Gucci in the Metaverse - London Business School (2024)

Set in April 2022, the case chronicles how Kering-owned luxury-fashion house Gucci underwent a comprehensive creative and cultural transformation, making it more inclusive, agile and digital. Faced with the emergence of the metaverse, Gucci decided to take the lead, bargaining that a test-and-learn approach would mitigate the risk of operating in such a loosely defined, unproven domain. Under the direction of EVP of Brand and Customer Engagement Robert Triefus, Gucci ran a number of experiments in social gaming, established a dedicated metaverse team, launched NFT drops and scooped virtual real estate. As the cash-flow engine of Kering, Gucci could afford to explore the metaverse without needing to generate revenue immediately. But, as Gucci set ambitious medium-term performance targets for itself and competitors flocked to the metaverse, Triefus and his colleagues had to address several questions; from sizing the addressable and obtainable market opportunity to seizing its innovation potential.

Learning objectives

1. Understand the opportunities and challenges inherent in the trade-off between experimentation and monetisation
2. Assess how emerging opportunities fit into a company’s strategy and culture
3. Map the ‘cone of uncertainty’ facing an industry and a company
4. Practise the forecasting of addressable and obtainable markets
5. Identify the components and actions needed to run an efficient ‘experimentation system'

Details

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