What could be the problematics for Louis Vuitton in the upcoming years with their current strategy. Based on their history and latest work what does it say about Vuitton true core values.

1. LUXURY STRATEGIES
THE END OF AN ERA
Antoine Vaugier

2. THE BEGINNING OF LOUIS VUITTON
1837: Louis Vuitton became a box-making apprentice in Paris &
gained his own reputation as one of the best in this field
French luxury brand specialized in leather-goods
1854: Opening of the Louis Vuitton shop at 4 Neuve Rue des
Capucines
1858: The trunks was designed with a beige & brown striped
known as “Rayée”
1888: Vuitton introduced the Damier Canvas pattern
1892: Louis Vuitton dies & his son Georges Vuitton takes control
of the company
1896: The Monogram Canvas was proposed & introduced

3. THE LOUIS VUITTON HOUSE
1914: The Louis Vuitton building was opened in the
Champs-Elysées & Coco Chanel was nominated as a patron
1987: Louis Vuitton takes part of the LVMH group
1997: Marc Jacobs became the Artistic Director of Louis
Vuitton and designed their first “prêt-à-porter” collection
2003: Louis Vuitton collaborates with the artist Takashi
Murakami to create the Multicolour Monogram collection
2013: Nicolas Ghesquière joined the Artistic team of Louis
Vuitton as Artistic Director
2014: The Louis Vuitton Foundation was built at 8 Avenue
du Mahatma Gandhi in Paris
2016: The designer Marc Newson made the Horizon bag
for Louis Vuitton & the actress Léa Seydoux is the
ambassadress of the “prêt-à-porter” and the perfume series

4. THE LUXURY ACROSS THE WORLD
Louis Vuitton internationalization:Opening Art & Architecture
spaces in Tokyo, Munich, Paris & Venice
2009: Louis Vuitton created the first Journey Awards film
competition: an international short films to express talent &
creativity across the “travel” universe.
Louis Vuitton is associated with Unicef “#makeapromise”
The company is involved in the protection of the environment
Louis Vuitton has cultivated his image and values with strong
celebrities & personalities such as Bono, Angelina Jolie, Sean
Connery, Scarlett Johanssen, Jennifer Lopez…

5. AN AUDACIOUS & VISIONARY BRAND
1867: Bronze medal at the International Exposition in
Paris organized by Napoleon
1889: Gold medal & the Grand Prize at the Universal
Exposition
2007: Award at the Grand Prix du Luxe Strategies/
Condé Nast
2012: Louis Vuitton was named the world’s most
valuable luxury brand ($25.9 billion) by Millward Brown
Optimor
Louis Vuitton takes part of the Sport World:
2014: Louis Vuitton created the trunk for the World
Cup in Brazil
2017: They created the America’s Cup Trunk
2015: Trunk for the famous Webb Ellis Cup, one of the
most famous through the world

6. TIMELESS & SCARCITY RANGE
Louis Vuitton is specialized in different trends as fashion,
shoes, jewellery, trunk, furniture, belt…
Some of the most famous Louis Vuitton bags & handbags
through the time:
1901: The designed “Steamer” bag was introduced
1930: The “Keepall” bag & The “Speedy” bag were
created
1934: The “Squire” or Alma bag was introduced
2008: The “Sofia Coppola” collections & the
“Damier Graphite” were launched
2013: Creation of The “Louis Vuitton Capucines”
2014: Louis Vuitton designed the “Little Trunk”
2016: Louis Vuitton presented their 7 own perfumes
made by the Perfumer House Jacques Cavallier
Belletrud

7. THE EMOTION
“L’art du voyage” what translate their mains values
revolving the history of the brand
Inspired by the poem of Baudelaire “L’invitation au
Voyage”
« Core Value » campaign shoot by Anne Leibovitz that
showcase the core identity of Louis Vuitton, famous
people around the world traveling with Louis Vuitton
Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, Mikhail Gorbatchev…
Louis Vuitton is renowned for its luxury universe & stories
heritages
Today, the brand try to turning Emotion into Fragrance
THE 4E’S

