Are some luxury brands selling out just to remain relevant and connect with millennials? We look at Dolce Gabbana's recent strategy shift to focus solely on millennials and their attempts at multicultural targeting. We also look at the intersection between 'the brand' & 'designers' themselves - the halo effect across both and its impact on brand equity and sales.

1. ‘PLEASE YOU DON’T BUY MY FASHION
ANYMORE….IGNORANT CUSTOMER’
STEFANO
GABBANA
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

2. ONCE UPON A TIME I REALLY
LIKED DOLCE & GABBANA –
SO WHAT WENT WRONG?
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

3. Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

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5. THE PEOPLE $POKE &YOU LI$TENED
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

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7. 7
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

8. Dolce & Gabanna’s multi cultural
targeting attempts & and lack of
consumer empathy/ understanding were
often met with controversy & back lash
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

9. AFRICAN AMERICAN’S
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

10. CHINESE / HONG KONG
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11. CHINESE / MAINLAND CHINA
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12. MUSLIM WOMEN
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13. LGBT COMMUNITY
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15. D&G SALES DID DROP PROMPTING A
STRATEGY CHANGE IN 2017 – FOCUS
ON MILLENNIALS (VS. CORE TG)
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

16. D&G 2017 PROFITS
MORE LINKED TO GLOBAL LUXURY MARKET
GROWTHVS. STRATEGY CHANGE
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

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18. DOLCE & GABBANA
PANDER TO A YOUNGER GENERATION
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

19. DOLCE & GABBANA
PANDER TO A YOUNGER GENERATION
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

20. YET SEEM TO HAVE AVERY NARROW
UNDERSTANDING OF MILLENNIALS
AND EVEN MANAGE TO ANTAGONIZE
‘YOUR’ NEW TARGET
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

21. Raury On His Dolce & Gabbana Runway Protest:" I Really Felt This
Mockery Of Boycotting”
The artist an anti-trump stance while modelling fir the fashion brand in
milan.
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

22. D&G BACKLASH OVER CALLING
SELENA GOMEZ ‘UGLY’
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

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24. BODY SHAMING IN A ‘BODY POSITIVE’
MILLENNIAL WORLD
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

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26. YET OPTED THAT CARDI B
(EX. STRIPPER) IS A SUITABLE
BRAND AMBASSADOR
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

27. EVEN DRESSING HER FOR THE NY FASHION WEEK
( WHERE SHE STARTED A FIGHT ,THREW HER SHOE
AND RIPPED HER DOLCE & GABBANA DRESS)
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

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31. 3 FUNDAMENTAL FLAWS AND 2 WATCH OUT’S
WATCH-OUT
! Under supporting their core
business & consumer in
terms of product offering and
communication
! Questionable choice of
brand ambassadors vis-a-ve
brand essence/equity
FLAWS
! Lack of ‘deep’ cultural &
multicultural understanding
! Lack of consumer
empathy ;under estimating
the power that words,
personal opinion & social
media have on brand
perception ( and business)
! A paradox between the brand
essence and brand designers/
guardians publicized opinions Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

32. DOLCE & GABBANA
NEED TO START BY
TRUTHFULLY
ANSWERING KEY
FUNDAMENTAL
QUESTIONS..
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

33. Q)WHAT DOES DOLCE AND
GABBANA STAND FOR NOW
AND IS IT TRUE TO ITS STATED
‘BRAND ESSENCE’?
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

34. Q)WHAT DOES DOLCE AND
GABBANAVALUE MORE NOW?
PURE FINANCIAL GAIN , EVEN IF
THAT MEANS SACRIFICING
LEGACY OR LEGACY WHILE
MAINTAINING HEALTHY PROFITS?
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

35. Q)DOES DOLCE & GABBANA
NEED TO REVISIT ITS BRAND
ESSENCE AND FULLY
COMMIT TO WHAT IT 'NOW'
WANTS TO BE?
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

36. Q) ARE STEFANO GABBANA &
DOMENICO DOLCE ‘THE
BRAND’? DO THEIR WORDS
SPEAK AND REPRESENT DOLCE
& GABBANA?
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

37. THE ANSWERS WILL TAKE US
BACK TO BASICS TO ‘REALIGN’
THE BRAND WITH ITS DNA
AND WHAT IT WANTS TO BE
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

38. IN THE MEANTIME – THE ONGOING
STRATEGY NEEDS TO BE RE VISITED -1
• Be inclusive : do not alienate your core target
by focusing solely on millennials through brand
ambassadors , brand communication & catwalk
collections . Define your target through mindsets
and cultural connections that are true to the
brand’s essence/ DNA vs. simply demographics.
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

39. IN THE MEANTIME – THE ONGOING
STRATEGY NEEDS TO BE RE VISITED-2
• In-depth Research & local insights –
truly understand your core / broad ,
multicultural , cultural , geo graphical target.
Do not under estimate millennials and other
multi cultural segments through insights that
merely skim the surface and creating brand
communication / engagements based on
them
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

40. IN THE MEANTIME – THE
ONGOING STRATEGY NEEDS TO
BE RE VISITED-3
• Be authentic and loyal to your
target groups. Brands love loyal
customers and customers expect loyal
brands.Your perceived lack of authenticity
stems from an inability to truly understand
the target group / multicultural segments
and creating communication based on
superficial observations.‘Be Real’
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

41. IN THE MEANTIME – THE ONGOING
STRATEGY NEEDS TO BE RE VISITED-4
• ‘Loose lips sink ships’- This is ultimately
the brand that Stefano & Dominico created –
the intersection between brand owners and
‘the brand’ needs to be defined.This is
ultimately a business and the bottom line
counts – however, their words and actions also
do affect the bottom line, brand image and
brand equity. Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

42. • Dolce and Gabbana had a great legacy and
product positioning – it would be a shame to
sell out / tarnish it purely for financial gain.
Maybe creating a line extension with a
different brand essence and target group is
the answer. Perhaps.
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

43. ALL I KNOW IS THAT I MISS DOLCE
GABBANA SADLY I HAVE A FEELING I
KNOW WHAT STEFANO GABBANA
WOULD SAY ..
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist

44. THANK YOU
By: Karim Fahmy
Brand Strategist & Architect
Karim.a.m.fahmy@gmail.com
References shared separately
Karim Fahmy - Brand Strategist