How did Gucci manage to become one of the most successful luxury brands in the world?
Gucci is an Italian fashion label founded by Guccio Gucci in 1921, making it one of the oldest Italian fashion brands in operation today, has always projected an aura of elitism and luxury. Like many historic fashion houses, the brand started as a luggage manufacturer, producing luxury travel products and equestrian types of equipment for Italy’s wealthy upper-classes
From the 1950s, Gucci experienced incredible success as a label of choice amongst wealthy travellers, Hollywood stars as well as other well-heeled shoppers. It was renowned for its extravagant and opulent designs.
However, Gucci success is not only limited to the wealthy consumers, recently, but the brand has also started to invade the digital market to reach the young Millenials to increase the brand’s name and it’s profit.
History about the brand
Guccio was a talented leather craftsman who first started selling leather bags to horsemen in 1920s and with changes in time, as horses were removed from the carriages, Guccio quickly changed his style to more high-end luxurious products that attracted many English atrocities. In 1938, Guccio was successful in opening his first retail shop in Rome.
When the brand was at its initial stages, many trademarks of the brand that still persist today were created as Gucci experimented with different textiles like the infamous leather bags with bamboo handles and the red striped webbing (inspired from a saddle’s girth) had become an immortal emblem for the brand. Even under the control of current CEO, Marco Bizzari, Gucci has maintained to be known as a high-end luxury brand and has never targeted audiences that it knows won’t be willing to spend money on its products but regardless of the biggest price hurdles, it has managed to invade many countries with great success. How was this achieved? Yet again, localisation is the route for this success.
Localisation strategies utilised by Gucci:
- Research to know which market consists of young luxury consumers and exploiting collections in accordance with the markets:
The brand has been smart about which market it wanted to break in and in which it did not. In 1953 as Gucci sailed to invade in the American market, it turned out to be the golden era for the brand when the American consumers especially the celebrities popularised the brand with open arms. The brand knew that the film industry was at its peak within American streets- many actors/actresses were being hired or associated with brands- and Gucci being a foreign brand utilised this hype in its full swing to be associated with Elizabeth Taylor and Peter Sellers (a male actor who popularised fashion among men which were not really famous before Gucci conquered the American streets- this too was converted into a collection by localising different styles in accordance to different markets).
Gucci was humble to make a floral scarf for the princess of Monaco — which came to be known as ‘Flora’ signature brand style that today consists of 43 types of flowers in 37 vivid colours (the brand localised this design and converted it to an entire collection because of the success a single exclusive item generated during that time). Since no other luxury brand had done a floral design collection as extravagantly as Gucci did, with the free promotional buzz and the significant contribution within the fashion industry with its brand aesthetic- the east had also started whispering about the brand.
When Gucci expanded to the east, it aimed the Chinese and Japanese consumers as it had done its research to know that most luxury consumers resided within those markets. Another collection was born when the brand was associated with overt sex appeal — an approach no runway had dived in at the time and was gaining attraction not only in the west but east too. The brand was so heavily involved within this collection that it created many ‘scandalous’ advertisements and pictures which resulted in a sale spike of $10 billion profit for Gucci.
Conclude: breaking stereotypes of men not being involved within the fashion industry through its androgynous collection of 2015, Gucci launched this in accordance to the taste preference of its consumer (more than half of it consists of millennials) — as this generation is very versed on the stance of LGBTQ identities. The brand represents the messages its customers believe in and support and carrying on the same line Gucci launched ‘the overt sex appeal collection’ as the youth was breaking the stereotype surrounding women being restricted to embrace themselves openly and also collections surrounding women empowerment.
2. Brand authenticity and integration of technology within the brand:
The brand is not only known for the contribution it has made to the fashion industry but also how it associated fashion to break stereotypes/ boundaries to establish a brand aesthetic of its own. In 2015, the womenswear collection was redesigned to involve androgynous identity fashion into the mix which was another streak success of the brand. Gucci has been a luxury brand that has been able to launch consecutive successful collection by imparting a cohesive message within its advertisements, campaigns, collections and in-store experiences.
Since technology has evolved a lot with time and now plays a major role in millennials and Gen z’s daily routines, Gucci has stepped up than other luxury houses to create more personalised humane services for its smartphone customers. It has opened Florence-based call centres where Gucci’s finest shop assistants expertise are available to customers anywhere and at any time. In the wake of 2020, Gucci plans to open five more stores like the call-centre which promote the feeling of easy accessibility and inclusivity within Gucci customers. The brand wants its staff to form a personalised relationship with its customers (almost the same as the personal store assistant would) and to help grow customer engagement with the brand. Providing easy fashion consultation to its luxury consumers by localising the messages with respect to every customer's cultural sentiments (in different languages) and values will impart the correct brand messages to every part of the world seamlessly (accurate translation and transcreation of products).
