Dolce & Gabbana Chinese market crisis

DOLCE & GABBANA GETS CANCELLED AGAIN

THEBRANDWASACCUSEDOF RACISMAFTERRELEASING CAMPAIGNMOCKINGCHINESE CULTURE

DOMENICO DOLCE AND STEFFANO GABBANA

APOLIGIZED THROUGH A PUBLIC VIDEO

SHANGHAI

FASHION SHOW WAS CANCELLED

KATE MOSS A VICTIM OF D&G'S LOOSE TONGUE

In 2018, Dolce & Gabbana launched an advertising campaign composed by three ads featuring a Chinese model trying to eat typical Italian dishes with chopsticks, in a supposedly comical way. The video received a great wave of criticism and was branded as racist towards the Chinese community

Afterwards, some messages that were derogatory to the Chinese population were published, from one of the designers Stefano Gabbana.

The fashion show in Shanghai had to be canceled because the models said they wouldn't attend

Also the actress Dilirebi, who was the brand ambassador, ceased her contract with the firm.

ABOUT DOLCE & G

Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian fashion firm that was founded in 1985 by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana.

Some of the brand's values are "Integrity and business ethics", "Respect for people" and "Responsibility and honesty" .

Despite presenting itself as a new and unconventional luxury brand, the company remains grounded in its Sicilian roots and Mediterranean heritage. Their target are customers with unique personalities, such as trendsetters, innovators, and fashion enthusiasts

THE DESIGNERS

APOLOGIZED IN A PUBLIC VIDEO AND SAID IT WAS ALL A MISUNDERS-

TANDING.

THE BRAND HAS BEEN AT THE CENTER OF MANY CONTROVERSIES

From showing a scene of gang rape of a woman, to saying in an interview with Italian that they believed children born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) were "synthetic" and expressing opposition to same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples, to being accused of tax evasion.

Stefano Gabbana also criticized on social networks influent people such as Kate Moss, Selena Gomez, the brother of Miley Cyrus, Chiara Ferragni and Victoria Beckham, calling them "cheap", "ugly", among others.

They also caused many racist controversies For example, when they attended an Africanthemed party and took a picture with someone with a blackface, with the launch of the "slave" sandals, or with runway show with “blackamoor” imagery

And it's not the first time they offend the Asian population. On the left, offensive Chinese ad campaign featuring D&G clad models posing among locals. The images were heavily criticized by Chinese consumers, who claimed the campaign stereotyped China, depicting a “backward” view of the country.

ETHICS OFFENSE

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION PUBLIC CONCERN

The ad used stereotypes to make humor, in a way that ridicules Asian culture and is offensive.

PUBLICS MAP

The polemic went viral on social media and was in the center of the public eye.

Chinese societyand government

Desig-

D&G workers Providers and retailers

CRISIS TIMELINE

Phase 1: Before the crisis

D&G marketing team in China warned the company not to proceed with the campaign.

Sunday, November 18th

Release of the ads

Negative reaction on social media

Videos deleted in 24h

Monday, November 19th

@diet prada shares the video on their account

Domenico Dolce excuses themselves in an interview, alluding to creative freedom

Tuesday, November 20th

Stefano Gabbana sends racist messages from his personal account Actors and influencers announce that they will not attend the show.

Wednesday, November 21st

The brand claims the accounts were hacked. The show in Shanghai gets cancelled

Thursday, November 22nd

Chinese e-commerce sites stop selling D&G products.

Some Chinese influencers post videos burning D&G goods

Thursday, November 22nd

D&G publishes a video apologizing.

Actress Zhang Ziyi announced that she would never purchase or wear the brand again through her studio.

Charmaine Sheh, a Hong Kong actress, faced criticism online for liking one of the brand's Instagram posts

THE BRAND STILL STRUGGLES TO WIN THE CHINESE MARKET

The brand still struggles to win the Chinese market. As of now, the brand has only 47 boutiques in China, compared to 58 in 2018, and some of its shops in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu had to shut down. Being excluded from China's luxury consumer market is not a avorable position to be in, as it was estimated to have doubled in size to $54 billion in 2020. In contrast, D&G's Asia-Pacific market experienced a 3% decrease between March 2018 and 2019

Having analyzed previous controversies from the brand and the designers, we have detected a pattern of behavior: the brand provokes a controversy that goes viral on social media, and after a few days they apologize. These polemics often revolve around issues of discrimination and lack of cultural sensitivity All of this makes it look like the brand is doing it on purpose. On the one hand, it could all be part of a marketing strategy to win notoriety, on the other hand it could be D&G's ego.

We must also take into account that their target are wealthy consumers, and they don’t care about the reputation of the brand.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Apologies

The company apologized publicly through a video

POSITIVE ASPECTS

Commitment

The brand used its Weibo account (the Chinese version of Twitter) to communicate with the Chinese public and issue apologies in their native language.

Explanation

The company gave an explanation for the racist insults, arguing that it had been a hacker.

of campaign videos

It’s positive because it shows remorse.

BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS BREAKING NEWS

Social media mismanagement

Steffano Gabbana worsened the crisis by making derogatory comments and further angering the already mad consumers

Lies

They said that they had been hacked but meanwhile they kept posting regular content on their accounts, so it seems like it was a lie.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS

Insensitive ad campaign

The initial ad campaign was seen as insensitive and offensive by many Chinese consumers, as it was seen as mocking their culture.

Excuses

In the next-day interview with a Vogue journalist, Domenico Dolce could have apologized and instead he excused himself stating that nowadays there is too much censure and little creative freedom.

Slow response

They waited too long to make a public apology, which led to further criticism from consumers and the media.

Removal

WHAT WOULD WE DO DIFFERENTLY?

In the first place, they should have listened to their marketing team and not launched the campaign, as they were experts and knew about the Asian market and culture

We think they should have apologized earlier. Domenico should have avoided making excuses They shouldn’t have made derogatory

OUR MARKETING EXPERTS

EXPLAIN HOW THE CRISIS COULD HAVE BEEN CONTROLLED

comments. They shouldn’t have lied saying there were hackers in their accounts

We would have compensated the victims of the crisis in some form:

OUR KEY LEARNINGS

The importance of apologizing and being humble. It seems as if the designers did not understand the critics nor the extent of the crisis, and they apologized only to take care of the brand’s image.

We think it’s no coincidence that DG has been involved in so many conflicts. It’s important to prepare for possible crises and to listen to all your workers and experts, as they might prevent your organization from getting a bad reputation.

In addition, most of the controversies linked to the brand involve women. They have received misogynistic insults from the designers, who judged their bodies and behavior

The importance of aligning theory with practice.

the actress of the videos, the DG influencers, the models of the show, workers of the company, and the Asian market as a whole.

¡HOLA!

Brands define themselves with values, but it is in their actions that this is shown. One of Dolce & Gabbana's values is "respect for people," yet the brand and its designer have a history of disrespecting and insulting others

¡HOLA!