8. THE EXPERIENCE
Their main store at the Champs Elysées created in 1912
in an “art nouveau” style
For a long time, all the stores were very look alike, in the
past few years it has become more diverse
Always using famous architect to design their stores
Through their monogram as well as their iconic product
Louis Vuitton always had their own universe
Very present in their stores & in the representation of the
brand
Since 2015, Louis Vuitton has a certain decrease
concerning the financial growth of the brand: They have
closed 3 stores in Guangzhou, Harbin & Urumqi - China
THE 4E’S

9. THE ENGAGEMENT
In 2012, the “Digital Girl” was introduced across all the
windows-shop of the world
Louis Vuitton driving Luxury Digital engagement via its
shop window
They have made a digital effort on the window at their St
Germain des Près store. The front window invites
passers-by to download the “Louis Vuitton Pass app” in
order to interact with the window.
The Louis Vuitton Pass is a smartphone app designed to
bring its advertising campaigns to life.
Louis Vuitton is a pioneer into the Digital world & try to
innovate their digital tools & contents
THE 4E’S

10. THE EMPOWERMENT
LV never gives the permits to other shops or online shops
Louis Vuitton products are exclusively sold in Louis Vuitton
stores and through the Louis Vuitton official website
Louis Vuitton never reduces its prices, and unless it is
second-hand, discounted Louis Vuitton merchandise
found on the Web is highly suspicious of being counterfeit
THE 4E’S

11. PARTICIPATIVE MARKETING
Customers can customized their own products
Louis Vuitton has offered their clients the possibility to
personalize their items by having their initials printed on
their bags
“Customization works particularly well for heritage luxury
brands because it’s a way for them to set themselves
apart from fast fashion”
City Guide: People can travelled across 15.000 different
addresses all around the world & give you the opportunity
to share your journey
THE 4E’S

12. THE EXCLUSIVITY
Loosing exclusivity
LV operates in 50 countries with more than 460 stores
worldwide
The perceived value is decreasing, it lost its exclusivity by
massively investing in more and more locations
While the profit is increasing
The Pop-Up store created in Moscow on the Red square
was a big scandal, and show the weakness of luxury and
by extend the power of the monogram. Keep it classy
people will buy it, show it to much and you will shock the
public opinion
THE 4E’S

13. 4P’S
THE PRODUCT
FORCES WEAKNESSES
High capacity of innovation
Handmade quality & know-
how
Luxury product make in
France
Innovation
Capacity of adaptation &
quality of services
powerful groups that helps
them to access a lot of
technology and innovation
Important costs of raw
materials
Important cost of
innovation/technicity &
creativity

14. 4P’S
THE PROMOTION
FORCES WEAKNESSES
French Luxury Brand
Famous brand through the
world
Organization of events to
assure the best positioning
of LV
High-end positioning of LV
across the different markets
Low communication across
the media (magazines –
Vogue / Billboards)
Known through word of
mouth is the best key for the
LV communication

15. 4P’S
THE PLACE
FORCES WEAKNESSES
Possibility to buy online
Worldwide distribution
Department Stores
(Macy’s New York, Saks
Fifth Avenue)
Exclusive Distribution
Development &
innovation of the
strategy for the future
Available products at
the point of sale
to much stores that
decrease the luxury side
of LV’s image

16. 4P’S
THE PRICE
FORCES WEAKNESSES
High price
Price Range
Consequent margin
premium strategy and
positioning
the space between the
truly luxurious products
and the accessibles one
could lead to a
confusion to who really
is our target.

17. BENCHMARKING
For benchmarking analysis, we chose four brands to
analyze:
Hermes: huge opinion leader of the industry, still family
owned, luxury the proper way. a must study.
Chanel: the main brand when talking about luxury, true
to their values keeping the excellence and the scarcity of
their product at the highest level.
Supreme: The leading brand in the streetwear business
as for their strategy of highly limited product and
distribution, lately they have not only featured a collection
with Vuitton but they might be the next big move of the
LVMH group.
Henry Poole & Co: which is a heritage brand since 19’s
in London, with good reputation and limited distribution

