The Louis Vuitton Advertisement

The advertising and luxury world has been buzzing lately about Louis Vuitton’s new TV commercial.  The consensus is, on balance, positive with some praising the return to the brand’s travel heritage and others welcoming the more high-brow positioning, moving away from the more mainstream approach central to much of the past few years of Vuitton’s communications.

On the negative side, some are critical that there is no mention of product quality, or even much of the product at all – Pam Danziger argues that quality is the ultimate driver for affluent consumers to purchase from premium brands and thus the advert fails in this regard. Others wonder why a luxury brand would be using a mass communication medium such as television at all, particularly within the context above of potential over-exposure.

The focus on travel is certainly a strong and evocative reminder of Louis Vuitton’s heritage. Given the broader shifts in consumer motivation away from logos and status towards experience and self-discovery, the message is relevant and engaging, with exotic locations chosen and beautifully filmed.  Furthermore, it is a continuation of the strategy initiated with the print advertising campaign featuring Gorbachev, filmed by Annie Leibovitz, of which Louis Vuitton’s Director of Marketing, said “We have established a certain credibility on the fashion side. It was time to rebalance the positioning of Louis Vuitton, showing another side of the brand that is important to us.” 

Travel also moves the brand further and further into the broader lifestyle territory. This could open the way for wider brand extension (perhaps into hotels or airport lounges) which has been a successful approach for Armani and others.

Within this context, the lack of product or overt reference to product quality within the advertising is not, in our view, an issue.  Firstly, this is not a sales but a branding campaign.  Secondly, it is manifest in the quality of the filming itself.  Finally, although our own research does indeed support Pam Danziger’s point that quality is a cited as extremely important for consumers when purchasing from a luxury brand, this is a hygiene factor – an expectation or assumption of all the brands within the category - rather than a driver for specific brand selection.

We expect to see considerably more corporate/branding campaigns on TV from the large luxury and fashion houses over the coming months.