With Louis Vuitton's Big-Screen Turn, Print No Longer Exclusive
According to an article that will be published Febuary 4th in the Advertising Age, Louis Vuitton could be heralding a new direction in luxury advertising and away from print. As the category once thought invulnerable to the economy starts to show signs of strain, the upscale fashion marketer is breaking with tradition to launch a 90-second spot on cable and satellite channels, including CNN and BBC worldwide and in cinemas Feb.15.
Television is a mass medium, and it is talking to an audience that is different from their core audience, but the fact is luxury brands need to be thinking about new media and new ways to communicate their message. One of the few luxury companies that has embarked on a similar campaign in the U.S. is Chanel, which launched a two-minute spot in 2004. Louis Vuitton executives declined to comment on the cost of their ad but did say it represents an increase in total spending for 2008.
According to TNS Media Intelligence, $35 million was spent in measured media (excluding outdoor) on the Vuitton brand through November of last year -- virtually all of it in print. The TV and cinema effort, by Ogilvy & Mather, New York, will be translated into 13 languages. The effort does not pitch product; instead it shows dreamy landscapes while text rolls on the screen with questions such as "What is a journey?" and "Where will life take you?" The ad is meant to embody the idea of self-discovery and personal journey. Every year, Louis Vuitton tries to reinforce its advertising share of voice, and this campaign is the right tool to do so. The campaign is supposed to touch our clientele and viewers in a new, unique way that perhaps other media will not touch. Maybe not, but a shift out of print could surely be a touchy issue for the magazine industry. A lot of luxury advertisers are looking at their advertising spending and whether they're getting the value for their buy. "Fashion will always run in Vogue, but they'll see some pressure. People are being much more selective and targeted about the magazines they select."
In my opinion, it could be misdirected plan but it is obvious for us to see luxury labels thinking beyond print. As I'm one of people extremely interested in fashion, I've alwasy hoped to see many fashion commercials , especially of luxury brands, in TV spots. We could see those ads in the typical fasion magazine most of time, moreover, most of them seem similar without that much of creative work, just showing a good shot of famous model. Television is a mass medium and the media which most impacts to audiences. Also, it could definately approach to audience diffently from the print ad as long as they would have less limit to express their own brand in TV spot. It should be important for them to elecate the visual expression of their brand and have a synchronicity across all consumer touch points as going through TV. I don't know if this test is going to work or not, but it is good to see some innovation and I really look forward it.
posted by hye jin chung @ 1:54 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
I agree that it will be interesting to see Louis Vitton advertising on television, as well as seeing the impact this will have on advertising for the rest of the fashion industry. However, this move could either be very good or very bad for Louis Vitton. It all depends on the way Louis Vitton chooses to approach their advertising and where they choose to place it. Since they are catering to a more upscale audience it may be difficult to come across as well on television as they do in print.
I feel like this is a very risky move for Louis Vitton. I always thought that brands as high scale as this would be best advertised in fashion magazines because it gives them the target audience that they are really trying to focus on. However, I do see the good points of the brand being advertised on tv as well. Commercials give Louis Vitton a longer time period to express the views of the brand and what they want it to represent. Like as was said in the original blog, Louis Vitton wants to convey "self-discovery and personal journey", and with commercials it will be possible to build a stories to fit that description. I also think that with all the diverse channels on cable that Louis Vitton will be able to find many places to advertise to their target audiences. And, for now, there aren't a lot of upscale brands such as this one that are doing commericals on tv, so they won't have much competition in this type of media either. This is a major change compared to to being in fashion magazines, where usually more then half of the pages are advertisements.
I have only ever known Louis Vuitton to be a high-end brand with the "elite" in mind. I have never heard anything about "self-discovery and personal journey." Maybe they should be utilizing other mediums like television to get their brand image across, however, will it really matter? They are already heavily established as a status icon and putting their brand on TV won't make them any more affordable or attainable to the vast majority of people. I don't believe that television is the way to go, although I do agree that the need to venture outside of print. Maybe a more heavy point of sale campaign or promotions need to be done to engage the crowd they already have- the crowd that can afford it. I also wouldn't suggest Louis Vuitton holding back on print. Vogue is traditionally the place to look for the latest trends so, naturally, consumers are still going to use Vuitton's print as a standby to find out what is happening with the brand.
What makes Louis Vitton a so-called "elite" brand is that you don't see it hocking its overpriced handbags on television commercials. In fact, you rarely see any ads for the company. Subtle, almost nonexistant, advertising is what makes brands elite because it means that the everyday person doesn't know about the product. Instead, you have to be one of the beautiful, privileged people to know about it at all. If every girl at Penn State didn't have a Louis Vitton bag (real or fake), I and most guys would have no idea what the "LV" emblem represented. Having said that, the people in charge of creative for the upcoming Louis Vitton spots had better be on their game because a sub-par commericial could cause considerable damage to the company's "elite" status.
Great post -- and great discussion. I agree with a lot of what's been said here -- bottom line, anything but a fantastic, fashion-forward spot could destroy the LV image. But I think this move to TV is based on the new availability of similar content, in the form of shows like Project Runway and America's Top Model. So placement shouldn't be the issue it would have been only 5 years ago. That should put any spot in front of the very eyes that are most interested in the high fashion message!
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