In 2018, Dolce & Gabbana(D&G), the iconic Italian fashion brand had an infamous moment when an advertising campaign offended Chinese consumers so much that it led to a vast outcry the resignation of Chinese influencers and brand ambassadors, the cancelation of a multi-million dollar fashion show in Shanghai, and the delisting of the brand by major retailers within a few hours. D&G had to pay a steep price for not paying enough attention to the expectations and tastes of Chinese consumers.

And in August 2019, it's Versace turn. One of their T-shirts, retailing for $425 dollars, listed the locations of Versace stores all over the world, but did not link Hong Kong and Macao to China, although both are Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China. The timing could not have been worse, given the protests in Hong Kong. When Yang Mi, the Chinese brand ambassador of Versace resigned, citing that "Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity are sacred, inviolable, and brook no division," a social media outcry against Versace started on platforms like Weibo and WeChat. Versace immediately apologized and stated that it had destroyed all T-shirts immediately but the damage to the brand had already been done.

We are living in a digital world, where any local brand mistake can have an immediate global impact. Companies are still underestimating it, and eight months after Dolce & Gabbana, most brands have done little or anything to set up processes that prevent such significant mistakes like this from happening.

Given the stakes, why are some global luxury brands are not taking the lessons seriously enough? Why are companies underestimating Chinese consumers consistently? Typically, the global headquarters of luxury companies are responsible for all brand content. From the portfolio to product details to communication. There is, however, a major pitfall in this approach: Local needs and requirements are often not taken enough into consideration. And in many cases, there is a lack of cultural sensitivity. The disastrous side effect of making a decision too far away when local cultural details are not considered is that the brand can be damaged instantly, especially in the digital age. The second shortcoming of this global approach is that communication content is often not relevant for every local market. Given this, more local thinking is needed and this has to start in the global headquarters. China is too big, too sophisticated, and too distinct to simply apply a one-size-fits-all approach.

Adapted from: Langer, Daniel (2019, August 12),. Versace Repeats the D&G Disaster: To Sell Global, Luxury Brands Need to Think More Local. Jing Daily URL: https://jingdaily.com/versace-repeats-the-dg-disaster-to-sell-global-luxury-brands-need-to-think-more-local/

Based on the scenario above answer the following question:

What has gone wrong? What could have been done differently by Versace in the brand communication campaign? Discuss the answer based on the concept of communication design strategy.(20 marks)