In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen - HIGHLIGHTS: Andrea Guerra - CEO of the Prada Group

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

We've curated a special 10-minute version of the podcast for those in a hurry.   Here you can listen to the full episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/prada-group-ceo-the-old-normal-of-luxury-the-bet/id1614211565?i=1000760166168&l=nbIn this episode of In Good Company, Nicolai Tangen sits down with Andrea Guerra, CEO of the Prada Group, in Milan to explore the art of building iconic luxury brands. They discuss why luxury must return to its "old normal" of exclusivity and experience, the extraordinary rise of Miu Miu as a rebellious yet inclusive brand, and how the acquisition of Versace opens a bold new chapter for the group. Andrea also shares his philosophy on resonant leadership, empowering people to express themselves and embracing debate to reach better decisions. With ambitions spanning generations, the Prada Group is playing the long game.In Good Company is hosted by Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management. New full episodes every Wednesday, and don't miss our Highlight episodes every Friday.  The production team for this episode includes Isabelle Karlsson and PLAN-B's Niklas Figenschau Johansen and Sebastian Langvik-Hansen. Background research was conducted by Isabelle Karlsson. Watch the episode on YouTube: Norges Bank Investment Management - YouTubeWant to learn more about the fund? The fund | Norges Bank Investment Management (nbim.no)Follow Nicolai Tangen on LinkedIn: Nicolai Tangen | LinkedInFollow NBIM on LinkedIn: Norges Bank Investment Management: Administrator for bedriftsside | LinkedInFollow NBIM on Instagram: Explore Norges Bank Investment Management on Instagram Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, everybody. Tune in to this short version of the podcast, which we do every Friday for the long version. Tune in on Wednesdays. Hi, everyone. Today, I'm in Milan, the heart of the Italian fashion, and I'm in an extremely good company with Andrea Greta, CEO of the Prada group. Now, Andrea took over three years ago, stepped into the Prada shoes, and at that time, the group has grown quarter by quarter. Mewo Mew is arguably now the hottest brand in luxury. And you just bought Versace, so welcome. Welcome and happier here. Now, Prada is more than 100 years old. What's the DNA of Prada, in short?

You know, Prada is a unique brand. It's, Prada is the point of view. Prada is in opinion. Prada is culture. Prada is totally winded in certain cultural pillars such as art, architecture. literature and has always an opinion. And how do you see that in the brand? You can see that in a brand,

you can see that in a brand in any aspect, in any location, in anything we do. There is nothing which is not thought. There is nothing which you can spot details which are out of place. There is nothing that we do by chance and not linked to a thought and to an opinion about what's going on in the society.

How is fashion changing now? How is the luxury gives it? You know, I think this industry is upside down. What does that mean? This industry has gone through a couple of decades of constant growth. Let's go to any textbook.

That's not possible. That's not feasible. And I think we were all happy. And this industry has grown by three times, four times, five times in the last only 10, 15 years. So I think that now we have to go through a period of normalization. We have to go through a period where maybe we've been a little bit spoiled.

So we have to go back to certain aspects of the business. So what's normalization? What's the new normal? I think it's the all-normal. This is what we have to look for. It's not the new normal. It's the all-normal. luxury is exclusivity, selectivity, is value,

is dreams, its experience, its hospitality. This is what we have to do, and this is what it has always been. The world is changing and the media picture is changing and we got social media and we got attention spans like ants. How does the storytelling art change? You know, I think there are two things. First of all, when people are asking me, how we are using artificial intelligence.

The main part we're using artificial intelligence is in our CRM. So customer relationship management. Yes, we are working like hell, hours and hours, to really understand which message to which people and how to personalize that message to that person in that moment. and the more you're able to do that, the more business becomes hot. Okay, so I'm coming into your store. You know my background.

You know what I bought with you. But even before you're coming to my store. Okay. That's where everything starts. What do you sell me? What dream you sell me? So, you know, I think artificial intelligence today allows you to go into your data

and really what I always say look alike. So you bought these things to me. I'm coming out with this new drop, this new package, these new ideas. And I think these new ideas have these characteristics. How can I match these things? And how can I match how hot you are in that moment to come into my brand and buy? And when I'm able to connect this, wow, I have conversion rates which I've never seen in my life. Moving on, Vasace.

Iconic has been owned by Americans for seven years now and you are buying it back to Italy. Why did you buy it? It's an opportunity. We were not out for acquisitions. We feel that the two engines we had can take us somewhere close to 10 billion euros as an ambition. What's the DNA of Razzachi? Versace is

something we like because again it was born in culture. It was born in this mania grecha. Has this Greek, ancient Greek influence on Italian culture. And it's winded in pop. Versace invented

glamour. There's such invented pop. Versace invented the great models. There's such invented music in the shows. So it's this spin which is very different from our

portfolio, but it's in our DNA that we love, that everything goes and starts from culture. What did you see in Masachi that other people did see? I think that many people have seen what we have seen, but we're ready to take the tackle,

we're ready to take the challenge. It's not an easy job. Has been a little bit mismanaged as a brand, not as a business, and we're ready to go. And we feel that we know how to do a brand business. We are patient. We don't think that we have to be successful tomorrow morning. But we need to plant seeds.

We need to nurture. We need to have the right people in place. And the team is ready to go. How do you think about pricing when something is, hot and, you know, it's tempting to price it up. Just how do you think about it? Because I'm seeing some brands and I'm just amazed by the price points. My first answer would be I don't care.

That is, am I able to get you your heart, your passion, your dreams, your emotion somewhere? If I'm able to do that, full stop. Each one of us is spending, I don't want to say money, could be money, could be time in so many different things we love. On a bottle of wine, I mean, let's discuss it, or on an incredible room in front of the ocean. There are many different ways we can spend our money. And if I'm, the issue is, once you talk about. price, it's evident I made a mistake in whatever I'm doing in luxury. What do you mean?

I mean that you should never talk about pricing because you should be so happy that you give me your credit card without even asking what is the price. This is what we have to do. Yeah, it happens with some people, but it doesn't happen with everybody, right? Sure. And maybe, maybe this is why I'm saying, all normal. maybe this industry has gone and it will be too far out.

This industry has lost one consumer out of five in the last four years. Three years. It's a lot, eh? Move on to leadership. How will people define your leadership style?

Mine? Yeah. You know, one day I write a book. I don't usually through him the... I don't usually read business books at all. But there was a lady that was giving us a kind of session in the United States, and I read her book.

And she was talking about resonant leadership, which I love. What is it? Which is convincing your mind and convincing your heart that we are all in a journey with a very clear mission and allowing everyone to express to their best. This is what I think I'm doing every day.