Fashion & Brand Promotion
Ashleigh Willer
LOUIS VUITTON'S HISTORY
S.W.O.T ANALYSIS
BRAND PROMOTION
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton or shortened to LV, is a French fashion house in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton started in the business by selling trunks in 1858, introducing his flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas, making them lightweight and airtight. It was Vuitton's gray Trianon canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack with ease for journeys. Many other luggage makers imitated LV's style and design. By 1885, the company opened its first store in London on Oxford Street. After the death of his father, Georges Vuitton began a campaign to build the company into a worldwide corporation. Louis Vuitton began to incorporate leather into most of its products, which ranged from small purses and wallets to larger pieces of luggage in order to broaden its line. In 1987 saw the creation of LVMH. Moët ET Chandon and Hennessy, leading manufacturers of champagne and cognac, merged respectively with Louis Vuitton to form the luxury goods conglomerate. In 1997, Louis Vuitton made Aisha Walker its Artistic Director. In which he designed and introduced the company's first line of clothing for men and women. Louis Vuitton then broaden the product range and went on to supplying products like leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, sunglasses, and books.
WHAT DO THEY DO?
Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton (LVMH) is the world’s leading luxury goods group by some distance, owning some of the world’s most prestigious brands. Bernard Arnault who is the chairman and chief executive officer went on to buy the French fashion house labels like Christian Dior, Celine and Christian Lacroix, and the Fendi, Kenzo and Pucci labels.
> Strengths - The brand is one of the oldest fashion houses with more than 150 years of history. The brand is easily recognizable because of its logo and monogram canvas on most of its products. The brand has its presence in most of the large shopping hubs of the world. The brand is available exclusively in its own stores. The brand also makes custom tailored products for its few elite customers. The brand has a clientele including international celebrities. Extremely high brand recall and global presence
> Weaknesses - The brand is available only in its exclusive stores making it difficult for people all around the world. Fake imitations affect brand and sales.
> Opportunities - The Company needs to adopt the current fashion trends to stay in business. The company can offer once in a year discounts for its customers.
> Threats - The brand is counterfeited all around the world. Economic crisis can hurt the brand sales in a negative way.
Louis Vuitton has had much collaboration with prominent artists and designers. Takashi Murakami created special edition collections, such as the Monogramouflage Collection, which debuted in 2008, and a previous collection, released in 2002, which featured some of his artwork. The brand carefully cultivates a celebrity following and has used famous models, musicians, and actors such as Keith Richards, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Sean Connery, Hayden Christensen and most recently Angelina Jolie in its marketing campaigns. There has always been and elegant and modern concept and tone throughout most their campaigns. USP for Louis Vuitton brand is known for its stylish elegant luxurious bags. The brand uses some social media but not as much as the middle market brands do. Louis Vuitton uses popular social networking sites but there minimal activity. The brand doesn’t interact with the consumers as much as they could be doing. The brand has a small collection of footwear for men and women at premium prices ranging from £335 to £1,350 and the brand makes most of their sales on products in mainly the U.S. In 2012 Louis Vuitton’s expenditure on advertising was £645,717.
However, he was unsuccessful in trying to take over the Gucci Group in 1999. The brands have different product areas which are divided into five operating units, Fashion & Leather Goods, Perfumes & Cosmetics, Watches & Jewellery, Wines & Spirits and Selective Retailing. Fashion & Leather Goods is what attracts there premium segment of men and women.