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Case Study - Consumer Behavior And Gucci Brand

Awareness
Consumer Behaviour (Coventry University)

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b. How does this brand successfully gets into the “consideration set” of consumers
who want to satisfy that need?

In the modern marketplace, customers face such an enormous variety of products, that
when it comes to a purchase decision, they tend to reduce the number of alternatives
that they are going to consider on buying. This subset of brands termed as a
“consideration set” emerges as a natural consequence of the limited information
processing abilities consumers have and the need to decrease the cost information
search to feasible levels (simplify decision making). It also appears as a result of their
own personal screening criteria, that combines both a deliberate and an unconscious
process, and is the first step on habits and brand loyalty developement.

This personal process is base don both internal and external research. Therefore,
beggins with a previous set, the “awareness set”, which excludes brands that the
customer doesn’t know about, and so ​includes all of the brands that would come to the
customer’s mind when it’s time to make a purchase decision. Without awareness there
is no brand value, as it indicates how strongly a brand is associated with a category of
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products or services.
Then, after becoming aware of certain brands, we find a higher standard, which is brand
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familiarity: it is a measure of the knowledge a customer has about the brand , (those
brands are more likely to be trusted) and it is a step closer in the process of purchasing.
However, withing that group of familiar brands, there will only be some of them that
consumers will actively consider on buying. Those are the “realistic” options, and they
can be selected according to different factors such as brand awareness, previous
exposure or price.

These factors depend on both internal and external research. In fact, at first, customers
usually consider an initial set of brands based on perceptions and exposure to recent
touch points, and then, they start an active evaluation based on reviews, word-of-mouth
recommendations and in-store interactions (among others).

Now, we are going to analyze Gucci's way to enter into the consideration set of its
consumers:

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http://www.mertonadams.com/2012/03/awareness-vs-familiarity/
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http://www.mertonadams.com/2012/03/awareness-vs-familiarity/

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1. First, we find brand awareness. Gucci raises awareness through advertising: ads on
TV, double-page spreads in magazines or sponsorship in tennis matches and golf
tournaments. In addition, the brand fosters positive word-of-mouth, since its name is
based on prestige.

So, basically, as ​Gucci meets the requirement to extend brand awareness, consumers
that want to purchase good quality and luxurious clothes will recognize the brand as a
posible future option.

2. The fact that people recognise the brand, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be part
of their consideration set. Of course, the “people” we are talking about would be the
target market, and that is to say, the public to whom the products are aimed.

So, how does the brand successfully get into the “consideration set” of its target market?
It is mainly through brand-name imprinting and positioning:

BRAND- NAME IMPRINTING.

Customers usually exclude brands that have weak or unfavourable associations, and
lack of a unique benefit, so no brand wants its products to have a weak imprinting: to be
associated to a too broad category (too much characteristics so customers can’t manage
to associate the brand with any of them, this is, information overload) or usage situation.
Gucci is no exception: the Company wants to occupy a niche on the mind of its
consumers.

Thus, it developes a strong brand image: italian luxury brand of leather and brand
products.3 This image is the center of the positioning of the Company.

POSITIONING:

With this, we refer to the place that a product occupies in the mind of its consumers,
compared to its competitors.

Gucci has a very strong positioning strategy. This is due to the fact that in the luxury
brands market, one of the requirements to succeed among high-end clients is the
promotion of highly differentiated products in terms of price, quality and design. It is a
sector in which the prestige of the brand is very important, such that it generates a great
barrier to the entry of new competitors.

Therefore, if you, as a new company, do not have a brand name from the beginning, it is
difficult for the habitual consumers of these brands to decide to buy your products. They
have a certain lack of consumer inovativeness, as most of the customers are quite
traditional (in terms of their values), but once the brand is well established in the
market, they are loyal. So it is a market in which it is difficult to enter, but once inside,
it is quite likely that you will get benefits.

3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gucci

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Regarding the factors that are determined by Gucci’s positioning, we will analyze them
briefly:

High quality products​:

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They are manufactured, made with good raw materials (i.e., pima cotton instead of
regular one). But, the quality of the materials will only be noticeable for those who have
certain experience on pruchasing good quality products. The brand products last longer,
feel and look better.

Advertising​:

As we have mentioned before, ads

are the first step on brand awareness,
and highly reflect positioning. As
they are intended to build up the
external perception of the brand, the
type of ads that the company
broadcasts are focused on the tastes
and activities that only high-end
clients usually do on a regular basis.
For example, Gucci is a sponsor in
elite sports such as tennis or golf.

Price​.

Customers are paying for quality and prestige, as price acts as a status symbol, it infers
quality (in fact, customers are paying for the cost of perceiving Gucci as a luxury
brand). It is difficult for the average person to buy clothes from the brand on the daily,
so even though customers will be paying more than the clothes are effectively worth, it
is
is compensated for the acquired prestige.

