As a fashion promoter it is key to understand the audience and how best to communicate to them. The fashion industry has clearly responded to the changes and opportunities provided by the digital revolution and cross-platform methods of selling and communicating. Ultimately the fashion industry is now built on mass digital communication developing a consumer to brand influence exchange with brands gathering data from customers which builds profiles via online channels, mobile purchasing, social media, in-store transactions, online searching and sales and customer reviews.
This group project focusses on customer profiling, customer categorisation and customer behaviour as well as brand analysis. Customer behaviour is related to the rate of consumption and the customer’s decision-making process, their wants and needs and their consumer type, this behaviour and promotional/marketing strategies are at the core of all fashion brands.
Group 9
Sophia Lund BOTTEGA VENETA
Joseph Lyons BOTTEGA VENETA
Martha Heron HOUSE OF SUNNY
Maisy Pratt HOUSE OF SUNNY
Chelsea-Anne Macapagal BOOHOO
Xin Shu BOOHOO
For the first week, we focused on identifying the brands we want to research: Bottega Veneta for luxury; House Of Sunny for high street; Boohoo for online fast fashion. We then split the roles between our pairs, focusing on half of the elements each (see below). The tasks were to research and investigate each element of the marketing mix, brand narrative and target audiences and create boards for our group presentation on the 31st of January. Our blogs document the process throughout.
Research elements for each brand:
Products - What the brand sells.
Price - What the products cost to the consumer.
Place/ Physical evidence - Where do they sell: physical and/ or digital and what does the space look like? Identify the elements that help the customer understand the brand.
Promotion - Tools used to communicate with customers and others: social media content, digital advertising, magazine, print/ film/ tv campaigns, catwalk, in-store point of sale displays, product packaging etc.
People - Who promotes and sells product, in-store experience, agents, celebrities, influencers etc.
Brand Narrative - Visual identity, logo typography, images and colours associated with the brand, manifesto, brand story etc.
Target Audience - Customer profile and categorisation, who else do they buy from etc?
Weekly plans:
Week 1 - Project brief, divide out jobs between group members, Bottega store visits, start to research all three brands ( mood boards, target audience, type of brand).
Week 2 - Bottega in-depth research, planning out mindmaps etc for my four boards (divide with Joseph), Brand analytics…
Week 3 - Boards put together (final touches), check-in with group to make sure we have everything ready and covered for class presentations, blog up to date with all research done and ready, for 31st January.
Sophia - Title board, Products, Price and Place / Physical Evidence for BV
Joseph - Promotion, People, Brand Narrative and Target Audience for BV
BOTTEGA VENETA
Bottega Veneta is a luxury fashion house based in Milan, Italy. Founded in 1966 by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro, in Vincenza, Veneto. Its lines include ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, accessories, jewelry and fragrances for both men and women. The company was purchased by Kering in 2001, reviving Bottega with a new “stealth wealth” surge. It’s Intrecciato leather weaving became an instant hit, since the launch 56 years ago, making it one of the most acclaimed luxury brands today.
HOUSE OF SUNNY
House of Sunny is a ready-to-wear, independent womenswear brand, you probably would recognise it from being plastered all over your TikTok page. Founded by Sunny Williams in 2011, their studio is based in East London. All their garments and accessories are made in-house as they pride themselves on producing affordable slow fashion pieces. Producing two seasonal collections a year keeps them at a slower pace, utilising sustainable fabrics and manufacturing methods. All their garment bags are 100% biodegradable, plastic-free and made from compostable bio-based films. They ship to over 55 countries worldwide… and plan on continuing to grow.
House of Sunny rails in Selfridges, Oxford Street.
BOOHOO
Boohoo Group plc is an online British fast-fashion retailer. The business was founded in 2006, by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane and specialises in own-brand fashion clothing, with over 36,000 products that are updated daily. Boohoo plc also owns BoohooMAN, PrettyLittleThing, Nasty Gal and MissPap, all targeted at 16-35 year olds. Boohoo generated revenue of £1.235 billion in 2020 and is in the top segment of fast fashion brands. More than half of Boohoo’s garments are produced in the UK (surprisingly!), mainly in Leicester, London and Manchester. In 2017, Channel 4 released their documentary series Dispatches revealing that factories in Leicester supplying Boohoo (along with River Island, Missguided and New Look) were paying their workers less than the national minimum wage. Boohoo has had a fair amount of negative press surrounding their brand ethics and ethos…
MY BOARD RESEARCH TASKS
- Bottega Veneta board cover page.
