How Gucci Became Gen-Z’s Favorite Luxury Brand

By: Iman Taouil

Since Alessandro Michele became Gucci’s creative director in 2015, the century-old brand’s popularity soared.

Gucci is now the most discussed brand online, with a popularity that also translates into sales. Not only did Gucci’s sales practically double in 2018, but in 2017, more than 55% of Gucci’s sales came from people under 35.

This is a record for a luxury brand. Such popularity can be attributed to different factors in Gucci’s new strategy, driven by Alessandro Michele’s direction.

Pop stars are the ideal brand ambassadors, due to the dedicated nature of their fans who tend to be very active online. Gucci understood this, recruiting pop stars like Harry Styles, Kai from k-pop group Exo, Lana Del Rey, and Jared Leto as global brand ambassadors.

Gucci’s pop stars paid off: the day after Exo’s Kai appeared as a guest in Gucci’s 2019 Cruise collection in Arles, France, the brand’s online mentions peaked and trended on Twitter.

When Harry Styles was announced as a global brand ambassador, Gucci’s online interactions went up by 1245%. Fans share content of their favorite celebrity wearing the brand and sometimes go as far as buying the clothes and accessories themselves.

For those who can’t necessarily afford Gucci’s clothes, the brand has also banked on accessories. Fifty percent of their sales come from accessories, and their slippers and belts, in particular, are some of the most popular ones.

Beyond that, Gucci adapted their collections themselves to the codes of social media. Under Michele, Gucci’s collections have taken a whole new direction.

Logos, flashy colors, original designs, theatrical and dramatic runways. Everything seems to be thought of through the lens of social media, with creations that have viral potential, and that will be widely shared and reposted on Instagram and Pinterest.

There’s a reason why the Internet and social media are such a big part of Gucci’s strategy.

A study led by McKinsey has shown that 40% of luxury purchased are influenced by what consumers see online, which is significant and non-negligible.

This is what led the brand to release an original meme campaign in 2017.

Gucci reached out to social media users known for their memes, provided them pictures and asked them to “meme” them.

The result was then posted on Gucci’s official brand and website. By making sure its online presence is huge and speaking the language of social media, Gucci is securing a wide market.