Cultural programming in action

Prada case study

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Prada (the company) has a lot going on. The company is family-owned, which allows it to adopt a long view. The brand founder is there, but rather than being the face of the brand that bears her name, she is its creative director: someone defining the aesthetics, the ideas, the voice; the artist and the craftswoman. Her taste is everywhere, without her being everywhere. 

Pradasphere is vast, and sometimes literal. The Prada spacesuit, done with Axiom Space, will be worn by NASA astronauts. 

What Prada does really well - aside of their product design and merchandising strategy - is their cultural programming. Prada content is stand-alone and high quality, like its Prada Reporter, Prada Journal, or Miu Miu Tales and Tellers. Through its content, Prada speaks to a much wider audience than its actual customers and prospects.

I would also list Prada among the websites that are visually convincing, in addition to Marc Jacobs and Balenciaga. The brand voice is always semi-serious: there is a bit of weirdness lurking about. Other brands that have a (different sort) of playfulness are Hermès, Jacquemus, Marni, Balenciaga websites and social content and Farfetch Instagram. 

Content creates context - a mini-world - around each collection, product category or a hero product. A24 probably does it best, but Balenciaga and their bag campaigns are also a good example.

Most brands have opportunity to make their content more visually arresting on their website and social media, with a stronger and more distinctive art direction for e-commerce photography, marketing and social media. There’s also opportunity to build mini-narratives around categories, hero products, and new releases in between big seasonal campaigns and media pushes. 

In the domain of collaborations, brands first need to identify the area/s of culture that they can believably play in (film, literature, art, hospitality, food, sport, design, music … ) and then choose collaborators - creators, brands, collectives - that will advance their presence in the selected areas.

Rejina Pyo’s is a fashion brand that recently opened an art show in a London gallery, where she curated a number of multidisciplinary artists to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her brand. Prada did its Miu Miu Summer Reads pop-up this past summer, and has a longstanding art credentials with its Fondazione Prada. Gucci Osteria is a culinary venture between Gucci and chef Massimo Bottura. Other brands are capitalizing on the sports heat, like Veronica Beard x NFL or  Veronica Beard x NFL, Carine Roitfelt x Dwayne Wade magazine.

Rationale behind this approach to collaborations is to strategically expand a brand’s aesthetics and ethics beyond their immediate category (fashion, apparel,