Art influence in Gucci’s advertising strategies (2015-2019)

Abstract

The world of advertising increasingly requires of differentiating aspects to reach the consumer in an original and striking manner. To achieve this, some brands have incorporated artistic references in their campaigns, although generally in an isolated and non-reinforced way. This research strives to proof whether Gucci, unlike other brands, has indeed managed to successfully associate art, with the brand, through its advertising actions carried out especially since 2015, when Alessandro Michele became the creative director, until 2019. For its demonstration, the content analysis technique has been used, as well as a thorough bibliographic review of the advertising actions of the Italian luxury fashion brand during these years. A description of the advertising pieces containing artistic elements has been carried out, as well as a complementary comparative analysis which allowed to compare the illustrations created by the Italian brand with the original historical-artistic piece used as inspiration. This way, it has been concluded that Gucci follows a clear tendency in incorporating art in its advertising, being Renaissance the main artistic movement that serves as a source to reinterpret different works of art and thus create new advertising pieces.