1.1 Louis Vuitton: An Analysis of the Company
Louis Vuitton, a trunk-maker in Paris since 1854, built up his legend around
travel by creating luggage, handbags and accessories that were as innovative
as they were elegant.
The brand itself has embraced new innovation whilst cultivating its traditional
roots thus allowing it to remain at the forefront of the luggage and accessory
industry.
The Brand takes part in major events that share in its taste for excellence. the
Louis Vuitton Classic event bring together the most prestigious cars in the
world, and the Louis Vuitton Cup, an essential part of the America's Cup,
designates the best Challenger and prepares them to take on the Defender of
the Americas Cup.
According to their financial report found on their website,
www.louisvuitton.com, the company is constantly expanding and now includes
14 production workshops, 287 exclusive stores, 31 of which offer ready-to-
wear, shoes and leather goods, and 107 which feature shoes and feather
goods, and has 7,857 employees throughout the world.
In 1977, Louis
Vuitton was merely a small family business with sales under $20 million.
Fifteen years later, the $1 billion mark was attained, a significant proportion
of why it has reached this target is due to the astute marketing strategy that it
has implemented.
2.1 Louis Vuitton Customers
The fact that Louis Vuitton has grown is quite phenomenal considering the
fact that they are expensive in relative and absolute terms. Moreover, they
are identified by Dubois and Claire (1995:68) as such when one considers
them to be "trivial" products, without any clear functional advantage
over their "non-luxury" counterparts. As a result, many producers of luxury
goods tend to believe their clientele comes primarily from upper income
classes. Evidence of this was gained from Stanley (1988:8). Indeed, the
managerial practices of...