- Bottega Veneta Product board.
- Bottega Veneta Price board.
- Bottega Veneta Place and Physical Evidence board.
Bottega Veneta Installation, Dover Street Market, London.
Bottega Veneta space, Selfridges, London.
Bottega Veneta store, Heathrow, London.
To better understand the Bottega Veneta brand, I wanted to visit the different shops and spaces around London. I started at the London Flagship Store on Old Bond Street, unfortunately, I was not able to take photos of the store or products. I then headed to their second London store on Sloane Street, I was unable again to take any photos. I decided to head to Dover Street Market and have a look at the installation there, featuring a wall of cassette bags, a giant green rug and two rails of fresh pieces. I liked the attention to detail, the rails were both in the Bottega green and of course the hangers too; it all felt very aesthetically pleasing and cohesive (even though it was a very small space). After Dover Street Market I headed to Harrods, again I was unable to take any photos so as a last resort I checked out Selfridges. There was a significantly larger display of Bottega pieces, featuring accessories, hats, bags, clothing and shoes. The first main rail was all green and black which did look amazing, the second featured more muted tones, browns and yellows. A giant green plant was in the middle of the shop space; all-in-all it felt like a truly luxurious experience - very much in-line with their market positioning. My dad sent me a video of the Bottega store in Heathrow.
Bottega Veneta was founded by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro in 1966. There is very limited information available about the founders online, only that the brand was built on luxury leather goods as its primary products and a single slogan “ When your own initials are enough.” The brand went below the radar until the late seventies when Taddei and Zengiaro left control of the brand to Taddei’s former wife, Laura Moltedo. The distinct woven texture of leather pieces became the brand's signature, and it become a celebrity hit in the 1980s. Andy Warhol was among those celebrities and produced a short film for Bottega Veneta. It was during the 1990s that Bottega expanded into mainstream fashion.
In 1999 The Gucci Group was acquired by French conglomerate Pinault Printemps Redarte, which later became Kering. In February of 2001, Kering acquired Bottega Veneta for $156 million. In May 2001, Patrizio di Marco was made the CEO and in June Tomas Maier was appointed the new Creative Director. Vogue pushed the term “stealth wealth” to describe Bottega’s new style. In 2002, they launched a jewelry line, fine jewelry in 2006. By 2005 Bottega was profitable again, after the strategic changes from Kering. In February 2005 Bottega presented its first Womenswear runway show collection. Its first Menswear show took place in June 2006, in January of 2009 Marco Bizzarri was appointed the new CEO of Bottega Veneta. Between 2001-2010 Bottega’s sales grew 15-fold. In June 2011, Bottega launched its first Womens Eau de Parfum. In 2012, Bottega’s sales had reached $1 billion.
Global revenue of the Kering Group from 2012-2020. (In million Euros)
Bottega’s sales has pretty much stayed the same up to 2020, we see the quite drastic fall from Gucci, who knows if that is still the same now especially after The House Of Gucci was released? Could Bottega ever beat Gucci, I don’t think it could. Bottega is still a growing brand, it doesn’t hold the same familiarity as Gucci. Everyone knows Gucci, the pieces (often covered in logos) are instantly recognisable and easily associated with the house. Bottega still has a long way to go before it is on that sort of scale.
Revenue share of the Kering Group worldwide in 2020, by brand.
Bottega has made it to third, which is impressive and shows how successful the rise of the brand has been. Now, two years on I wonder with Balenciaga hot on their heels, how long will it take for Balenciaga to potentially overtake Bottega?
Global revenue share of Bottega Veneta in 2020, by product category.
Here you can see just how popular their leather goods really are!
Daniel Lee Creative Director at Bottega Veneta June 2018 to November 2021
Daniel Lee deserves credit for helping Bottega get to where it is today as a brand. Daniel graduated from Central Saint Martins with a Masters in Fashion, interned at Maison Margiela and Balenciaga, landing a job with Donna Karan in New York after he graduated in 2010. In 2012 Daniel left Donna Karan for Celine in Paris, where he eventually became the director of ready-to-wear, assisting Phoebe Philo in developing the minimal aesthetic that helped the brand boom in popularity. In June 2018, Kering hired Daniel as the Creative Director of Bottega Veneta to develop ready-to-wear, reboot the men's collections and launch a home collection.
