Like most of us, in recent years I've been captivated by the Gucci charm. When I started to dive-in and research the brand, I discovered that much like in their designs, Gucci invests a lot of creative thinking into their strategic business initiatives. This, while expressing a great deal of respect for their customer-base, and while creating an open dialog with them. I am sure that anyone who deals with fashion - whether a small brand or a large company - would be happy to dive into the numbers, data and methods of Gucci.

1. Gucci Learns
From the
Millennials

2. At the end of 2014, in light
of a steady decline in sales,
a new CEO - Marco Bizarre -
was appointed to Gucci
fashion house.

3. The first decision he had
to make was regarding
the appointment of a new
art director for the brand.

4. In order to understand what kind of
lead-designer Gucci needed,
Bizarre conducted a series of
interviews with designers in various
departments of the company.

5. Alessandro Michele,
Head of the Gucci
accessories
department,
where he had
been working for 12
years, was Bizarre’s
perfect choice.

6. Michele was familiar
with all the Gucci
departments,
production
possibilities, talent
and staff from the
inside.

7. These
decisions of
Bizarre turned
out to be
monumental
and made
history in
terms of
fashion, styling,
textiles and the
luxury brands
market.

8. Gucci did not stop with "just" having
the gifted designer Alessandro
Michele. The brand systematically
continues to take strategic steps in-
order to ensure the dominance of
Gucci for many years to come.

9. I would like to present you
with one of the cornerstones
of Gucci's overall strategy:
listening to Millennials,
of course!

10. So how this does actually happen,
and how has it contributed to the
company's economic success
in the past two years?

11. #1
Utilizing
social
networking
to connect
today with
the clients of
tomorrow

12. Gucci’s Instagram account shows a
lot of respect for the young audience,
which looks for authentic content
with added value

13. The user base on social
networks is young and not
always financially equipped,
but this did not matter to
Gucci.
Gucci leverages this young
and super-conscious
audience to create a buzz
around the brand's new line
of design - turning curious
followers on Instagram into
potential buyers.

14. #2
Brainstorming
with a
"Millennials
Commission"

15. Gucci’s "Millennials Commission" is a
group of company employees under the
age of 30, that Marco Bizarre the CEO
meets with, from time to time.

16. "The meetings includes discussions
about the same issues that are
discussed at the regular senior
management meetings, as well as
discussions about new and different
processes in the company", Bizarre said.
In addition, Bizarre also frequently
meets with young employees for lunch,
and asks each of them for three ideas on
how to improve the company.

17. Gucci seemed to have found
a good way to communicate
with the young and
desirable market share in
the simplest way:
by listening to them.

18. #3
Millennials -
Not only in
the West

19. In June 2017, Gucci launched an
e-commerce site in China..
Customers in China now have the
ability to purchase the entire
product range of the collection;
clothing, accessories, and
jewelry.

20. The site is aimed at
smartphone users (most
of the purchases in
China are made via
smartphones). It also
offers convenient
payment options through
the popular Chinese
payment platforms
Alipay and WeChat.

21. Once again, Gucci
introduces an
approach to
communicating with
customers in a
"language" its
customers know
(hence using Alipay
and WeChat), while
finding its way to
create a relationship
with a young, new and
curious market.

22. There is no doubt that Gucci puts
the young customer at the center,
whether he or she has the means to
buy a Gucci handbag or not.

23. From the moment Gucci defined what
type of clients they want, the brand
successfully created an open dialogue
with them, through several channels
(like the examples above) and further
nurtured these connection

24. In my opinion, Gucci is an excellent and
important example of a brand that respects
the design process, but also does not forget
up-to-date discourse with its current and
future clientele.
This way, Gucci manages to remain relevant,
and to emphasize the importance of being up-
to-date and modern - even as a 96-year-old
fashion house.