Distribution Ad Platform_ The Role of Distribution Ad Network.pdf
Louis vuitton
1. Leading Louis Vuitton’s Brand and
Communication Management Strategy
for GenZ
MONISHA BANDHU
LME2 – Masters in fashion marketing and
sustainability management
2. INTRODUCTION
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton or shortened to LV, is a French fashion house and luxury goods company founded in
1854 by Louis Vuitton. It is one of the leading international fashion houses and has been named the world’s most valuable luxury brand with
$32.2 billion valuation and 15 percent market share. According to Ifop, Gen-Z’s favorite brands include Louis Vuitton at the top of the list and is
the most searched brand, it reached that position by defending societal values.
During pandemic while many brands are suffering or even closing stores, Louis Vuitton have been performing well by preparing in advance and
inspiring their audience the past months with their consumer focused storytelling that puts rational ad emotional consumer benefits at the
center.
For this assignment, I will be creating a communication strategy focused on the GenZ generation and their thirst for knowledge seeking in
terms of improving the society. I want to focus on the brand’s communication where they impart knowledge of the products and their making
to better understand the brand’s sustainability stance and how it benefits each and every individual directly and indirectly. To recommend a
communication strategy, I would be looking into the current strategies used by Louis Vuitton to attract the GenZ consumer, their products and
collaborations, campaigns and CSR.
The focus of the research and analysis is to attract and capture GenZ’s attention to entice them to buy the products and subsequently make
them a loyal customer for life. GenZ have a very short attention span of 5 seconds and I will be creating a plan keeping that in mind as well as
their interest in visuals and crisis communication.
Louis Vuitton have already been very successful in garnering GenZ’s attention and therefore, I will be looking into their strategy to come up
with my own communication strategy for the brand.
3. KAPFERER’S PRISM
Externalization
Louis Vuitton logo, four-leaf
clover, brown square pattern,
repeated pattern, leather
bags.
First one to collaborate with
street-wear like supreme,
working with high-ranking
celebrities, entering gaming
industry and virtual fashion
with League of Legend,
supporting cultural heritage
with Louis Vuitton
Foundation.
Young influencers like Virgil
Abloh as creative director,
featuring famous models,
actors and musicians.
Internalization
With influencers from around
the world wearing Louis
Vuitton, it is the top favorite
brand of GenZ, considered top
value brand it is worth the
investment and sustainable.
French heritage luxury brand
which supports culture and
art is inclusive and supports
diversity internally with
human resource and with its
design collaborations.
Wearing Louis Vuitton makes
GenZ feel part of the luxury
fashion industry and cultured,
they feel they are supporting
local artists and French
companies while staying true
to their own identity.
• LV logo, four-
clover leaf, brown
square pattern
• Leather bags
• Contemporary
luxury fashion
• Collaborations
with street
wear,
musicians,
celebrities
• Cultural support
• Celebrities
• Younger
influencers like
musicians
• Diversity, inclusive
• Elegant luxury
• Modern and
inclusive brand
• Heritage, good
investment
• Cultured
• French luxury
• Culture and
heritage
• Sustainable
• Modern
contemporary
• Cultured
• Fashion forward
• Good investment
• Supporting local
artisans and craft
5. CAMPAIGNS
LOUIS VUITTON 2021 Spirit of Travel ad campaign,
photographer Viviane Sassen translates the core
values of the Maison into a far-reaching journey
towards a dream. Louis Vuitton pays tribute to the Year
of the Ox for its Lunar New Year 2021
campaign.
These memories of childhood are described as
“universally relatable,” with Louis Vuitton going on
to explain that they “serve to bind us together in
all our diversity across counties, countries, and
continents.”
Diversity and Inclusion
6. Collaborations Louis Vuitton displayed its autumn collection in a virtual tour of the Louvre
Museum closing Paris Fashion Week’s online shows by framing designs
that echoed the sculptures on display. Louis Vuitton was among several
luxury brands that paid homage to cultural institutions shut down due to
the pandemic, which also put live runway shows on hold and is bringing in
new ways for brands to display their collections.
