Il marketing esperienziale del made in Italy: il caso Dolce&Gabbana

This paper proposes a semiotic analysis of a particular consumption space, Dolce&Gabbana’s Sicilian Market, which in December 2018 was set on an entire floor of the Milan’s Rinascente. The aim is to outline the new communication methods of the contemporary society. Some of the main semiotic studies of the sector will be considered, from Algirdas Julien Greimas’s narrative contribution to media and spaces semiotics by Giovanna Cosenza and Alice Giannitrapani. Then, the brand will also be framed on the basis of the experiential marketing strategic modules provided by Joseph B. Pine, James H. Gilmore and Bernd Schmitt. A reflection will be made on the semiotic tools, especially considering consumption as language, and on the spectacularization of sensory attributes of products, the communicability of which would be more difficult on virtual and less synaesthetic consumption spaces such as websites. On these latter platforms may however be useful in the future, due to the increasing number of purchases, to introduce a way to transmit sensory feedback to users, especially in the world of luxury, composed by a niche of consumers still extremely attracted by the personalized experiences that they can enjoy in the boutiques.