The House of Gucci

The son of an Italian merchant, Guccio Gucci was born near Florence in 1881. He build his family fortune and a fashion empire by turning a small saddlery leather shop opened in 1906 into a multi billion business with stores allover the world.

In 1921 the House of Gucci was established and the name will forever be associated with exquisite craftsmanship, high quality and enduring elegance. After opening his first store in Rome in 1937, Gucci’s name became a synonym for high quality accessories, form leather bags to made-to-order shoes, wallets, belts and luggage. In time the family business expended and from leather goods went on to include clothing, jewelry, watches, sunglass, perfumes and even cars upholstery.

The undeniable strength and best asset of the company was the permanent emphasis put on using the highest quality materials and paying special attention to details. It did not take long until an exclusive and loyal clientele developed and by 1951 new stores were opened in Florence, Milan and Manhattan.

The most influential and fashionable women of the time were proudly displaying Gucci accessories while reinforcing the prestigious status of the company. Some special designs were made for this elite clientele; the Flora scarf will forever be associated with Grace Kelly and the shoulder bag with Jacqueline Kennedy. Audrey Hepburn was a big fun of Gucci products and so was Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Diane.

The Gucci colors of green-red-green were derived from the saddle girth and became an instant identifier of the brand. In the mid ’60 the symbol of the interlocking double G logo was introduced.

As the production diversified and expended the primary goal of serving an exclusive category of clients never changed until late into the ’80 and well after the death of Guccio Gucci in 1953.

His motto was “quality above all” and “only the best will do”. From this approach to business the “Gucci philosophy” was born. Targeting a discriminating audience, the prices were deliberately set high and the reasoning behind it was never kept a secret: “whoever asks for the price, can not afford my goods”.

In the late ’70 the Gucci philosophy technique, based on the specific Florentine arrogance, was thought in Milan by a school specializing in aggressive selling of Encyclopedia Britannica. The strategy included a two way punch.

The initial approach was to reassure the potential customer of being “special” and “uniquely qualified to recognize exceptional quality”. Once that premises was established, the product was presented as a “personal favor” offered “only to a select group of connoisseurs”.

Based on the human weakness of accepting flattery without questioning possible ulterior motives, the method proved successful most of the time.

Should the customer show hesitation about finalizing the purchase, (before the sale was compromised), the second punch was carefully applied; any resistance was meet with a slightly, but visibly annoyed attitude giving out the implied signals of “I am wasting my time and you are not all that special after all”.

Completing the sale or loosing it was a 50-50 calculated risk. However, by manipulating the customers and appealing to their self-esteem “the Gucci philosophy of selling” had good chances to succeed, especially if the buyer was not sophisticated enough. The reaction of being humiliated by a salesperson will result, many times, in an “I will show you how worth it I am” and the customer will end up buying two, rather than just one object.

As time went on, two things happened that affected the business survival and the prestige of the Gucci Empire; the family got into atrocious fights over inheritance issues (that ultimately resulted in the assassination of one of the brothers) and an avalanche of knockoffs invaded the market. The company was on the brink of bankruptcy. Although it survived difficult times and it is today one of the most profitable companies, the principle of targeting an exclusive clientele was abandoned.

The “Gucci philosophy” was also slightly modified as glamorous clientele was replaced with regular customers.