Arguably the most infamous collaboration, and one that set the tone for
subsequent partnerships, was the Supreme and Louis Vuitton collection.
Shown at Paris Fashion week, the ultimate barometer of high fashion’s
approval, this was followed by a wave of street-wear collaborations with
more traditional retailers. Virgil Abloh’s appointment as Artistic Director at
Louis Vuitton’s men’s wear was a definitive indicator, cementing the
exponential influence of street-wear.
Louis Vuitton’s limited edition mahjong set is one for the history books.
7. ENVIRONMENT GenZ are more concerned with the external side effects of what they consume,
sustainability concerns are far greater for South Koreans (81%), the Japanese
(70%), Chinese (66%) and French (66%) than it is for Americans (45%) or the
British (43%). The sustainable luxury consumers are primarily concerned with
the environment (37%), animal care (27%) and ethical manufacturing (21%).
Louis Vuitton has been awarded the Butterfly Mark by Positive Luxury for a
company-wide commitment to sustainability. One of the main focus is
transparency in sourcing and traceability of its raw materials, as well as animal
welfare in farming and trapping conditions, respect for workers, the
environment, and biodiversity throughout the different stages of each of the
animal-based supply chains. According to the group's evaluations in 2018, 91%
of their waste was reused, recycled, or transformed into energy.
LVMH contributes to Amazon emergency aid and preservation alongside
France’s contribution, in the urgent efforts to fight fires in the rainforest. Part of
the amount is directed to a joined project between the group and UNESCO to
improve the resilience of affected eco-regions with a special focus on fire
management.
8. INCLUSIVE &
DIVERSE
Virgil Abloh, the American designer, DJ and stylist became the first Black
American Artistic Director at Louis Vuitton.
74% of promotions earned in 2018 went to women, who represent 72% of
Louis Vuitton’s workforce.
More than 100 nationalities are represented in Louis Vuitton team world wide.
They operate in 62 countries, leading to a rich social and cultural diversity, both
among their employees and suppliers.
In 2019 LVMH signed the UN Standards of Conduct for Tackling Discrimination
against LGBTQI+ people. This pledge extends and strengthens their
commitment to build an inclusive company culture for LGBTQI+ employees.
Louis Vuitton rewrote the Maison’s retail handbook to replace the masculine
and feminine pronouns “he” and “she” with gender-neutral formulations such
as "the employee" or "they". This new version contributes to a better inclusion
of employees who do not wish to be identified by their gender.
9. DIGITAL (e-sports) Louis Vuitton became the first global luxury house to partner with an esport,
launching a collaboration with Riot Games’s League of Legends. The
partnership features virtual clothing collections sold within the game and as
physical apparel and is designed by Louis Vuitton’s women’s wear creative
director Nicolas Ghesquière. Louis Vuitton have used Final Fantasy characters in
editorial campaigns.
Riot Games has announced a brand new partnership with Louis Vuitton that
will see the designer brand create a unique case for the League of Legends
World Championship trophy.
“The League of Legends World Championship is not only the climax of the
tournament: it’s where the world of sports and entertainment come together
in celebration of new legends to be born,” Michael Burke, Chairman and CEO of
Louis Vuitton. “Louis Vuitton has long been associated with the world’s most
coveted trophies, and here we are today, alongside the Summoner’s Cup. We
are thrilled to be part of such an iconic event.”
10. INFLUENCERS
By 2022, video will drive an estimated 82 per cent of all internet traffic,
and YouTube remains the most popular social networking platform among
Gen Z, according to GlobalWebIndex. Last year, YouTube hired head of
fashion Derek Blasberg to boost the platform’s brand collaborations. Louis
Vuitton ran a series of videos with Gen Z YouTuber Emma Chamberlain
and supermodel Karlie Kloss to reach younger audiences, while also
enabling purchases through clickable video ads. This strategy saw an 11x
return on ad spend for the brand. Chamberlain currently has a following of
7.3 million on YouTube, whereas Kloss has 8.1m followers on Instagram.
