Gucci’s Marketing Strategies and Examples Through Years

Since it’s humble beginnings as a leather goods importer in 1921 by Guccio Gucci, the Italian brand went on to beat the posh fashion industry because of some progressive, and even disruptive marketing strategies. Among countless other fashion houses that claim exclusivity and sophistication, Gucci’s marketing strategy takes all that and goes against the grain to place the brand’s uniqueness forward. It’s secret to success is, doing what many luxury marketing agencies would advise the brand to not. From capitalizing on icons of the age to sailing on progressive currents, let’s see what Gucci got right.

Gucci’s Marketing & Advertising Strategies and Examples 

Initially, the Gucci brand’s marketing strategy was to depend on word-of-mouth to advertise its high-quality, hand-made leather goods. In the 1950’s, the brand expanded its product range to incorporate able to wear clothing and accessories across the time it also began to employ celebrities and actresses to advertise the posh lifestyle of Gucci.

The Jackie Bag and Grace Kelly’s “Flora”

Gucci’s international marketing strategy focused on celebrity endorsements from early on. Documented by quite a few paparazzi photographs, Jackie Kennedy’s fondness of the Gucci bag “Fifties Constance” resulted in an organic global marketing opportunity for the brand to capitalize on. The old name was forgotten, it was now called the Jackie Bag. Gucci’s efforts to broaden their goal markets to incorporate the US gathered momentum through magazine ads with glamorous models and actresses fashioning the Jackie Bag.

As much because the Jackie Bag represented its namesake’s refined and luxurious style, Gucci’s global marketing strategy matched one other American sweetheart with a singular product. When Grace Kelly, or Princess Grace of Monaco on the time, visited the posh fashion brand’s flagship store in Milan, Rodolfo Gucci wished to present her with a present befitting her elegant and restrained femininity. So, the “Flora” print containing 43 varieties flowers, plants and insects was born to encapsulate the Princess’s elegance. The print endured and became a staple in the long run collections of the style house.

Gucci’s marketing strategy was realistically considered one of the primary to leverage celebrity endorsement to expand their reach to a worldwide audience. Prestigious reputations of icons like Jackie Kennedy and Grace Kelly meshed well with the brand’s identity and their customer base. Renowned celebrities marketed the Gucci spirit of elegance, but now the brand needed a recognizable signature. Creation of the now-iconic double-G logo around the identical time encapsulated the brand’s image within the print ads, but most prominently the symbol of luxury and status was featured within the GG canvas, a material patterned with the brand’s logo utilized in a lot of Gucci’s products.

The Tom Ford Era that Shook the Fashion Industry

Throughout the 60s and 70s, Gucci’s marketing strategy of celebrity endorsements and promotion of an opulent lifestyle propelled the brand into distinguishing itself amongst the posh brands on this planet. In the Eighties, Gucci enjoyed a period of high revenue but in later years the brand fell out of vogue. The fashion house then hired Tom Ford as Creative Director to interrupt out of this slump. Under his vision, Gucci’s marketing strategy took a very daring turn.

In addition to expanding the product range to incorporate fragrance and eyewear, the brand new designer intended to make what was seen as old fashioned luxury, sexy. From then on, Gucci’s marketing material purposefully disrupted the social norms with provocative imagery. In defiance to the standard, restrained beauty luxury brands wrapped themselves in, Gucci was not afraid of playing into customers’ more primal desires. So, Tom Ford’s creative vision took ‘sex sells’ to an entire other level. The modernized Gucci clothing items were promoted with models in sexually suggestive poses. Tom Ford intentionally raised controversy and promoted the brand’s transformation through shock value. It was a bet well played. Gucci solidified its image as cutting-edge within the saturated fashion industry through Nineties and 2000s.

Familiar Faces, Familiar Patterns

After celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the Flora print with a revival, Gucci leaned into its tried and true marketing strategy of matching beloved faces and classical products in promoting the Flora fragrance with Miley Cyrus. The campaign was announced via a colourful video on the official instagram page which the brand’s designer says was inspired by the singer’s funky spirit and the anime world. 

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Especially adept at sniffing out stars, Gucci paired up with Dakota Johnson to advertise the Jackie 1961 in an homage to the classic. Undergoing a bohemian, inclusive and gender-neutral revival, the brand brought in Harry Styles, amongst others, to do a chat show called “The Beloved Show” with James Corden. The fashion house is just not just in it for a famous face, relatively they’re set on teaming up with the appropriate celebrity that reflects the brand’s message and identity appropriately.

Meme Marketing and a Progressive Spirit

How Gucci reaches its audience on instagram and other social media is one other thing the brand goes against the traditional logic. While other luxury brands prefer to maintain a distance from fans, Gucci’s social media marketing strategy embraces the present culture, even going so far as using memes to advertise its watches. The campaign “That Feeling When Gucci” uses the brand name as an adjective meaning luxurious and engages with the younger fans via the quirkiness of the web age.

The unconventional luxury brand is just not afraid of taking risks if it means reaching a wider audience and putting its own name forward. Many other luxury brands embrace an almost unreachable image, but Gucci is a maverick. The brand simply sets its own rules. Strategy of Gucci has all the time been to face out. The fashion house is just not excited by being unreachable, it’s busy being irreplaceable.