Gucci, Calvin Klein and Brioni Analysis Essay

Introduction

The fashion industry is continually evolving with time, and the technological advancements have enhanced the change in luxurious products. The fashion industry is affected by the macro-economic difficulties that have adverse impacts on tourism and the sale of luxurious products (Burns et al. 15). E-Commerce has also facilitated the erosion of exclusivity in luxury items. Their desires and value-driven purchases drive consumers. The fashion industry seeks to maintain its business by ensuring social responsibility and sustainability in the market. The fashion industry now focuses on sustainability strategies by formulating policies that improve supply chain management, accountability, and reducing the cost of production (D'Souza 68). The fashion industry also applies the Triple Bottom Line that ensures that the environment, people and profits are all achieved and integrated into the companies' management practices.

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Gucci Analysis and Recent Development

Gucci is an Italian brand that was founded by Guccio Gucci in the year 1921 to produce leather luggage and has since overcome obstacles to become one of the most prestigious and glamorous luxury brands in the fashion industry (Levitt et al. 25). Gucci brand was inspired by the need to satisfy the nobility experienced by the first class of the noble people in society and thus class sensitivity is the significant focal point of the brand. The Gucci brand boasts of servicing the noble class in society some of which include the song stars, aristocrats, and supermodels who are driven by the sense of class nobility (Levitt et al. 25). Gucci operates and deals with the fashion industry that has helped it manage and sustain brand loyalty and reputation.

Gucci operates in personal luxury goods globally which has enhanced the value of the organization to rise significantly from 147 billion Euros in the year 2009 to an estimated cost of 260 billion Euros in the year 2018 (Levitt et al. 26). This value is highly associated with the sales of luxury accessories such as handbags and watches. Reports filed in 2018 provide that Gucci was ranked third in luxury brands globally behind the famous Hermes and Louis Vuitton. In 2018, Gucci recorded a brand value of 22.4 billion dollars representing the largest organization owned by its parent company known as Kering Group (Levitt et al. 26). Gucci manufactures a variety of expensive goods such as handbags, watches, clothing, and wallets. Despite Gucci being a European brand, it has over 520 stores across the world representing the brand with the most stores in the fashion industry.

Since Gucci's main objective is to satisfy the needs of the noble class, most of its goods are very expensive compared to other brands. For instance, Gucci's handbags are valued at over $1000. Gucci also boasts of its online marketing strategy with reports indicating that over 18 million clients visited their websites in the year 2018. Gucci brand also has more than 25 million Instagram followers (Levitt et al. 25).

Some of the recent development of Gucci was the creation of corporate group luxury brands to cover the vast market of luxury retail stores. The Gucci brand has extended its brands to cater for all variety of customers because now their products range from perfumes, accessories, clothes, and shoes (Levitt et al. 26). This brand strategy helps Gucci to cater to clients and customers who purchase more than one brand. The creation of the corporate group luxury has also enhanced the sharing of resources and the achievement of economies of scale.

Today, Gucci operates in multiple brands, but each brand has its own specific DNA and formulated to function independently (Levitt et al. 26). The shared resources are now limited, and the company operates under lean central management that consists of the finance and communication department and human resource department. The idea behind keeping the brands distinct is to help them sustain their individuality and avoid consumer confusion that may result in brand dilution (Levitt et al. 26). The brands also have distinctive creative inputs, but generally, they all share market information, raw materials, technological support, customer information and feedback, and supply chain management among others.

Gucci has also invested in new product development program known as the triangle that enables the company to integrate the consumer feedback into the product design (Levitt et al. 25). The company shares the information with the merchandisers, and the stores send back their weekly feedback based on customers' preferences. The information consists of what works for the customers, how the customers react to the products, and what the stores feel about the products. This information is then converted to match the customers' tastes, and this opens up the creativity of the company (Levitt et al. 25). This strategy is helpful to the company because it ends up producing what it will sell and what satisfies the consumers' needs.

However, this information is criticized for limiting the creativity of the designers because they tend to create what will sell and forget their creativity abilities (Levitt et al. 26). Concentrating too much on the customers' preference also dilutes the company's brand and makes it lose its differentiation strategy and thus becomes an imitation of other brands. However, this triangle program can be enhanced to help the organization in two different ways. The first way is to isolate the designers from the market insights and consumers' feedback when designing the products. After designing, they should then engage to match the products with the customers' preference to enable and guarantee sales. This ensures that the company keeps its differentiation strategy and still meets the consumers' needs. The second way is to maintain communication with the clients after the products have been developed to keep up with the new trends of the market.

