Course 2025-2026 a.y.

Main topics covered:

• Fashion and luxury business segmentation and evolution

• Brand Identity Management: heritage, stylistic, retail, and communication identity

• Key business processes: product development, merchandising and buying, channel management, and communication

• Customer experience design and the role of new technologies in shaping the customer journey

• Brand and line extension strategies

• Turnaround and rebranding strategies

• Sustainability as a driver of innovation

• Describe the unique characteristics of the luxury, fashion and lifestyle sectors

• Identify key success factors and challenges in positioning and growth strategies within these markets

• Recognize the specialized skills and tools required in typical industry roles such as merchandising, branding, retailing, and CRM 

• Reproduce core frameworks and methodologies for analyzing business models and successful branding strategies in the fashion and luxury industries.

• State the key managerial challenges related to immersive customer experiences, brand extension, and sustainability as innovation.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Apply strategic frameworks to analyze and solve real-world challenges in fashion, luxury, lifestyle brands.

• Use analytical tools to interpret data and evaluate brand strategies.

• Connect/Relate market trends and brand identity elements to industry challenges.

• Compare and assess different business models and growth strategies for authority, icon, lifestyle and cult brands.

• Design and develop plans for signature customer experiences.

• Prepare and present a professional group project for a real-world client.

• Simulate decision-making processes of key managerial roles in merchandising, CRM, business intelligence.

• Evaluate correct metrics and KPIs to drive brand success.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

• Guest speakers enrich students’ learning on specific and technical topics such as merchandising and buying, customer experience design, and digital strategies.

• In-class exercises allow students to practice using tools and frameworks, such as developing a merchandising plan, measuring sustainability, and evaluating companies in the stock market.

• The course relies heavily on case materials, with case analysis and discussion forming the primary class activity. Preparation and active participation in these discussions are critical for developing the ability to diagnose problems and propose effective recommendations.

• For attending students, a group assignment is included to put into practice product and brand management methodologies learned in class.

Students are considered attending if they actively participate in the group assignment and attend all mandatory group assignment meetings (usually 4), either in person or, if allowed, via streaming.

For attending students, preparation primarily involves reviewing the handouts presented in class (including those from guest speakers when indicated), revising the relevant course book chapters, and analyzing all the business cases discussed during lectures. 

The written individual exam tests students’ knowledge and understanding of key industry issues, drivers of growth, business models, key success factors, and operational strategies in product, retail, and communication. It is structured as a multiple-choice and multiple-answer test, accounting for 60% of the final grade. The exam lasts 30 minutes and has no negative marking. Students must achieve a passing grade (>18/30) in the individual written test to pass the final exam, regardless of their performance on the group assignment. If they fail the exam, they must retake it in person while the group assignment grade remains valid for one academic year.

The group assignment, developed in collaboration with an external partner, aims to test students’ ability to work as a team and deliver a strategic project as consultants. It accounts for 40% of the final grade, and all project sessions are mandatory. A peer evaluation is included and may impact individual grades in cases of free-riding, according to the PTP rules indicated on Blackboard.

Non-attending students are not required to study the business cases or class handouts. Instead, their preparation focuses on all the books and papers specified in the course syllabus.

The non attending written individual exam evaluates students' knowledge and understanding of the industry's key drivers, business models, critical success factors, and operational strategies in areas such as product, retail, communication, customer experience. The exam is structured as a multiple-choice and multiple-answer test based on the assigned books (excluding handouts and business cases). It accounts for 100% of the final grade and has a duration of 45 minutes with no negative points.

If a student fails the exam, they are required to retake it in person.

S. Saviolo, The Power of Connection: The New Branding Strategy for Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Brands, Bocconi University Press, 2025 (All chapters).

Handouts and business cases on Blackboard

• S. Saviolo, The Power of Connection: The New Branding Strategy for Fashion, Beauty and Lifestyle Brands, Bocconi University Press, 2025 (All chapters).

• S. Saviolo (ed.), Signature Experience in Fashion and Luxury, Bocconi University Press, 2018 (All chapters).

• S. Saviolo, Fashion and the Sustainability Challenge, Working Paper available on Blackboard.