18. Brand Louis Vuitton Hermès Chanel Supreme Henry Poole & Co
Core value Craftsmanship,
outstanding quality
Craftsmanship,
precision,
timelessness
Craftsmanship,
timelessness,
heritage in
product
Streetwear cult Heritage, timelessness.
Key product offering Luxury fashion good,
specializing in luggage,
travel bag and
handbag.
High-fashion
clothing,
specializing in
scarves and bags
Luxury goods and
jewelry
Street style
design clothing &
accessories.
Make- to- measure suits and
accessories
Unique identity Brown monogram
graphic symbol
Orange carriage Black& white
“double C “
Red background
with white
“Supreme”
Gold brand name symbol
communication Lots of communication
through arts and in
digital world.
Not much
communication
Spending a lot in
their campaign.
Through social
media,
collaboration
with lots of
brands
No communication at all
Target audience Middle upper class
people who wants
quality products
High net worth
people who wants
exclusive products
Worthy
people who wants
exclusive
products.
Young people Really high net income man
with quality life
Distribution more than 460 stores in
50 countries. Selective
items sold on official
website
307 stores
worldwide.
Items sold online
in certain global
regions
310 stores
worldwide.
Selective items
sold on official
website.
10 stores in NYC,
LA, London,
Paris,
Tokyo, sold on
website
One store in London.
Accessories are sold on
official website
Promotion No sales/discount Sales on seasonal
items
Sales on several
products
Sales/discount No promotion

19. PLACE OF THEIR STORE
Louis Vuitton has more than 460 stores in 50 countries.
And they are all in the prime location in the cities.
The prices remain the same in their boutiques,
departmental stores and online.
In addition, the company never gives licenses to outside
firms to avoid brand digression.
The online distribution channel:
1. The products are never discounted.
2. Maintain total control over the brand by making its
product available only though louisvuitton.com
3.Educate customers about where the product can be
safely obtained on

20. DISTRIBUTION
Louis Vuitton posses a vast distribution system. however
in those last years, the frenzy of store opening seems to
have reach it’s term point.

21. • MARKET SEGMENTATION
Demographic segmentation：Louis Vuitton‘s target
market consists of individuals who have a higher income,
the higher the propensity to purchase luxury goods.
For this segmentation, their targeted clients are both sex,
aged between 25-50 years old, who have earned an
income between $50,000 ~ $200,000 yearly and most
of them would be graduate professionals with sense of
self-worth and high social status.

22. TARGET BOARD
Geographical segmentation : One of the most important
markets of Louis Vuitton is not from Paris where its original
is, but Asia. And it is said that the mainland Chinese
were Louis Vuitton's third-largest customer segment in the
world in 2015.
Psychographic segmentation: 46% of LV customers are
Self-indulger, 33% are quality seeker and 21% are status
seekers.

23. CORE TARGET
The historical target of Louis Vuitton is the urban middle
aged woman.
35+, CSP+ classy.
Reading fashion magazine such as Vogue or Vanity Fair
If they are not from Paris (which represent a huge part
nowadays) they still want to link to the parisian lifestyle.
Driving an Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes, Mini.
Watching Canal +, TMC, LCP, Itele
Reading Le Figaro, Le Monde, Times Magazine

24. SECONDARY TARGET
The new target, the one impacted by social media
18-25, willing to access the luxury world, present on
social media, impacted by young influencers.
Driven by Facebook Snapchat Instagram
Could come to any social status, the poorer as the
richest are always exposed at one point to our brand
everyone could want to acquire one of our products even
if they will not became a client on a regular basis, they
contribute to building the dream.

25. PERCEIVED VALUE IN CHINESE MARKET
• It is perceived as a “brand for secretaries”, it is gaining
popularity with the middle class. It is loosing its brand
value and upper class customers.
• This brand was once a synonym for quality and
exclusivity. It has already associated terms like: fake,
cheap, everywhere.

26. PROBLEMATICS
SPREADING TO FAST ?
As we have seen even tho the numbers of Vuitton and
the group behind it seems really successful, one of the
leading brand in the luxury industry is slowly decreasing
the standard that where initially set for this type of
business.
« 453 stores worldwide in 2017 »
The first one identified was the way Louis Vuitton
spreads around the globe, flooding the Chinese market
and create a weariness in their customer base.
Their image is declining, by becoming a global brand they
have lost the exclusivity that define luxury.
Even tho their huge communication power allows them
through initiative like The Louis Vuitton Foundation to keep
a feet in what link them to Luxury.