Gucci has also developed a new strategy aimed at balancing the creation and marketing of luxury goods with a sustainability agenda. The company's plan seeks to guarantee and disclose the traceability of about 95% of its raw materials (Levitt et al. 25). The strategy aims to meet the Triple Bottom Line by connecting people, environment, and the social impact by showcasing ideas, stories, and science. Gucci is dedicated to match and enhance the values of its customers.

Analysis and Recent Development of Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein was founded in the year 1968, and it is based in New York City. The company was initially established to sell women's coats, but in the year 1971, Klein decided to add a section of sportswear to the existing designs of coats, lingerie and blazers (Kontu et al. 235). Klein is also famous for starting a revolution in the advertising industry by advertising jeans that were considered sexy and more practical (Kontu et al. 235). Calvin Klein also changed the advertising industry by being the first brand to advertise men's boxers as being desirable and not just functional. Kate Moss rose to fame, and the face of the brand enabled the company to rise during the 1990s. However, in 2003, the company was sold to Phillips Van who acted as the creative director of the company (Kontu et al. 238). The brand now manufactures and sells men's and women's clothing, sportswear, shoes, bags, underwear, watches, belts, sunglasses, fragrance, and jewellery.

Calvin Klein is known for taking a seductive approach to fashion with its reputation and brand image enhanced through the vast and distinctive marketing strategies. The brand engages its consumers with intimate, classic, modern and iconic imagery of what lifestyle and fashion ought to be. The company's objective is to portray a consistent message to its consumers of their experienced creativity mixed with the media coverage of seductive appeal (Kontu et al. 240). The brand is also recognized for its honesty and authenticity. Considering its success over the years, Calvin Klein is also regarded as one of the most reliable fashion brands. The company, however, seeks to portray a general picture of a minimalist and a perfect image. This is supported by the company's logo that is kept simple with the brand's labels to the products. The logo consists of 'cwk Calvin Klein' in a black font displayed in a white background that depicts the company's simplicity (Kontu et al. 237). The company seeks to satisfy the needs of consumers looking for fashionable, comfortable, and sexy underwear.

The consumers of Calvin Klein mostly consist of the young generation of ages between 15 and 30 who always want to look fashionable with simple clothes (Kontu et al. 237). The consumers of Calvin Klein are targeted through the use of social media and celebrities who represent the face of the brand. Calvin Klein consumers are interested in iconic looks and styling that is mixed with the sexy aesthetic and current fashion trends. Calvin Klein targets the young generation especially the teens who actively respond to the scandalous allegations of the bran's advertisement. Despite having a regular spending pattern from the teens, they are always intrigued by Calvin Klein's style. The brand thus focuses on individuals with high disposal salaries and are trendy and fashion conscious. The company also target consumers whose primary interests and apparel include music, photography, and entertainment (Kontu et al. 241). The consumers of Calvin Klein are known to be engaged in social media with very open minds especially when it comes to fashion.

Calvin Klein products are goods with high and moderate prices that are affordable to the young generation found in their retail markets. With the market competition, the company stocks high-level apparel in a single store in the market. The brand attracts loyal consumers by sticking to the classic and minimalistic designs that differentiate them with their competitors (Kontu et al. 236). The brand has several stores across the globe with Phillips Van administration extending the brand image to Asia. Phillips Van Heusen emphasizes on the need for maintaining and sustaining the brand's creative design, advertising, product development and the company's operations. The brand differentiates itself in the market by selling quality, sexy and comfortable products produced from high-quality fabrics. Calvin Klein's recent development includes integrating a new global creative strategy that involves unifying and merging all Calvin Klein's brands into one creative vision (Kontu et al. 246).

Calvin Klein is known for its seductive advertisements that create a lot of controversy in the advertising sector. Reports suggest that in 2015, over 320 million dollars was spent in marketing and advertising of the brand (Kontu et al. 241). The campaign of Calvin Klein brand involves displaying the face of the brand with famous personalities such as musicians, athletes, actors and actresses, professional models and fashion icons such as Kate Moss, Cameron Dallas, and Bella Hadid among others. The advertising campaign involves encouraging consumers and celebrities to post pictures of themselves with the caption of "I ...in #mycalvins." The campaign is posted all over social media, media channels and billboards all aimed to cover the communication mixes of the brand. The images portrayed during advertisements portray a sexy and intimate sense that the brand seeks to communicate. The company also promotes its public relations by relying on celebrity gifting and endorsement; for instance, the company has profited from Justin Bieber's social media followers.