The dose of youth culture at traditionally industry-only events like fashion
shows defines the real value that street-wear brings. Whether it’s young
people, social media or a fashion trend, it brings relevance and cultural
currency, thus making heritage brands much more appealing for the
younger consumer.
Louis Vuitton launched a global social media campaign to accompany the
debut of Pont Neuf bag, turned to Chau Bui, a Vietnam-based influencer
with a wide following across Asia; Emma Chamberlain, who reaches a
younger, Gen Z audience; Sharon Alexie, who is also an anti-racist activist,
and U.S.-based influencers Sami Miro and Kristen Noel Crawley. The aim
was to reach a wide clientele and to increase the desirability of the bag by
having these influencers style it in their own way and present it in their
chosen surroundings. This digital campaign generated more than 250
posts in the influencers’ feed, 280-plus stories and more than 20 million
likes on Western social media.
11. COMPETITIVE
ANALYSIS
Louis Vuitton — the world's most valuable
luxury brand, per Interbrand's 2019 report
— started the century with a $1.7 billion
lead in brand value over Gucci, and at the
turn of the 2010s, it was nearly $13 billion
ahead of the Italian fashion house.
But today, Gucci is the world's fastest
growing luxury brand, with a brand
valuation of $15.9 billion — though it's
still trailing behind Louis Vuitton's current
$32.2 billion valuation.
LUXURY
MASS
MARKET
MOST POPULAR
LESS POPULAR
12. COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
For the communication strategy I will be focusing on creating informational content for Louis Vuitton’s responsible sourcing of leather, which in
turn will build confidence in customers to buy the luxury leather bags.
Keywords – Luxury, Inclusive, Sustainable, Eco-friendly, Natural material, Kpop, Blackpink, Leather, Investment, Local artists, Craftsperson,
Transparency, Cultural Diversity, Animal welfare, Conservation.
The target market is GenZ, they collect information from various sources before making a purchase and have an attention span of 5
seconds. They also like to buy directly from social media channels and are more concerned about the product and personalization, they like
to invest in luxury products of high value and believe the product to have a political dimension.
Owned media – Instagram post with shop, Facebook post with shop, Twitter with link to the wesite, LinkedIn information sharing about the
product and link to the website, pop-up retail for exclusive clients, youtube video of making of product and explanation from an expert
about the responsible sourcing of leather and animal welfare.
Paid Media – Press release, fashion magazines, magazines focusing on music and musicians from around the world, luxury lifestyle
magazine, influencer and affiliate marketing with sustainable advocates supporting the product, ads in online newspaper, fashion movie on
importance of preserving heritage and supporting industries and how that can transform in conservation of biodiversity.
Earned media – Promoting certifications achieved
Guerrilla marketing – “Can leather be sustainable?”, “Luxury - an investment into your future.”, “Be part of the change.”
13. PLAN OF ACTION
Media Content Start Stop Duration Team
Social Media Picture post with
tag line and link
01/05/2021 15/07/2021 2.5 months Marketing
Fashion
Magazines
Product pictures
and article
20/05/2021 30/08/2021 3 months, 10
days
PR
Trade Magazine Article 01/05/2021 30/07/2021 3 months PR
Lifestyle
Magazine
Product pictures
and article
15/05/2021 30/08/2021 3.5 months PR
Paid Ads Tag line with link 20/04/2021 30/08/2021 4 months PR
Guerilla
Marketing
Tag line with link
or hashtag#
10/04/2021 20/04/2021 10 days Marketing
Influencers Product 15/05/2021 30/07/2021 2.5 months PR team
Sustainable
advocates
Certifications and
making + product
20/06/2021 20/08/2021 2 months PR team