28. PROBLEMATICS
COLLABORATION: BETWEEN SUCCESS AND FAILURE
The second problematic is the way they have
diversified the range of their product through
collaboration or even under their own name,
they have been encouraged to this strategy by
initiative like the collaboration with Takashi
Murakami that was very successful and opened
them the Asian market in a blink of an eye.
But they don’t seems to realize that by
attracting the mass with collaboration with
Supreme they create hype but loose the
timelessness that is always closely link to the
luxury industry.
The mix between high-end fashion and
streetwear is still to be found, Louis Vuitton tried
in the past with Kanye West, but even there the
core target of Vuitton was not able to identify.

29. PROBLEMATICS
ATTRACTING NEW CUSTOMERS AND STAYING TRUE
TO YOUR HISTORIC BASE
“Social media does play a huge role in desensitizing us to
these things that used to feel so special, because we’re
seeing it over and over again,” said Aba Kwawu, principal
of TAA PR
As we have seen the Chinese market is evolving quickly,
and they are not willing anymore to spend carelessly on
monogram, they now want more.
Vuitton and others brand such as Fendi and Gucci are
facing this huge crisis of their image
Facing the problems that we have been presenting
should concern Vuitton as how to keep being an
attractive luxury brand.

30. SOLUTIONS:
1 BACK TO THE ROOTS
one of the solutions is to go back to what as always been their core business, the true luxury.
IN 2017 they can not continue to lie to themselves trying to be the biggest part of a segmented market does not have
to be a priority.
Luxury is about creating the best product for a selected clientele
If they really want to lead this industry they should get rid of all their shops in secondary cities, only keep flagships
stores.
Like Apple, Vertu, Graff keeping a very selective distribution and exclusivity (waiting list for the iPhone or the Birkin
Hermes bag) is the way to go.
To make this strategy works they will have to end all collaboration and side distribution.
This will the follow with a reduction of collections a year from nearly 8 (counting cruises, FW,..) to only 2 one summer
and a winter.
Higher quality, more hype created by the wait, scarcity of production and distribution equals the winning hand for a
luxury business in 2017.

31. SOLUTIONS:
1 BACK TO THE ROOTS
we of course can’t keep out ouf the equation the
impact of social media and the brand image for the
youth that should become our clientele when they
will have matured. Our very limited distribution will
not affect our communication strategy, after the
recent launch of the LV fragrance, the accessible
product should continue to be a center of interest,
but it will not exceed the primary one. Going back
to what Louis Vuitton does best, exclusive and high
end products.

32. SOLUTIONS:
2 SPREAD TO A GROUP DIMENSION
the alternative solution that we want to propose is the opposite of the first one, not in therm of quality but in term
of brand story telling.
In this solution we want to extend the image of Louis Vuitton to its closest match, their group itself, LVMH. with
their wide variety of brands they have created over the years what no one could achieve, the biggest luxury
industry.
Berluti, le Bon Marché, Bulgari, Céline, De Beers, Fendi, Givenchy, Hublot, Kenzo, Louis Vuitton, Guerlain, Dom
Pérignion, La Samaritaine (still to come), TAG Heuer,..
Only with those names they could create a luxury empire that no one could counter.
Creating a card for the buyers of the brand of the group, that would collect all their datas, the bought products,
the place where, even for the alcohol. They would have a huge data base that would help them to develop a
new kind of personalized services that will be the focus point for luxury in the upcoming years.
Extending this strategy lead you to an infinite numbers of possibilities, creating co branded stores or only
displaying the LVMH product in one of the levels of either la Samaritaine or le Bon Marché.
By extending the loyalty program to a group dimension, they will recreate a bubble of luxury, either you are part
of the LVMH family or either you aren’t. This will allow them to block any competitors such as Keiring to fight
them, they will have their own market based on their group focused strategy.

33. SOLUTIONS:
CONCLUSION
Not only do they possess strong and
valuables brand but they also have the
best distributors with the two stated
previously or even Sephora for all the
accessible luxury products ( such as
lipstick). Louis Vuitton and by extend
LVMH is a growing octopus, they have a
hand on every and each aspect of the
sector, they are therefor dragging a huge
attention, the curse that they will choose
in the upcoming 5 years will drive the
whole industry.

34. “
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