Marketing Mix of Louis Vuitton - Assignment Example

Marketing Mix of Louis Vuitton The paper is aimed at analyzing the marketing mix of Louis Vuitton, the world famous brand of leather goods and other related accessories. It was established in 1854, in France and later become the global market leader. The key variables of marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) have played significant role in the success of the company. Introduction Designer and entrepreneur Louis Vuitton was the personal box-maker and packer of the wife of famous French Emperor, Napoleon. He was born in France in 1821 and joined to serve the emperor in 1852. Louis was a member of working class family being his forefathers as expert carpenters, milliners and farmers. The service period which he spent with the emperor introduced him to the styles of elite and the royal clientele who enjoyed his services even after his death. The Louis Vuitton Malletier (LVM) was established in 1854 in Paris, which is now considered the world-renowned lifestyle brand dealing in luxury leather (Louis Vuitton, 2013). The success story of the brand clearly reflects that it was not a coincidence rather Louis Vuitton achieved this peak position in the business world through the use of perfect marketing strategies (Peter Finocchiaro, 2010). LVM has always been very creative in introducing new products, since the start it has been catering to the needs the customers with the supreme quality services. LVM has been successfully using the marketing mix which led the company to acquire the second place in the Luxury Marketer Awards of 2010. The brand has utilized the multichannel strategies which have bridged the gap between history and status of French Fashion (Peter Finocchiaro, 2010) as per the BBC News LVM has increased its sales in the first three months of 2011 by 17%. Researchers have given the credit of successful operations of LVM to its Marketing Mix (Catarina Duque, 2012). Marketing Mix After the selection of the target market the prime concern of the management is to set the principles for marketing mix which is a combination of product strategies, pricing strategies, placing strategies and promotion strategies. These all are formulated on the basis of the preferences of target market (Louis E. Boone et al., 2011). Product LV has a wide range of products including leader goods, trunks, shoes, accessories, ornaments, watches, sunglasses and books. Initially the business was started with trunks and accessories for the travelers back in 1854. At that time people used to travel mostly through sea which required sufficient accessories. But now the LV is more concentrating towards the quality of products as the customers are more selective at present. The products of LV’s maintain high prestige and value among its customers which encourage them to buy the high priced goods (Catarina Duque, 2012). Price The distribution channel of LV enables it to control its prices. The management has complete control over the brand and the variables which might affect its operations such as the market rates, suppliers, distributers, etc. The main pricing strategy revolves around the quality maintenance which automatically leads to high price and due to this the products are never available on discounts or sale. However, recently the company has come up with some cheaper products which are offered to the exclusive customers. In countries other than France, LV offers its products with two different ranges; one is for the customers who can only afford to pay and the second is for the highly lavish and fashionable customers who actually look forward to buy LV labeled products. By making these two price ranges the company is able to approach the customers and also to differentiate between them (Catarina Duque, 2012). Place The LV’s products are exclusively available at their stores only which has added importance to its value for the customers as well as for the stakeholders who remain continuously engaged with the business activities. The top employees are required to serve the stores first before getting to their actual post because at LV they believe that the employees should know how the customers are served. Furthermore, the store managers actively participate in the meetings and decision making as they are the one who maintain actual relationship with the customers and better understand their requirements. The inaccessibility of LV products apart from their outlets has increased the desirability of their products (Catarina Duque, 2012). Promotion LV’s promotion strategy is very different from other companies operating in the same industry. It wants to remain rare in order to attract customers who are looking for something exceptional and who are ready to pay anything for the sake of acquiring LV’s exclusive products. The advertisement is done just to provoke the desire of purchasing LV’s product in the target market. The ads are made in such a way that they expose the brand rather selling the product. To apply this strategy LV has associated itself with the famous people and elite class, for instance, in 2011 LV had marketing campaign with Angelina Jolie and in 2012 with Michael Phelps. Another way that LV uses to reach to its customers is sponsorships and patronage which give the company immense opportunities of communicating with the customers. However, the sponsorships and patronages are offered according to the brand image. Communication has played a vital role in the success of promotion strategies of LV as the company communicates well considering the characteristics of its target market, for instance, in 1980’s the target market of LV’s was women above the age of 40 in France but in Japan the company was targeting women in their 30’s this required quality communication skills in order to successfully brand the products, LV did this job successfully (Catarina Duque, 2012). Conclusion LV has significant control over the four variables of Marketing Mix which has enabled the company to foster its successful business activities with the guarantee of exceptional customers’ response. Since more than hundred years LV is maintaining its quality services, creative products, innovative ideas and exclusivity. In addition to this LV has always encouraged employees’ involvement in managerial decisions and also to have smooth dialogue with the customers. This facilitates the stakeholders to make better strategies and to implement them vigorously. References Louis E. Boone, David L. Kurtz, (2011) Contemporary Marketing, Cengage Learning. Louis Vuitton, 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/louis-vuitton-17112264 [Accessed 29 Jan 2013]. Peter Finocchiaro, (2010) Louis Vuitton takes second place: Luxury Marketer of the Year, Luxury Daily. Catarina Duque, (2012) Does the Marketing Mix contribute for the success Louis Vuitton? The University of Manchester. Read More