Luxury big names are "business" in the Yuan universe. Gucci's virtual bags are more expensive than real bags. Who is paying?

Ancient luxury brands are most eager to embrace new stories.

At the end of the 19th century, when women fell into a complicated lace lace, Chanel used the natural and smooth straight tailoring of men's clothing to break the "hoop" women who couldn't breathe out of breath; at the end of the 20th century, Gucci ushered in the fierce young people. Tom Ford, the minimalist plan completely changed the aesthetics of the entire fashion industry; entering the millennium, Louis Vuitton and the Parisians incorporated into the street trend elements in the design, and "luxury street clothing" once again rejuvenated.

Image source: GUCCI Pictures

Therefore, when the "new words" of the Yuan universe, NFT, and Web3.0 appear, of course, luxury brands will not miss it. Even though many people still think this is just a gimmick, but like the post -90s, the "aboriginal people" of the Internet, the "post -00s" have been familiar with the "virtual real world" since childhood. This generation will grow into the main force of luxury consumption. Forces, of course, big names must occupy their minds in advance.

A year ago, hundreds of employees under Grégory Boutté (hereinafter referred to as Butté) left Kaiyun Group at the headquarters at 40 Save Street, Paris, and moved to a spacious and bright in Paris 7th district. Inside the building -Digital Research and Innovation Center. This is the "Silicon Valley working environment" that is very different from Old Money, which follows elegance and regulations. More than 350 employees do not have designated desks, But also do not have their own office, all pointing to flexibility and innovation. The center mainly provides digital solutions for the brands of Kaishi, St. Roland, Bottega Veneta, and Parisians.

Brand official website operation upgrades and application development, these channels that belong to Web2.0, Bott has been deployed. In the Yuan universe, there are even more fascinated and excited business models. "Gucci is one of the earliest brands involved in NFT in the boutique industry."

Recently, as one of the 12 senior executive committees of the Kaiyun Group's Executive Committee, Kaiyun Group chief customers and digital marketing officers But said in an exclusive interview with the "Daily Economic News" reporter: "We will use Web3.0 and new and old customers Reunion in the Yuan universe. "

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In this luxury Yuan universe party, Bute noticed that the first scene that the Yuan universe had appeared was video games.

"About 2.5 billion people around the world are gamers, and these virtual worlds will increasingly integrate into our lives. Then, the transformation from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 seems to be more progressive, but some evolution has happened." Buter said.

In September 2021, the brand of Kaiyun Group's brand Parisians and the game "Fortnite" (Fortnite "produced virtual clothing for the most popular characters in the game. It is very different from the real world, but spending 8 dollars, players can put on the "genuine skin" of Parisians in the game.

Balenciaga Picture Source: Interviewee Confer

Kaiyun Group's ace brand Gucci also launched virtual "Gucci Garden" and "Gucci Town" with the game platform Roblox. A Gucci pop -up shop was also opened in Roblox. A digital version of the Gucci Wine bag launched in the shopping space was fired to $ 4,100, which is more expensive than the $ 3,400 of the physical bag.

Through the Yuan universe, "a new shared creative language can be established between the brand and the player and customers. Bute believes: "Through testing and learning, we hope to explore new models that can change the industry to shape the future of the luxury industry. Even if the development of the Yuan universe is still in the early stages, entering this field will reserve this one related to this. The rich knowledge of the new trend. We hope that when the market of the Yuan universe reaches a certain scale, we are ready to be fully prepared. "

Therefore, the employees of the Church Kaiyuan Group "entered" the Yuan universe, which is also the KPI of Buter.

"In addition to being responsible for Kaiyun's innovative planning, the 42,000 employees of the training group are also one of my tasks. Just recently, we released an internal video game called NFT Serious Games, which aims to make colleagues other than digital teams outside the digital team. You can also be more familiar with the Yuan universe. Thousands of Kaiyun employees logged in to the Discord platform to participate in this 13 levels of games. "

Who is paying for luxury NFT?

A 101 -year -old Gucci is one of the global luxury brands, and it is also the "contribution" of Kaiyun Group's revenue. On July 27, Kaiyun Group released its financial report in the first half of 2022. Guti sales increased by 15%year -on -year to 5.173 billion euros, accounting for nearly 60%of the Group's total revenue. As a key brand of Kaiyun Group, Gucci opened the door of the Yuan universe through cross -border games and arts.