This is key to Gucci’s success, they don’t want their products to be too affordable, even
though they could be. It’s strategy is based on selling a few products at a higher price,
instead of a lot of products at a lower price, so they end up gaining a similar amount of
money (i.e, selling a thousand skirts at 90€ will provide the brand almost the same
amount as 300 at 290€). Exclusivity is the core of Gucci’s positioning.

Logo:

https://www.quora.com/Why-can-Gucci-and-top-luxury-brands-sell-a-shirt-for-so-much-Is-it-the-quality
-How-are-Polo-and-Gucci-shirts-different-and-how-do-they-sell-higher

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This is linked to brand imprinting, as the logo is the first thing that potential customers
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connect with the brand, and it gives them a first impression of the Company . With
regards to Gucci, it has an easily recognizable logo, which links with the image of the
Company: simple but elegant.

Packaging:

Correct packaging can

convey many things of
the brand: from the
characteristics of the
product to the values ​of
the Company.

Gucci knows it, and puts

it into practice with colors and in general, a package that transmits simplicity, safety and
purity6. Furthermore, as environmental awareness is increasing, the brand has begun to
use 100% recyclable materials in the packaging of its products7.

Salespersons:

It is very important for a company that its salespeople communicate the style of the
company. And Gucci's salespeople are completely in tune with this image, they even
share some physical characteristics such as being tall, beautiful or having modern
haircuts.8

Influencers:

Nowadays, it is very important for companies to use influencer marketing, which is

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focused on targeting certain people that have power to influence potential buyers .
These are named influencers, and marketing activities are oriented around them.

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​https://www.twago.es/blog/la-importancia-de-tener-un-buen-logotipo/
6
https://retailminded.com/4-reasons-why-product-packaging-is-important/
7
​http://www.swedbrand-group.com/blog/did-you-know-that-guccis-packaging-is-100-recyclable
8

https://books.google.ie/books?id=XRTEc9-JwU0C&pg=PA211&lpg=PA211&dq=gucci+salesperson+chara
cteristics&source=bl&ots=hs5F48knW_&sig=SWddMRmFO0yf6KcA63CdD_-7v4Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ah
UKEwjYwcCm8L3XAhXrAMAKHaz6D_UQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=gucci%20salesperson%20characteristic
s&f=false

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​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influencer_marketing

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At the moment, Gucci is doing it right, by being considered as the top brand in study of
social media influencers, it is the top brand in terms of social media mentions, likes or
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reads by "key opinion leaders"
These are some examples of Gucci’s most important influencers:

http://keyhole.co/influencers/3wz39M/Gucci

c. How does the brand successfully close the deal?

As we have mentioned in previous answers, Gucci manages to combine good quality,
fashion and luxury, all in one. These are key elements to its positioning and hence,
reflect the brand’s image.
We have already explained how Gucci manages to get in the consideration set of its
consumers, but how does it stay in the at the time of purchase?
After building up the initial consideration set and have an active evaluation of it, we
face the moment of purchase, which can be influenced by various factors such as
sampling, merchandising, sales staff, placement…

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http://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/gucci-top-social-media-brand-10519420/

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Some of these factors have already been mentioned on previous phases (regarding the
consideration set), but it is due to the fact that they can be crucial on different steps of
the process.
One of the questions we asked in the survey was focused on the determining factors
when buying Gucci products, and we came to the conclusion that there were 3 factors
that were determining.

1. Of course, as with any other brand, the design, style and quality of the product is
essential at the time of purchase.

2. Merchandising. There are several aspects of its merchandising that influence the
purchase of the brand's products. For example, the packaging (which has been already
mentioned), and the store decoration were two factors that were specially mentioned by
our respondents.
➢ Packaging. It can be a factor that influences both at the time of consideration set
as well as moment of purchase and postpurchase.
➢ Store decoration. Several of our respondents have admitted that the fact that
their stores are spacious and elegant, influences the time of purchase. They
admit that the feeling of luxury that conveys the design of their stores is crucial,
because it transmits perfectly the image of the brand, as Gucci takes care of
every detail: from the armchairs to the hangers.

3. Sales staff. The majority of the respondents answered that the attention received by
the store staff is another crucial factor for them. Several commented that the
personalized and kind attention they receive from salestaff is very influential, as they
give them what they ask for, and they look for products according to their
specifications, they can even show them things that they could like just by looking at
their look and personality.

4. Digital platform. Most of the respondents also admitted that nowadays it is

imperative (not only for Gucci, if not in regards to the panorama of brands in the world)
to have a good digital platform. This is because many customers prefer to browse these
platforms first, before going personally to the store.
The Gucci digital platform presents a good design and is constantly updated.

5. Of course, influencers are crucial, as we have already mentioned. Many admit that the
final impulse to buy a garment is given by the fact that these people wear it.

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