SDS: A Gucci Gathering

For our gathering SDS tasks, we were asked to gather information and physical findings of various things for each pathway. I thoroughly enjoyed completing the media and business research in particular and found I was able to learn a lot more about the strategies of Gucci and the different ways their promote and brand themselves.

Design:

For design, we had to create an almost life size mannequin drawing, as for our first session back, we were going to be folding materials over it to create garment constructions. At first, I was quit shocked at the size of drawing we were supposed to produce, but while putting it together, I actually found it quite easy and quick to do.

I started by using glue tape to stick 10 sheets of A4 paper together. I think the glue tape worked quite nicely for this as regular tape would have been more fiddly and would have created plastic lines across the pages.

After this, I actually had to move to my bathroom to sketch the mannequin figure on, as the flat I live in is mostly carpeted, with the only hard surface floors being the bathroom and kitchen. Luckily the space was actually the perfect size for this and I didn’t struggle as much as I initially thought. I sketched first in pencil just in case I made any mistakes with the size, before going over the pencil in a black whiteboard marker (I, unfortunately, didn’t have a Sharpie lying around!).

Pencil sketch
Bathroom set up #thethingswedoasartstudents
Final drawing

Media:

As I would like to explore PR and Communication within my career someday, I found this activity to be rather insightful and allowed me to build upon my knowledge of my brands outreach. It definitely never occurred to me how strong Gucci’s online presence was, as I was researching and making notes on their various campaigns and promotional tools. I learnt about their podcast and Tik Tok platforms and how they utilised these rising forms of social media to create an online interaction with consumers. This makes sense to me with Gucci, as since Michele’s joining particularly, the brand has held a very contemporary energy and it makes sense that this would filter through to their methods of advertising. I also looked further into Harry Styles acting as a promotional muse for the brand and discovered Gucci’s massive digital footprint (that’s only expanded due to COVID)!

From this I came to the conclusion that Gucci’s headstrong approach to digital content has allowed them to connect with a younger demographic o consumers, while still maintaining their luxury status.

For this task, I initially began by making handwritten notes while I was researching, before synthesising this information into a small, unformatted report which shows the 3 examples I chose that I feel are how Gucci displays their brand identity.

(Report document link embedded below)

Gucci-PR-and-Communication-SDS-reportDownload

Business:

For business, we were asked to look at and collect branding and packaging examples, as we’re going to be making our own in this part of the unit. I looked primarily at how Gucci branded themselves and created their packaging, as when I do create my own I want it to be reflective of their brand values and link to their existing packaging features. From this research, I learnt about their 100% recyclable carrier bags and boxes and how this has recently been updated in 2020. Their bags have also updated to be green, compared to the classic black and white simplistic boxing they’re known for. I feel like this really amps up the sustainability aspect of their packaging. Below is a Tik Tok clip of Gucci’s recent packaging update.

@mrsrodial

What do you guys think? #style #fashion #stylingtips #fashiontips #gucci

♬ Walk – Saucy Santana

I also looked at other luxury retailer packaging examples and how they incorporated brand heritage elements into it (Louis Vuitton) or claimed a certain colour (Tiffany and Co.). I also looked at fast-fashion online retailers to gain an insight into the opposite side of the spectrum and saw that they had recyclable packaging with a standard and consistent element of branding on them. ASOS stuck to the classic black and white, while PLT seemed to take it a step further with their signature unicorn logo and an additional carrier handle on their bags for ease of transport.

I had recently made purchases from Boohoo, Pretty Little Thing, and ASOS and took photos of the packaging my orders came in as I thought it would be useful in the future (which evidently it has been)!

(Final research document link embedded below)

Business-branding-and-packaging-examplesDownload

In addition to what we were asked to do, I also began lightly completing a SWOT analysis on Gucci, as I saw this was something we’d be looking at in class in the coming weeks. While I have completed SWOT analysis’ before, I haven’t ever looked at luxury brands and saw this as an opportunity to get a feel of the strengths and opportunities of growth for the company and how this also could relate to how they brand themselves.

Overall, I found these research tasks to be extremely informative and allowed me to expand my breadth of knowledge of Gucci, as well as take a peek into the worlds of PR and communication, branding and packaging. I’m definitely looking forward to the coming business and media sessions and how I develop the work I’ve done into a finished product!

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