Is Moschino Exploiting Pop Culture and Societal Norms for Personal Gain?

Often when society hears the word exploit it’s attached to a negative narrative but this isn’t the case here. Jeremy Scott creative director of Moschino and public proclaimed, “The People’s Designer, is taking the digital marketing world by storm. Everyone is mesmerized by the outstanding social media growth that the brand has attained over the last two years with little to no advertisements. The brand has went from a virtually non-existent social media presence to over 10 million loyal followers. The question is how Jeremy did it. The answer is by strategically exploiting infamous pop culture references and slightly portraying a nonchalant attitude to societal norms. The brand has denounced the stuffy, uptight culture associated with high fashion and turned it on its head. In 2015, Moschino released its iconic, “Think Pink “collection. The collection was entirely Barbie themed. Fashion models strutted their stuff down the runway in pink plastic pumps to the early 2000s, classic, Barbie Girl by Aqua. This started the social media phenomenon and Millennial obsession with the brand Moschino. Needless to say the collections did the talking for the brand and its fans did the walking.

Jeremy Scott’s exploitation of Mattel’s Barbie didn’t end there. Shortly after the release of the “Think Pink” collection, Moschino announced its release of the special edition Moschino Barbie which sold out in under 24 hours. The Moschino Barbie commercial generated millions on streams and was trending on Twitter for breaking gender norms whether it was meant to or not. While doing digital interview, Jeremey Scott said casually, “Like and girl or gay boy, I love Barbie!” Moschino is executing its digital marketing strategy excellently. Some pro are the brands ability to always be culturally relevant on trends, building a socially all around inclusive brand and bringing comedy and fun to not only social media but to fashion. Moschino also provides digital platforms for all generations and shopping habits, not just Millennials. Moschino is available on all social media platforms for younger audiences, boutiquemoschino.com for more sensible luxury shoppers who only want staple pieces and Moschino.com for older, wealthier consumers.

Unfortunately there are some flaws with Moschino’s digital marketing. While the growth of the brand has been phenomenal in comparison to other fast fashion retailer such as Gucci or Louis Vuitton their following is lacking. The brand also is infrequent with their posting leaving opportunity for large luxury retailers to steal the spotlight. Another con is that Moschino lacks global brand awareness. Mostly fashion enthusiast purchase and follow the brand. The brand has to find a way to reach everyday consumers while still maintaining their fun, crazy, audience.

My first suggestion is for the brand is publicize the fact that the brand has three different websites and collections that can be found on fast fashion sites such as ASOS.com. Promoting this information on social media is vital to increase website traffic and all around brand awareness. Consumers are always searching for ways to be stylish in designer items without paying designer prices. My second suggestion is for the brand find a way to make the brand wearable and attainable for the everyday consumers, after all Jeremy Scott is known as, “The People’s Designer.” I would start a segment on their website that engages with everyday mothers, fathers, teens, etc. and teaches them how to style Moschino pieces to their liking. This web series will be streamed on all social media platforms. Once consumers realize that the collection is not all outrageous pieces they may be more intrigued to follow and purchase. I would also suggest the brand to be more accepting of the social risk that they take. For example, the Moschino Barbie Boy commercial, was the perfect opportunity for the brand to speak out against gender norms. They had undying support from social media and they lost it all by releasing a statement saying that the commercial was not for that purpose. Society today denounces brands that tend to half step. If a brand plans to shake the industry up and make a statement it should stick to it.