Gucci is one of the oldest and most premier luxury brands. The reason a brand like Gucci has survived the test of time is that they have always catered to the customer base of tomorrow. The millennials are all grown up and have taken up their positions in the world. The customer of tomorrow is Gen-Z.
Vault
Late last year, in September, Gucci debuted “Vault,” a retail experience that serves as “a time machine, an archive, a library, a laboratory, and a meeting place.” Vault features classic Gucci as well as work by up-and-coming designers. Bianca Saunders, Collina Strada, and Ahluwalia are among the newcomers featured on the platform.
Come 2022, with the boom in NFT’s and virtual realities, Gucci has purchased an undisclosed quantity of land on The Sandbox, a virtual real estate marketplace that allows individuals and businesses to buy and construct virtual properties. Gucci and The Sandbox will collaborate to develop an interactive fashion experience based on Gucci Vault, which will house the company’s metaverse initiatives. Select metaverse fashion items made by Gucci designers will be available for consumers to buy, own, and use in their own Sandbox experience.
A point to add is Gucci was the first luxury brand to offer an NFT, with a one-of-a-kind Aria video auctioned via Christie’s in May, and its two-week experience on Roblox, coinciding with a physical display in Florence, Italy.
How and why is Gucci targeting Gen-Z?
The future belongs to the youth. And in today’s scenario, the future definitely belongs to Gen-Z. As technology advances at a quick pace, particularly in the areas of virtual and augmented reality, Gen Z’s study indicates that participation in the greater Metaverse is critical for marketing to Gen Z demographics.
Gen-Z is not impressed with the tech of older generations. Recently, Facebook saw a huge plummet in its worth as many users have quit the platform to join rival companies like Tik-Tok, which is more catered to the newer generation.
Hence, it is of no surprise that Gucci is trying to build a platform that will cater to the tech-savvy generation of tomorrow.
According to Gen-Z research, while watching TV or movies is Millenials’ number one leisure, it is Gen Z’s fifth most popular pastime, with 87% of Gen Z playing video games on cell phones, gaming consoles, and computers frequently, if not daily. We have already seen the boom in Play-to-earn gaming, and a large demographic of that area is populated by the youth.
Furthermore, when asked which trait was most essential to their generation as a whole, this generation ranked tech-savvy almost as high as freedom.
To sum up, Gen Z is more familiar with and comfortable with spaces that have the potential to exist within the metaverse than any previous generation.
Gucci has been stepping up its metaverse approach in the last year and is a notable early user of digital fashion, virtual worlds, and non-traditional retailing. Gucci recently collaborated with Superplastic, a firm that creates “animated celebrities,” to release a collection of 500 NFTs (made up of 10 total designs). It’s called “Supergucci,” and it’s a three-part NFT drop featuring real ceramic sculptures.
Gucci is also hiring a full-time manager for its Discord server, with tasks including managing “megafans” of its NFT projects and being on the “bleeding edge” of community platform trends, according to the job posting.