Louis Vuitton – Brand Shrine to Luxury
I have recently returned from Paris where I had the opportunity to visit the Louis Vuitton flagship store on Champs-Élysées. I was struck by the mix of customers and by the complexity of their Brand segmentation model.
There were older, more affluent, established, and status-driven customers mixing comfortably with younger, middle income, career oriented customers. Plus, there were the wanabe shoppers aspiring to the attributes and benefits of Vuitton. While all of these groups are different demographically, they all place a high degree of importance on Brand prestige or Brand value.
The Vuitton differentiation is both tangible and intangible with a focus on status, peer acceptance, and self esteem. Their positioning is clearly more for more. The Brand essence is all about luxury.
This newly renovated store is a temple/Brand shrine to the designer Marc Jacobs. Every effort is made to emphasis the luxury value of the merchandise. Many treated as if they were museum pieces; driving home the point that fashion—or at least Vuitton fashion—is as valuable as art.