Also, the most unique aspect of this brand was the creation of Gucci ArtLab. Within this lab, all Gucci shoes and leather bags are prototyped and is located near the headquarters of the company. This is the only museum made by a luxury house that includes, one, the history of what a brand has achieved (celebrating Gucci’s expansion within the decor and food industry) and second, is also a warehouse for leather goods of a brand- a two in one workplace. This innovation had not been done by any luxury brand before Gucci, therefore, the originality really appealed and attracted several consumers worldwide. Also, the artwork on the building is done by a set of diverse artists whose work have never been compiled together in one place. These new ideas which reflected messages of diversity (a concept that millennials hold really strong opinions on) made the brand stand out on its own and gain relevance in the modern markets globally.
3. Diversity, inclusivity and updated with social trends offline and online
Almost every luxury house within the fashion industry has been criticised for not having a fair representation of gender/race/culture within its workforce. And since sensitive topics like these effects all customers globally- it becomes mandatory for a brand to localise its products to make its customers feel inclusive and provide fair representation for its success. Gucci has always localised its products to fit a diverse range of markets, it was imperative for it to take generation feedback and ideas into consideration too. The brand pursued this by forming a ‘shadow committee’ in its workplace. This committee consists of Gen Z and millennials around the world who often meet with technology experts to discuss ideas and approaches to inculcate within the brand.
Because of the vast inclusive nature and the modern ideologies (diversity, genders, age) that the brand as a whole supports, Gucci has been able to bag loyal customers and a very happy workplace.
Also, since young luxury consumer come to this brand with a very evolved expectation in comparison to the chic and posh style Gucci use to deliver in the 1900s, adaptation to accelerated markets and to be able to localise products quickly and seamlessly (by advertisements launched in different languages and involving cultural tastes within its collection — have become some of the known traits of the brand.
4. Social media utilisation to maintain its global presence
Gucci has always been known to be associated with celebrities and it continues to do so even today. Beyonce (known to be one of the best pop sensational black artists) wore ‘Golden Gucci Suit’ from the brands 2016 collection in her groundbreaking album ‘ Lemonade’ and also showcased the brands' adaptability nature to new trends by featuring Gucci’s crop tops, leggings and high waist booty shorts in her ‘ formation video’ from the same era. Also, Lady Gaga wore a ‘red glittery Gucci suit’ as she performed the national anthem at the super bowl of 2016. These collaborations with famous celebrities influence their fan- audience to buy or gravitate towards Gucci brand and also, represents how in touch is the brand with popular pop cultures.
#Guccigram is the most recent crusade where Gucci also collaborates with visual artists around the globe. Within this crusade, a series of artworks inspired by Gucci’s house prints made by influencers or upcoming artists are submitted. A famous example of this submission could be by @f_fleur (An Nguyen) — where a model of hers holds a Gucci handprint handbag like a scared object.
In Chinese markets, consumers are heavily reliant on Live chats (Wechat) options to interact with brands and give their feedbacks through these digital channels. So, with the representation in the shadow committee and Gucci call centres- the feedbacks of not only Chinese consumers but consumers all around the world is taken into consideration by Gucci.
Besides this, Gucci entered the meme market to launch its new Le Marche des Merveilles collection of watches and a crusade of #TFWC (that feeling when Gucci) was designed by @williamcult (William Ndatila), documentarian @littlebrownmushroom (Alec Soth) and photography team @meatwreck — a team hired by Gucci for the campaign.
Lastly, Gucci remodelled its the website to display its collections as they appear on the runaway. This easy accessibility of the brands work increased their traffic on the website by 10% than its last module. The page has been localised to be translated into different languages for easing customers experience. And every page has an option of customer services which can be used at the customers' convenience for inquiry or to troubleshoot a problem.
It should be noted that localisation within luxury houses and fashion industries happens through artistic inclusivity. Involving cultures, taste preferences and trends in Fashion (imparting messages of gender inclusivity) — within a collection on diversified people is what makes Gucci stands out in comparison to seasonal collection launches of other brands.
By Sneha Rastogi
Team Loc-N-Apps
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