TOWARDS A KINDER LUXURY INDUSTRY?

Why creating (real) KINDNESS and communicating about it is becoming mandatory for premium & luxury brands: the GUCCI EQUILIBRIUM example

Premium and luxury have recently entered a new era. While charity have long been a concern for prestige brands, these good deeds (like giving money to help the people in need, …) tend to be often limited to a quite passive attitude and to be known only by a corporate audience and a selected community of happy fews.

But the most recent crises are changing the rules: established brands have now to prove to the world (and not just to their customers) that they are concerned in a more active way, by challenging their systems and their organizations in order to really address the problems at their sources instead of just dealing with their consequences. Being ‘KIND’ is not only about ‘just helping’ anymore, it is now about ‘becoming part of the change’ AND about ‘communicating highly about it’ as the value of the KINDNESS you share has now become as important as the value of the product you sell. One brand that has understood this faster and better than its competitors might be GUCCI.

Last June, the Italian luxury brand has indeed unveiled a new web site, equilibrium.gucci.com, and a new Instagram account, both featuring a whole new visual identity, for its GUCCI EQUILIBRIUM initiative, dedicated to its sustainability commitments. The mission beyond it is clearly stated : ‘to treat our world and each other better, for our collective future’. With these new online tools, which will feature engaging content such as KPI or videos, GUCCI is aiming at boosting strongly the visibility of its social and environmental actions. Even if EQUILIBRIUM has already been created 2 years ago, the brand used to communicate quite discreetly about it so far. The new highlight on these policies is really illustrating the major shift the industry is facing.

Changing the world is a great first step (and a necessary basis for such a communication strategy) but, as this is also a new way to create value, brands and corporations have to communicate stronger but more efficiently about it for many reasons:

1.    Value and communication levels are tightly linked: the more you will communicate about your commitment, the more you will earn.

2.    Communicating about positive mindsets and actions will also motivate both your stakeholders and your competitors to be more involved if they want to be still part of the game : this is a positive loop, nurturing itself and nurturing our society.

3.    As more and more players will become involved, your communication will have to be efficient enough to keep your commitment unique and visibly different from the ones made by your competitors. Strategies featuring a strong, personal and genuine vision from the start tend to be the most efficient ones.

With GUCCI, Italians have once illustrated that they can do it better. We hope that their example will inspire you in your quest for KINDNESS.