In 1921, Guccio Gucci opened a leather goods company and a small boutique for travel bags in his native town, Florence. After working in England for several years, he introduced the English style in Italy through leather goods.
In a few years, the brand became very successful and attracted a sophisticated international clientele that was fond of its first collection, which is inspired by the equestrian world. The Gucci Company was thus born.
Gucci experienced a worldwide success during the twentieth century until 1999, when it was bought by PPR, while it was positioned as the number one luxury Italian brand (and a must-have brand of luxury in the world).
The group now represents 17.1% of Gucci's total revenues of PPR. Within the group, like Gucci, there are various luxury brands like Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent etc. Gucci operates in various areas: jewelry, watches, perfumes, makeup, and beauty products. Here too, the classification of each class of the Company's products is distributed in the total turnover.
In addition, the group is present in the all major luxury markets in the world and targets the places where the growth dynamics are the most promising, such as Europe or the United States. The geographical distribution of the sales of the company is very well illustrated.
In April 2004, Tom Ford, creative director, and Domenico de Sole, the charismatic manager of the Gucci, left the firm. In July 2004, the Gucci Group introduced the Dutchman, Robert Polet, to replace the CEO Domenico De Sole.
After a rich past of 26 years at Unilever, Robert Polet enjoys an outstanding international management experience and extensive knowledge of brand development in a multicultural environment. His mission is to double sales by 2011 using existing management techniques that had made its success at Unilever (market research, product launch and burst hype). These management methods have completely redefined the model of brand growth.
The first change was to assign deputy roles for each sector of activity. Frida Giannini, responsible for accessories (bags, shoes and jewelry). Alessandra Facchinetti for ready-to-wear
and John Ray, head of collections for men.
According to Robert Polet, "the creative need to work closely with product managers and those responsible for development shops." The brand's success is based on the perfect balance between tradition and innovation. Gucci uses highly skilled craftsmen and implements production processes of high technology.
The second measure taken by Robert Polet was to encourage managers to take a lesson from Zara that clients in this chain of mid-range clothing stores visit 17 times a year when compared to the 4 times for buyers of Gucci.
Tags: Gucci, marketing strategy of Gucci, Robert Polet
[...] In the first half of 2006, the sales of Gucci increased by 21%. And Gucci is now considered the "cash machine" of PPR thanks to its soaring profits. This company represents 10% of the turnover of the group and contributes to 45% of its results. Gucci embodies the positive current of PPR but the other subsidiaries are not doing so well. Francois Henry Pinault obviously hopes to strengthen the group's presence in the market for luxury products of the turnover of the group is achieved through its polar distribution. [...]
[...] This communication policy, combined with fashion shows, better advertising, public relations, special events, fresh interiors and shop-windows helped to preserve the exclusivity of the brand, while providing a high quality image and high visibility/. At the same time it also strengthened its position on the international, national and local luxury markets. Gucci has confirmed its unique potential for growth in important product categories and regions worldwide, through creativity and innovation of its product offering, supported by the strengthening its communication policy and the development of its premium articles. II. Changes in the marketing mix A. The situation: In April 2004 Tom Ford and De Sole left Gucci. [...]
[...] The rebranding of Gucci A. The arrival of Robert Polet In April 2004, Tom Ford, the art director and Domenico de Sole and the charismatic manager of the firm left Gucci. In July 2004, Gucci introduced the group a new CEO to replace Domenico De Sole. This was the Dutch Robert Polet. Robert Polet was appointed Chairman and Director General of the Gucci Group after of Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole left. He had 26 years worth of experience at Unilever and enjoyed an outstanding international management experience and extensive knowledge of brand development in a multicultural environment. [...]
[...] The most effective method to give the consumers the image that they desire is to adapt the characteristics of the product so that it sends out a special message or a well defined picture. The image that Gucci wished to send was that of luxury. However, the characteristics of the product consist of, among others, design, packaging and material. So, there are many elements that are under the responsibility of the creative and artistic director. Indeed, the function of the artistic director is to give a graphic identity to the product. [...]
[...] The rebranding of Gucci A. The arrival of Robert Polet B. The communication policy II. Changes in the marketing mix A. The situation B. Reasons for success III. The new marketing strategy A. The strengths and weaknesses of the new strategy B. One solution: a creative collaboration with the marketing department Conclusion Introduction In 1921, Guccio Gucci opened a leather goods company with a small shop that sold travel bags in his native town of Florence. After working for several years in England, he introduced English style in Italy through leather goods. [...]
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