Chapter 17. Advertising and Public Relations

 Louis Vuitton commonly uses print ads in magazines and billboards in cosmopolitan cities. It previously relied on selected press for its advertising campaigns (frequently involving prestigious stars like Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Gisele Bündchen and Catherine Deneuve) shot by Annie Leibovitz. However, Antoine Arnault, director of the communication department, has recently decided to enter the world of television and cinema: The commercial (90 seconds) is exploring the theme "Where will life take you?" and is translated into 13 different languages. This is the first Vuitton commercial ad ever and was directed by renowned French ad director Bruno Aveillan.

 LVMH devotes over ten percent of annual sales to promotion and advertising. The company advertises its brands primarily in fashion and lifestyle publications. Some of the leading brands sponsor major international events with luxury cachet, as Louis Vuitton does by sponsoring the America’s Cup. Since image is an essential part of marketing luxury goods, LVMH is careful to evaluate every advertising and promotional opportunity for consistency with the image of its brands. As a result, the company manages a portfolio of luxury brands unparalleled in both size and sales.
Louis Vuitton’s chief executive Yves Carcelles once said: “Our brand is about reliability, quality, style, innovation and authenticity.” But that may not complete, according to Richard Wachman of London’s The Observer: “Louis Vuitton is also selling a certain idea of France… a brand that represents a mythical France, one of which neither the French nor the outside world can get enough.” In short, the essence of a luxury good is its exclusivity, i.e. not everyone can afford it, only a small group of people can enjoy it, and Louis Vuitton pushes exclusivity to the extreme.

The $8 million, specially built locomotive Marc Jacobs sent barreling down the Fall 2012 Louis Vuitton runway it's back, and this time, it serves as the backdrop of the house's Fall 2012 ad campaign. "We wanted to continue the journey we started with the fashion show — the glamour of travel and the romance of going somewhere," Jacobs explained. To do so, the train was deconstructed and shipped to a New York studio where it was rebuilt, filled with models, and photographed by Steven Meisel. "We wanted to maintain the comfortingly luxurious and old-fashioned journey that the collection represented. Opulence, the brocades, the beautiful cuts of the suits, and I guess, the distant romantic glamour of travel," Jacobs said.

Louis Vuitton populated its Fall 2011 runway with supermodels like Kate Moss, Amber Valletta, Carolyn Murphy, and Naomi Campbell, but you wouldn't guess it based on the collection's campaign. Instead of its usual top model or actress seasonal face, the brand went with very young, in some cases: 16-year-old Zuzanna Bijoch, 15-year-old Daphne Groeneveld, 20-year-old Gertrud Hegelund, 16-year-old Nyasha Matonhodze, 20-year-old Anais Pouliot, and Fei Fei Sun, who was born in 1989.

In 2007, Louis Vuitton asked Ogilvy PR's Digital Influence team in Paris to generate positive word of mouth about the brand among online “influencers.” The campaign needed to be focused and efficient, because it would not be supported by global marketing nor a traditional public relations launch.
Ogilvy PR decided to use the launch of the new French Louis Vuitton web site (featuring André Agassi and Stefi Graff) to start a conversation among relevant online influencers. Ogilvy PR had three major goals in doing so: to drive users to Louis Vuitton's site via organic search; to lead them to associate the brand with high quality and emotional values; and to gather verbal testimonials and "buzz" for the website, which would in turn generate further interest in Louis Vuitton among key audiences — including the media and affluent consumers.