Context
Stone Island has built one of fashion's most committed communities. As the brand moved to elevate its offer under CEO Robert Triefus, the leadership team needed to know whether that elevation was reaching the customers it intended.
Approach
We built a continuous research programme rather than a one-off study, running four phases over two years:
1. Fielded consumer surveys across the US, UK, Japan and South Korea to test awareness, perception and persona fit market by market
2. Layered in AI-powered analysis of social conversation and customer behaviour across seven markets, so we could see what people did, not only what they said
3. Reviewed findings quarterly with the CEO and his first-line management team, turning each phase into a working session on strategic direction rather than a report handover
Result
The research showed the elevation strategy working on its own terms. The "Navigator" — an established customer buying less but buying better — grew from 7 percent to 34 percent of the online audience across the four phases, while the female "Pioneer" engaged more deeply following Peggy Gou joining the brand's community project.
Crucially, that shift came without a loss of credibility with the existing community.
The insights also revealed that a global brand holds multiple local reputations at different stages of maturity, letting the team calibrate market priorities while holding one identity.
