What does Gucci's glamorous rebirth mean?

 As someone who has held on to her Gucci bag for 10 years, not being able wear the Gucci logo patterned bag but also couldn't bring myself to throw it out, I had many questions about whether Gucci's amazing rebirth is possible in such a short period of time. Of course, I am sure that the makeover was possible due to many changes made in ways I don't know. But I would like to write about the shocking (?) rebirth of the Gucci brand in two perspectives.

 What was it that made the public notice this 'shocking change'? Would we have even noticed the change without visual image? My thought is that people recognized this 'change' through the brand's visual image even before they went to buy any of the new items. In some ways, a visual image is an illusion. Visual images around a product are not something you can touch. It is sort of like a stage that showcases the brand's view. And when that visual image is imprinted in the viewer's mind, it forms a unique style. If and when that formed style appeals to the consumer's desire, the consumer falls in love with the brand and uses the brand as a way to express his or herself.

 What's interesting is the process of a brand's view leading to profits generated. When a group of consumers with common ground starts loving a certain brand and accepts it as their style, the synergy effect created is beyond imagination. Much like how Gucci being loved and worn by the trendiest hip hop musicians led to advertising effect money cannot buy through becoming re-exposed through other content. Hip hop musicians are particular about style, so they may change their minds. But there is something to learn from this effect. It is to make the most influential group of people fall in love with your brand.

 One cannot emphasize enough the importance of visual content. It is easy to find followers concerned about even the health of some famous Instagrammer whom they have never even met. What makes them so passionate? It is through emotions deepened through visual content, much like how we relate to the protagonist in a book.

 There are many times I feel sad as a member of a team in charge of planning and creating brand visual content. How much time, money and effort do we put into creating visual contents compared to that of developing a product? My thoughts are that it is now time to focus more on even the smallest of details in our brand's visual image as much as our efforts put into developing products, with the realization that visual images may be how customers first experience our brand.

 In Gucci's case, the somewhat unexpected and shocking decision of appointing Alessandro Michele as creative director in 2015 led to it becoming a completely new brand.

 There were many talented creative directors before Alessandro Michele. Then what made him different that led to the rebirth of Gucci?

 Wouldn't these be some of the hurdles that existed at Gucci?

- 'Sexy' is our brand's unique tone. It is no longer Gucci if we give 'sexy' up.
- We are a luxury brand. These changes will make customers who seek luxury brands leave us.
- Will this unusual design sell?

 Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri, who was appointed that same year, met with Alessandro Michele and appointed him as creative director. It is known that Bizzarri said to Michele he understands Gucci's legacy but is looking for a designer who can deliver 'emotions' to consumers, not just products. Bizzarri apparently told him he can design however he wishes to as the company was already in decline. If Alessandro Michele didn't have the freedom to design his own way, would Gucci have changed to this degree? It suddenly seems that the word 'decline' is a positive term, as it presents 'an opportunity to take risks.'

 Seeing that a change in creative director can lead to an amazing change in brand, visual creation is now no longer something we can compromise. Isn't it an area that requires us to trust a talented someone who has an exceptional sense of visual creation and who understands the times and trend, and not an area where a group of people come together to create something by mixing different elements? Someone who can work with the smallest of details that most people cannot see. Gucci's rebirth makes me think that we need someone like Alessandro Michele in the beauty industry, which requires to be sensual as much as the fashion industry.

 As a designer, Gucci's story – a luxury brand in decline reborn to become one of the most loved brands by celebrities – made me think. We see many brands with longstanding history and well-known by all, which is exactly what also makes them 'old' and 'standardized'. On the other spectrum of extreme, too much frequent bold changes can lead to a brand losing its own features and advantages. In an era where many brands prepare to adjust to the changes of the digital environment led by the millennials, what does it mean for a 'brand to change in the right direction'? I emphasized the importance of visual content in this column, but simply following the trend to create one-sided content does not seem to be the right direction. Only when we communicate with customers bilaterally by understanding their interests and through content of their preferred channel will the changes of the brand be accepted positively and last long. We can learn from Gucci, which appealed to the millennials in an approachable manner using various digital innovations while making sure not to lose its values as luxury brand, to create our own rebirth through various attempts and innovative changes.

GUCCI instgram > https://www.instagram.com/gucci/?hl=ko