

How to Set the Budget for Your Facebook Ad. Facebook for Business. (2020). https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/lessons/how-to-set-a-facebook-ad-budget.

About Budget. TikTok: Business Help Center. (2020). https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article?aid=6712393859751477254.

Twitter. (2020). Campaign dates and budget. Twitter Business. https://business.twitter.com/en/help/campaign-setup/campaign-dates-and-budget.html.

Johnson, T. (2020, February 25). How Much Do Influencers Charge? Tinuiti. https://tinuiti.com/blog/paid-social/how-much-do-influencers-charge/.

How Much do YouTube Ads Cost? [Updated 2020]. Influencer Marketing Hub. (2020, July 21). https://influencermarketinghub.com/how-much-do-youtube-ads-cost/.

Hoo, F. S., & Binkley, C. (2019, February 5). How much a runway show really costs. Vogue Business. https://www.voguebusiness.com/companies/cost-of-runway-show-christian-siriano-discount-universe.

Matt, M. (2020, October 22). Business Website Setup Cost: Here's How Much You Can Expect To Pay. Digital.com. https://digital.com/how-to-create-a-website/how-much-does-website-cost/.

InStyle 2020 MEDIA KIT. (2016). https://www.instyle.com/promo/2020-media-kit/instyle-media-kit-2020.pdf.

VOGUE MEDIA KIT 2020. (2020). https://cnda.condenast.co.uk/static/mediapack/vg_media_pack_latest.pdf. says:, R., says:, J., says:, L., & says:, M. D. (2020, June 10). How Much Do Billboard Advertisements Cost? 2020 Updated Pricing. DASH TWO. https://dashtwo.com/blog/how-much-does-billboard-advertising-cost/.

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FASH 763 | FASHION PROMOTION | FALL 2020 | PROF. QUY CORY QUACH | BY KELSEY THORTON, ZIYI WANG, SARAH PASSMAN, EVARISTO PEREIRA