Business Case Study

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Competitive behavior of Gucci

Competitive behavior refers to the strategies that a company adopts in order to ensure that its products are more competitive than all the other similar or related products available in the market (Kadiyali, 2001). The term may also be used to refer to an advantage that a brand has over its competitors (Ramaswamy & Gatignon, 1994). The objective of maintaining competitive behavior is to achieve success in today’s dynamic business environment. Gucci is one of the well-known fashion labels that have managed to build competitive behavior through a wide range of international marketing campaigns.

Today, the Gucci label is among the most coveted designer brands. Through its formidable competitive behavior, the Gucci label has achieved tremendous success in shaking off stiff competition from other renowned fashion labels such as Giorgio Armani (Moore, 2005). In today’s highly competitive fashion industry, it is extremely difficult for a single fashion label to dominate the market. Yet this is where Gucci has achieved immense success.

To achieve this feat, the marketers of this brand routinely ensure that core brand values are embedded in all the Gucci-branded products (Moffett, 2003). These products range from jewelry and handbags to accessories and sunglasses. The process of entrenching a culture of competitive behavior started during the mid-1990s when the brand’s executives resolved to ensure that all bags, motifs, and logos were not only profitable but also trendy.

The current leadership of the brand continues o be critical in maintaining the competitive behavior. An integral component of the current efforts to maintain the competitive behavior involves reviving all the other iconic symbols associated with the Gucci Brand. Some of them include the script logo and the family crest for use in handbags and ready-to-wear outfits.

This competitive behavior has paid off well internationally, with many people selecting the Gucci brand at the expense of exotic local brands (Castelli, 2010). However, many luxury fashion brands continue to pose a serious threat to the competitive edge held by Gucci. Some of these brands include Christian Dior, Calvin Klein, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Versace.

In the case of Gucci, one of the best indicators of competitive behavior is purchasing behavior. However, in some cases, it might be necessary to carry out surveys of online customers to determine their exact future aspirations as far as the brand is concerned. Such an approach is appropriate for Gucci since it would mirror the proactive approach that the company adopted during the early 1990s. During that time, Gucci’s marketers came up with marketing campaigns that aggressively targeted fashion-suave young generation around the world. 

Today, the Gucci Group operates a multi-brand conglomerate (Jackson, 2002). This is an indication of the major milestones that the company has reached in promoting competitive behavior. By operating as a multi-brand entity, Gucci has succeeded in establishing a unique, unmatched competitive advantage in the fashion industry. Some of the high-end fashion brands that feature within the Gucci range include Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Sergio Rossi, and Sergio Rossi.

In conclusion, core brand values remain at the heart of Gucci’s competitive behavior. By maintaining core brand values, Gucci has been able to keep on improving quality while at the same time creating a lot of awareness to customers through aggressive marketing campaigns. The company seeks not only to belong to the fashion industry but also to maintain leadership, particularly within the high fashion segment. By setting marketing and quality standards that are higher than competitors, Gucci has been able to engage in competitive behavior that enables it maintain a position of market leadership.

References

Castelli, C. (2010). Alignment of retail channels in the fashion supply chain: An empirical study of Italian fashion retailers. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp.24 – 44.

Jackson, T. (2002). Gucci Group: The New family of Luxury Brands, A Case Study. International Journal of New Product Development and Innovation Management, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 161-172.

Kadiyali, V. (2001). Structural analysis of competitive behavior: New Empirical Industrial Organization methods in marketing. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 161–186.

Moffett, M. (2003). Fashion Faux Pas: Gucci & LVMH. International Business Review, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 225–239.

Moore, C. (2005). The nature of parenting advantage in luxury fashion retailing – The case of Gucci group NV. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 256 – 270.

Ramaswamy, V. & Gatignon, H. (1994). Competitive Marketing Behavior in Industrial Markets. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 45-55.