Among them, the most concerned about the outside world is the 10 SuperGUCCI series NFT dolls launched by Gucci and Chao Play brand Superplastic. As of now, the most expensive NFT product in Gucci is the first NFT video work launched to celebrate its 100th anniversary. The NFT product was shot at Christie's at $ 20,000 (about RMB 120,000), and was eventually sold for $ 25,000 (about RMB 159,300). GUCCI & SuperPlastic joint super Guqi NFT product picture Source: respondents' picture confession

In addition to NFT, Gucci also launched virtual sneakers, which are priced at $ 12.99 per pair. Consumers can be used in the Gucci APP and specific social platforms after buying shoes. Show this pair of shoes you have in virtual occasions. At the same time, Gucci also cooperates with game manufacturers to provide exclusive clothing and build special championships. Players can wear Gucci shoes and fashion through virtual dressing.

The Morgan Stanley Research Report also pointed out that the Yuan universe may take many years to build it, but for luxury companies, the social games and NFTs in the Yuan universe have brought two closer opportunities. "" Fortress Night "and other platforms such as the RobloX digital market have allowed us to see the signs of shopping in the Yuan universe. The revenue division transaction is easy to rise, which may increase the potential market of luxury NFT by 10 billion to 20 billion to 20 billion. US dollar value. "

In order to play the footsteps in the Yuan universe track, Kaiyun Group became the first company in the luxury group to set up a special team. "We have created a team that is fully committed to developing Web 3.0 and Yuan universe at the group level." Bute is the person in charge of the team. He revealed to each reporter that the number of digital business teams has exceeded 350. "The establishment of the Yuan universe team is to explore and try new ideas to help the group's brand projects so that the best practice can be replicated in large -scale period."

"In addition to the exclusive team at the group level, Gucci and Parisians have established teams to explore new opportunities including the Yuan universe." Bute said that in the past few months, except for multiple NFT projects and cooperation with video games in the past few months, The team is still exploring the purchase of virtual land, etc., hoping to establish brand awareness in the new consumer group. The first task is to establish reputation and community.

When luxury tastes the sweetness of digitalization

According to Morgan Stanley Research Report, luxury goods companies ushered in a chance to sell virtual products in the Yuan universe. By 2030, the market size can reach up to 50 billion euros (about 57 billion US dollars, more than 393.4 billion yuan, ), It is expected to help luxury companies increase income by more than 10%, and the profit of 25%has increased by 25%.

The Yuan universe is a new form of digitalization. "The advantage of digital technology is that it can provide experiences that cannot be created by other channels." Bute told each reporter, "Virtual experience will become more immersive and interactive in the future."

For digitalization, Kaiyun Group has tasted sweetness. Every reporter looked at Kaiyun Group's financial report over the years and found that its online sales have grown rapidly. Especially since the epidemic in 2020, online sales have been one of the fastest growth rates of Kaiyun Group. Online sales have doubled within two years, and in fiscal 2021, it has accounted for 15%of the Group's total retail sales.

Gucci Picture Source: Interviewee Confer

"China is undoubtedly an important source of our major markets and digital inspiration." Bute told each reporter that in China, Kaiyun Group has always worked hard at the forefront of digitalization of the luxury industry and hopes to continue to lead.

When many luxury goods still maintain a high cold attitude, and distance from digitalization, Gucci has developed a digital strategy of exclusive China. "As early as 11 years ago (2011), the official WeChat was opened. This is the first WeChat account in the luxury industry." Bute said that in addition, Gucci also had Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Douyin, WeChat, WeChat, WeChat, WeChat Stores, small programs and other cooperation ... Bute said no strange name of a series of Chinese network platforms.

Based on the relying on digitalization, But believes that once the Yuan universe becomes a reality, it is bound to have a disruptive change in all aspects of the luxury industry chain, such as creative design, production, and release circulation. "We have learned some key knowledge from the fields of web3.0 and NFT: from 3D prototype design, to NFT's integration in our system, to accept cryptocurrencies as payment methods, and how to create a community on the Discord platform."

"Digital technology has great potential in the luxury industry and can benefit customers, sales teams and brands. But for us, digitalization is a means, not the purpose." Bute told each reporter that the brand of Kaiyun Group's brand Success, "from their creativity, real narrative, and excellent professional knowledge." "Luxury means providing exquisite products and perfect purchase experiences. Our goal is to further enhance this experience. The advantage of digital technology is that it can provide experiences that cannot be created by other channels, but the core of the century -old brand is '' '' Innovation '. "

The interview was nearing the end. Bute told each reporter that the focus of Kaiyun Group in China is not only luxury goods, but also cooperate with Chinese consumer goods and retail startups."In the cooperation with the Kaihui Fund, we have set up a consumer co -founding fund to focus on investment and incubation in the field of consumer goods and retail fields with high growth potential. We believe that the interaction with these Chinese startups isBetter understand the excellent opportunities for future consumption trends. "Reporter | Du Wei Ding Zhouyang

Edit | Wang Yuelong Dong Xingsheng Du Hengfeng

School pair | Cheng Peng

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