Employees and Artification Campaigns Essay

Introduction

In the business world, there are many different approaches and ways to market and promote products. Some marketing methods are universal, while others remain unique to certain areas of business. Artification is more of a versatile form of promoting products, which is most closely related to luxury brands. It is essential to clarify what marketers mean by artification. According to Mase and Cedrola (2017), “…activities binding luxury brands with the art world constitute an art-based strategy named artification” (p. 155).

A prime example of this marketing strategy is the recent collaboration between the artist Edward Woodley and the Gucci Sydney flagship store to promote one of their timed collections (Campbell, 2020). The question arises of what role store employees play in the marketing of aesthetic goods and what activities they perform to create a unique aura. This paper will describe what the employees of luxury brand stores are doing to promote their products and create an atmosphere of art as well as standard artification marketing actions.

The Role of Employees in Marketing

It is safe to say that the twenty-first century is the time of global digitalization. In the 00s, a new marketing channel emerged, namely social media. Nowadays, this is the best platform for product promotion. One of the most effective tactics that employees could take to market their store’s aesthetic products is “frequently posting, responding to user criticisms, and promoting campaigns” (Athwal, Istanbulluoglu, and McCormack, 2018, p. 11). In 2017, Gucci launched an unusual meme marketing campaign to promote the brand that can be considered successful (Wild Salmon Wrap, 2019). It is noteworthy that the target audiences were millennials and Gen Z demographics.

Promotional Activities in Terms of Artification

The range of advertisement activities that a brand can undertake in terms of artification varies greatly. For example, at the Sydney flagship store, Gucci has exhibited Edward Woodley’s artworks (Figure 1) specially made by him for the collection timed to the reopening (Campbell, 2020). The reason the company chose to promote its brand through collaboration with an artist is simple. According to Mase, Cedrola, Davino, and Cohen-Cheminet (2020), “artified luxury brands stimulate Brand Image and increase Brand Loyalty among consumers” (p. 63). It is worth noting that exhibitions in flagship stores are among the most common ways of promoting through artifacts.

Employees’ and the Aura of Art

There are two of the most common methods that luxury store employees use to create and maintain a unique art atmosphere around artified products. The first one is collective brand personification. It has been proven that this promotion strategy is applied because it increases customers’ happiness, and therefore their willingness to buy products increases as well (Braxton & Lau-Gesk, 2020). The second one is participation in a brand ambassador campaign when employees become promoters of their company’s aesthetic products both on social media and real life.

Conclusion

This work describes how employees of luxury brand stores market artified products and how companies use them to create an authentic art atmosphere. The topic was explored using the example of last year’s collaboration between Gucci and Edward Woodley. Employees are promoting luxury goods through social media. The most frequent advertising activity is the collaborative artwork exhibition, and the aesthetic atmosphere is based on collective brand personification and participation in the brand ambassador campaign.

References

Athwal, N., Istanbulluoglu, D., & McCormack, S. E. (2019). The allure of luxury brands’ social media activities: A uses and gratifications perspective. Information Technology & People, 1-37. Web.

Braxton, D., & Lau-Gesk, L. (2020). The impact of collective brand personification on happiness and brand loyalty. European Journal of Marketing, 54(10). Web.

Campbell, A. (2020). Gucci reimagines its Sydney flagship store with the help of local artists. GQ. Web.

Masè, S., & Cedrola, E. (2017). Louis Vuitton’s art-based strategy to communicate exclusivity and prestige. In B. Jin & E. Cedrola (Eds.), Fashion branding and communication (pp. 155-184). New York, NY: Springer.

Masè, S., Cedrola, E., Davino, C., & Cohen-Cheminet, G. (2020). Multivariate statistical analysis of artification effect on customer-based brand equity in luxury brands. International Journal of Arts Management, 22(3), 55-66. Web.

Wild Salmon Wrap. (2019). Luxury revolution: How art is redefining luxury brands. Web.