Daniel preserved Bottega’s craftsmanship and adhered to the brands codes and DNA, capitalising on the brand's most iconic features. Daniel designed the Pouch Clutch Bag that soon became the fastest selling bag in the brand's history. Harpers Bazaar commented that Bottega Veneta had become one of fashion’s most popular brands in 2019, thanks to its quiet, modern elegance re-interpreted by Lee. On November 10th, 2021, it was announced by both Bottega Veneta and Daniel that he would be leaving his post as Creative Director.
It is undoubtedly clear that throughout his short two year span at Bottega Daniel well and truly made his mark. Bringing the brand up further, appealing to multiple audiences and creating porducts that sold. Pushing boundaries, taking risks were of course some of the challenges he would have been faced with, did it pay off? Of course! Bottega bags were and have been the it buy over the past two years, every summer that was the majority of what I could see on my Instagram and on Vogue. These pieces are so trend driven and appealing with multiple shapes, sizes and colours there truly is something for everyone.
On the 6th of January 2021, Bottega stirred up the internet by deleting all of its social media platforms. Creating a new digital journey, Issued By Bottega, relying on the brands loyal customers, celebritys and influencers to get the word out and keep drawing people in organically. Social Media is such a vital promoter for brands, but Bottega has proved its maybe not as important as some make out.
Matthieu Blazy creative director of Bottega Veneta since November 2021.
Matthieu has been working at Bottega since Mid 2020, originally as Daniel Lee’s right hand man (until Daniel left in November 2021). Matthieu graduated from La Cambre in Brussels, during his degree interning at Balenciaga (womenswear intern for 3 months), and John Galliano where he worked for 4 months. After graduating in 2007, Matthieu worked closely with Raf Simons as a menswear designer, going on to becoming a head designer at Maison Margiela. Moving on to Celine under Phoebe Philo, he then returned to work for Raf at Calvin Klein in 2016 as part of the 205W29NYC collections. Matthieu worked as Vice President of design for womenwear and menswear until Raf’s departure in 2019. Kering had Matthieu down as a key talent to look out for, appointing him as the design director for Bottega Veneta in June of 2020. Now we are awaiting the arrival of his debut collection at Milan Fashion Week in February 2022.
Bottega Veneta Lunar New Year 2022 Ad campaign.
This was the first look we were given into Matthieu‘s Bottega. The Lunar New Year campaign featured models He Cong and Wang Chenming in a series of five editorial images. The images honed in on the Bottega Green and also orange (which is becoming one of their most popular colours). Photographed by Charlotte Wales, hair by Kiyoko Odo and makeup by Nami Yoshida, I was unable to find the stylist. Bottega seems to use different team members for each project, there is no regular stylist or photographer.
Board 1- Cover Page
Who is the Bottega Veneta customer?
Bottega Veneta is a brand I would mostly associate with influencers and celebrities. The pieces created become trendy rapidly, and often sell out before long. Bottega pieces are often seen on celebrities such as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Rihanna and Christy Turlington.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is an English model and actress, best known for her previous stint as a Victoria’s Secret Angel and for her work with Marks & Spencers. Rosie has walked the runway for brands such as Givenchy, Blumarine, Betsey Johnson, Vera Wang and Moschino and appeared in ad campaigns for the likes of Dolce and Gabbana and Prabal Gurung. She has become known for her elegant, refined chic style often supported by a Bottega bag or shoe. Whenever I think 'who is the Bottega girl?', Rosie is one of the first to spring to mind as a brand for the polished woman of today.
Rihanna needs no introduction. The singer is renowned for her effortless, sometimes outrageous street style, she is also a fan of Bottega Veneta. On the 29th November 2021 Rihanna wore a burnt orange halter neck gown from Bottega’s Resort 2022 collection to the inauguration of Dame Sandra Mason in Barbados. Often papped out and about in a Bottega coat or dress and cluthching onto a pouch bag, she brings a new vision to Bottega, making the brand ‘cool’ and street savvy.
Christy Turlington for Bottega Veneta F/W 2005-2006 ad campaign.
Bottega Veneta is one of the brands that has truly become prevalent in the past few years, of course this has been helped by influencers and celebrities adopting the latest bag or shoes. Bottega pieces are classic, timeless some may say, with the simplicity of many of the leather pieces they are timeless. However, I feel there is an issue with the 'IT' pieces - they often become so popular so quickly. Trends are never in my opinion a good idea to sell into, as they can stay for 'up' for up to a year before disappearing (re-entering the fashion world 20 years on). With these Bottega pieces being considered so trendy, are they really going to stay around? It seems the demand is so great to get your hands on these pieces, but will that be long-term or is everyone going to get saturated and move onto another brand? I am intrigued to see what happens to Bottega in the next few years, and if the resale value of their pieces continues to stay high.
