Gucci is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include Gucci bags, Gucci shoes, footwear, and accessories, makeup, fragrances, and home decoration.
Why Is Gucci So Expensive?
Gucci is so expensive thanks to the brand’s rich heritage and smart business strategy. The Italian brand combines unique elements of design and clever marketing to create consumer desire and high demand. But, there’s much more than that…
Gucci bags have a rich history with royals, politicians, heads of state, movie stars, a history that confers the Italian label with a unique sense of prestige, status, and desirability. Nowadays, the brand is hailed as a high-end designer brand name that confers the wearer’s instant social status.
According to the brand’s marketing ads, Gucci men is a brand that charges “as much as people are willing to pay”. Similar to other luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci’s products are equally expensive, and there are reasons for that.
First, it does not target or cater to all buyers but only selected categories of consumers. As is the case of most labels selling luxury items, the high price becomes a form of client selectivity.
Second, it banks on a strategy that allows the upper class to emphasize their status and prestige. For example, Gucci’s logo suggests that the buyers are of high class, have good taste, high class, and have a strong financial background.
Not everyone can afford to buy it and that alone confers the brand a sense of sophistication, status, and prestige. The same applies to its expensive products:
While some customers cannot wrap their minds around the fact that a Gucci sunglasses can top over $500, loyal brand fans don’t mind the high prices.
If its products were budget-priced, the usual clientele would stop buying the brand for losing exclusivity. The presence of a Gucci logo suggests that the owner has good taste, solid financial standing, and demands the best.
Why is Gucci so popular?
Gucci’s popularity can be attributed to its ability to attract young consumers. According to Forbes, millennials and Gen Z formed the majority of buyers of its products. Other factors such as reputation, exclusivity and celebrity association can explain its popularity. This has been achieved through online solid marketing techniques, in-store experiences and digital ecosystem integration. The company also increased its popularity among young consumers by showcasing fashion with references to pop culture and fresh designs’ introduction.
Millennials and Gen Z love Gucci products, as highlighted in an article by Forbes. A report by The Lyst Index in 2018 indicated that more than half of its overall sales were contributed by the Millenials. The embracing and acceptance of the brand by the Millennials means the younger generations will similarly like its products.
Many can equate clientele exclusivity with the name. While other expensive brands produce their products in bulk, Gucci opted for exclusivity and intelligent marketing strategies. This exclusivity attracts more consumers as everyone wants to show off their only product.
Worldwide presence is key to being a popular brand in luxury goods. Gucci’s worldwide reach beyond the fashion industry can explain its popularity. Besides fashion, it has target consumers comprise the music, automotive industry, furniture buyers and makeup industry.
Its worldwide reputation has also resulted from the high-quality standards, unique designs, and intelligent and aggressive marketing strategies. Clearly Gucci understood the concept of protect your character and it will protect your reputation as highlighted by Dwight Lyman Moody. The long struggle, history and heritage of Gucci makes it a reputable brand known all over the globe.
What are Gucci controversies?
In April 2016, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority banned a Gucci online video ad because it starred an “unhealthily thin” model.
In February 2019, Gucci removed a black balaclava sweater with a rollup collar and a cut-out red-lipped mouth from its shelves after it had been compared to a blackface costume. Alessandro Michele responded that his inspiration came from the flamboyant Leigh Bowery but apologized for the way it had been interpreted. To address this issue, the company launched the ‘Gucci North America Changemakers Scholarship’ program dedicated to foster diversity within the fashion industry with a $5-million annual fund to support non-profits and community-based programs involved with “the African-American community and communities of color at-large”.
In May 2019, the Sikhs community in India criticized Gucci’s cultural appropriation of a religious item when the Italian brand commercialized turbans at $800 apiece. In July 2019, the company appointed a Global Head of Diversity to address the brand’s latest issues with cultural diversity. In October 2019, Gucci launched a $1.5-million scholarship program for US students traditionally underrepresented in the fashion industry.
In May 2019, Kering agreed to pay a $1.25-billion tax settlement with the Italian fiscal authorities following Gucci’s tax irregularities during the 2011-2017 fiscal period. During a September 2019 show that resembled a défilé of mental patients, catwalk model Ayesha Tan Jones held up their hands-on which “mental health is not fashion” was written, a reaction to the brand’s inappropriate commercial use of the imagery of mental illness.
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