ChatGPT and Midjourney Invent the future Louis Vuitton bags
Louis Vuitton regularly collaborates with contemporary artists and proposes limited-edition collections. The street marketing operation was among the best in the last 20 years. I have already talked on this blog about the collaboration with Jef Koons and the spectacular windows created on this occasion. More recently, the collaboration with Yayoi Kusama gave rise to spectacular installations in Paris. But what are Louis...
Richard Mille RM UP-01: marketing analysis of a €1.86m watch
Richard Mille has just released the RM UP-01, a watch designed in partnership with Ferrari. This ultra-thin watch (1.75 mm) has an unprecedented selling price: 1.86 million Euros. Beyond the technological prowess (see video below), this watch marks a marketing turning point. This is the opportunity for us to analyze in this article the marketing of the RM UP-01 and the place of this object in a luxury watch market that has exploded in...
Patek Philippe Nautilus: how have prices changed in 4 years?
How much does a Patek Philippe Nautilus cost? How will Nautilus prices evolve? Answering these questions, as relevant as they are, has become extremely difficult following the bubble formed in the luxury men’s watch market. Some models have seen their prices explode. The Nautilus from Patek Philippe is one of them. This article analyzes the price history of 31 Patek Philippe Nautilus models. We reveal the models that have gained...
Investing in the metaverse: 3 reasons to get started [Analysis]
Investing in the metaverse is very trendy. In particular, in the fashion and luxury industries, companies are showing significant interest. If we can debate the generalization of the metaverse or the ethical problems it poses, one thing is sure. The metaverse is a reservoir of opportunities for those who want to reach early adopters. In this article, we analyze 3 reasons companies invest in the metaverse: to generate additional...
Patrick Roger: his stores are irresistibly attractive to customers
Some stores are worth the detour, and Patrick Roger’s are among them. I would be willing to travel hundreds of kilometers to immerse myself in the unique atmosphere that each of his sales outlets exudes. So, I couldn’t avoid visiting the one in the Marais in Paris that the Covid pandemic had deprived me. This store is an example for all retailers because it converts passers-by into customers. This is where the...
Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 by Virgil Abloh: a crazy sale at Sotheby’s
These are truly crazy times. How else can you explain that 200 pairs of Nike Air Force 1 Virgil sneakers sold for an average of over $100,000 each? That’s what happened at the online sale that Sotheby’s organized from 26 January to 9 February 2022. The sale result, proudly announced on the Sotheby’s page (see screenshot below), leaves one breathless: $25,332,300. The starting estimate was already generous for a pair...
Blockchain use in luxury watchmaking
With the Aura Blockchain Consortium, the luxury sector has seized on blockchain to remedy counterfeiting problems. But blockchain has also been used in luxury watchmaking since 2018 to leverage customer satisfaction and loyalty. This article analyzes the different projects using blockchain that luxury watch brands have launched in recent years. If you only have 30 seconds Blockchain has been used since 2019 in the luxury watch...
Why the giants of the luxury sector are joining forces in the Aura Blockchain [Analysis]
LVMH, Prada, and Richemont have announced the creation of the Aura Blockchain consortium. This alliance in the blockchain meets 3 strategic objectives: the fight against counterfeiting tracking luxury goods sold on second-hand platforms the will to maintain a relationship with the successive owners during the lifetime of the product Read also Second-hand luxury market: statistics and analysis Summary The history of the Aura Blockchain...
The phenomenon of “continuation cars” [Marketing analysis]
In a minimal series, Jaguar has just announced the rebirth of one of its flagship models: The Jaguar C-Type. This ultra-exclusive production of an old model is nothing new in the automotive sector. We look at the phenomenon of “continuation cars” in this article between nostalgia and the satisfaction of niche customers. We first explain what they are and where they come from before looking at these extraordinary...
Retail: Levita’s levitation of objects in the shop window
Always looking for new trends in the retail world, this year we returned to interactive window displays, which are increasingly used by brands to differentiate themselves from their competitors and offer a unique experience to their customers and attract shoppers. Today, two magicians (Clément Kerstenne and Philippe Bougard) put their tricks in-store and create shop windows that levitate objects. Philippe and Clément tell us about...
Marketing research : purchase drivers of luxury iconic products
An interesting piece of marketing research was presented on the last day of the International Marketing Trends conference that took place in Venice from 17 to 19 January 2019. The research was carried out by a team of 4 researchers from INSEEC business school (see reference at the end of this article) and was entitled “Timeless luxury: what drives the purchase of iconic products“. You’ll find the powerpoint slides of...
Customer experience: this Aesop product is a disaster
Aesop is a great brand. I respect it a lot and often cite it in example as far as customer experience, branding and retail strategy are concerned (not mentioning their great store designs). Read also One Day One Idea : Aesop’s technique to get customers in the store But for once I’m disappointed. Very disappointed. I was having lunch in an upscale restaurant in France during my holiday and was shocked to discover one particular...