The second collection from the house, Fall 2000 Ready-to-Wear.
The models looked like they had just come off the slopes; Bond girls on vacation, muted colour palettes and plenty of cashmere. This collection was chic, coordinated and elegant. Considering this was over 20 years ago the styling looks great, the pieces work together, even now, although perhaps the hair, makeup and a few of the sunglasses look a bit dated!
Tomas Maier (Creative Director 2001-2018) for Bottega Veneta, Resort 2012.
Tomas lived part time in Palm Beach at the time of this collection, you can see the beach and almost safari references coming through within the collection. There were city chic references intertwined with clothing women would want in hot climates. The collection stuck to the Bottega codes, making sure it was easily recognisable as the brand.
Salon 03, Spring 2022 Ready-to-Wear Daniel Lee for Bottega Veneta.
This Bottega collection feels futuristic compared to the previous two, you can see how Daniel Lee had brought Bottega into the current age and introduced new elements such as the Bottega green. Bottega’s collection was staged in Detroit’s Michigan Theatre, Daniel had announced that this was a new show model, Milan was out, and salon-style shows were in. The looks comprised of fleece jackets, gorpcore ensembles and tennis skirts.
Board 2- Product
Bottega Veneta best sellers as a brand:
Fragrance
Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum For Her (released in 2011)
Bottega Veneta Illusione For Him (released in 2019)
Bags
The Bottega Veneta Cassette (released Pre-Fall 2019)
The Chain Cassette (released Pre-Fall 2020)
The Bottega Veneta Pouch (released Spring 2020)
The Mini Pouch
The Bottega Veneta Twist (2020 revival)
The Bottega Veneta Jodie Bag (released 2020)
The Bottega Venetia Shoulder Pouch (released 2001)
The Bottega Veneta Tote Bag (2020 revival)
Shoes
Padded Sandals $880
Stretch Flat Sandals $1,020
Wedge Mules $1,500
Whereas Daniel Lee’s top 10 sellers for Bottega Veneta:
Pouch Bags
Tire Shoes
Padded Cassette Bag
The Mini Jodie
Lido Shoes
Arco Bag
Stretch Shoes
Puddle Shoes
Point Bag
The Bottega Green
Board 3 - Prices
Bottega Prices
On average prices are 55% higher than Gucci.
Prices have on overall average increased by 17% since 2019.
From January 2019- end of June 2020 the number of Bottega products in wholesale have more than doubled.
Average shoe price is £940.
Average bag price is £1,700.
Resale values
Chain Cassette Crossbody maintains 87% of its value.
Chain Pouch 80%.
Pouch Intrecciato increased by 45% in value.
Black, Brown, Navy Blue and Burgundy sell the best out of the bags.
Board 4 - Place / Physical Evidence
Bottega Veneta Flagship Store: Via Sant'Andrea, 15, 20121 Milano MI, Italy
Bottega Veneta has two stores in London, one is on Old Bond Street and the second is on Sloane Street. I went to visit both, they were spectacular! The attention to detail was incredible and it helped you grasp a stronger understanding as to Bottega Veneta as a brand and its heritage. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photos in either.
Their online website is clean, chic and sophisticated (just like the brand).
Stores and spaces are mainly green, black and white sticking to the core brand DNA and colours.
Bottega Veneta has spaces in Dover Street Market, Harrods and Selfridges.
Bottega Veneta is stocked on all the top online retailers; MYTHERESA, Dover Street Market, Farfetch, MatchesFashion.com …
Bottega Veneta have 261 directly operated stores globally.
Their craftsmanship, internal logo and luxury feel help expose the brand identity.
“When your own initials are enough.”
Bottega Veneta does not have to rely on heavy branding on their goods to draw attention.
Throughout this group project it has been a great learning experience working with others to produce a final outcome. It has been quite challenging along the way with communication and making sure everyone was on the same page, but I am happy that we stuck at it together. Choosing Bottega as a brand was interesting; a brand I didn’t know too much about (and wouldn’t typically reach for). I have learnt insider knowledge about the brand and its demographic, also, about just how much it takes for a brand to be successful and how hard designers work on collection after collection, multiple times a year. I have generated a better understanding of fashion marketing, brand values and how important every tiny detail is within a brand. I am looking forward to collaborating with others again and pushing myself further out of my comfort zone.
Group presentation boards in the folder.
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