How FP Journe created a niche market without market research
Is there any better market research than receiving customer requests for a product that doesn’t exist yet ? I’ve explained in other articles that an alternative way to do market research is to test the traction for an idea directly on the market (provided of course that it remains affordable). Only for our subscribers: exclusive analyses and marketing advice Email address * Subscribe By signing up, you agree to our...
Coach finds inspiration in Keith Haring’s work for 2018 campaign
Fashion brand Coach has unveiled its global campaign for Spring 2018 and has been inspired by artist Keith Haring’s work. Their latest products are indeed customized to reflect some of Haring’s iconic illustrations. Keith Haring (1958-1990) was a US artist who became famous with his joyful illustrations. Haring belonged to the artistic movement that popped up in New-York in the 80’s, inspired among others by the graffiti...
Louis Vuitton’s latest popup store in New-York open until 10 March 18
Vuitton opened a popup store on Greene Street, New-York, on 8 February 2018 to sell a limited collected of sneakers. The popup store, which will remain open until 10 March 2018, is located at the corner of Greene street and Prince street, two of the most fashionable retail streets in New-York. The Vuitton popup store is dedicated to the Archlight sneakers which, at $1090, may be the coolest and most desirable sneakers on earth. Expect...
Vuitton opens new flagship store on Place Vendôme
Louis Vuitton opened in late 2017 a new 1700 sqm flagship store on the corner of rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The facade of the building is adorned with a sunburst installation by Vuitton’s creative director Faye McLeod. The effect at night is simply stunning. Faye McLeod is also the woman behind Vuitton’s window displays, one recurrent theme of this blog (see a few examples of her magnificient work here and there). LVMH...
Christmas 2017 retail memories : the Chanel store display windows
On the first week of January I captured in Paris the Christmas remains of some great store windows on and around Place Vendôme. I was especially attracted by the Chanel store which displayed two fabulous windows. They reminded me on the one hand of early collectors’ cabinets that mixed objects from different origins. Look or instance at how Chanel items are put among other objects. The cabinet of curiosities by Domenico Remps...
Branding : Vuitton collaborates with Jeff Koons for new line of bags and accessories.
In the field of luxury goods, innovation is sometimes lacking. Marketeers spend a lot of money on creative advertising campaigns, innovative stores and display windows (see those examples of Vuitton display windows : here and there), refined interactions with customers and higher service quality. But what about the products themselves ? The most sought after Hermes handbags have remained the same for decades ; the look of Vuitton...
Moncler’s Christmas store windows in Soho
Let’s finish the week with some pictures of the winter windows at Moncler’s store in New York (90 Prince Street). Moncler is one of my favorite brands. It’s been completely rejuvenated from 2003 onwards after Remo Ruffini bought it and is now considered a luxury brand. The windows clearly display the same level of refinements and sophistication as other actors in the luxury segment. Remember for instance the Louis Vuitton store...
Marcolini creates super nice packaging
We missed this wonderful packaging created by Pierre Marcolini … our thanks to Florence Frans (editor of RTBF Trends website) for drawing our attention to it. This very creative packaging was created in collaboration with Kitsuné. Kitsuné means “Fox” in Japanese and this name was chosen in 2002 to launch a clothes brand. The packaging is extremely qualitative (thick cardboard). The opening of the box creates an interesting...
Brand image : Hublot store bets on new technologies
Innovation is the nexus of retail marketing, especially when it comes to the differentiation of points of sales (POS). Innovation often comes first from the top, i.e. from premium brands which have the money to invest in new technologies. Today we’d like to present you an innovation we spotted in the Hublot store of Place Vendôme, in Paris. Hublot is a watch brand that belongs to the LVMH group and is currently headed by...
Luxury: shocking bad service and low customer satisfaction
Service quality is essential to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. Personal encounters are crucial to increase the level of service; yet some brands in the luxury sector recruit employees that don’t master the codes of the sector which leads to a complete discrepancy and to dissatisfaction. Here is a true story that just happened to me and that involves Berluti, a brand of the LVMH group, and two other less known brands :...
One Day One Idea: fun marketing by Pierre Hermé
If you don’t know Pierre Hermé it means you don’t –really- like chocolate and pastry. The idea in brief Pastry master Hermé is also an excellent marketer. Look at his latest packaging; pretty funny isn’t it and you just can’t avoid making the comparison with Michel and Augustin. Advice #1 for your marketing strategy Are you serious … have you ever thought that being too serious can make you boring? Have you ever...
In the new Louis Vuitton store, penguins are the rising stars
Louis Vuitton opened on Place Vendome a new store dedicated to jewelry and watches only. Vuitton is known (as previous posts show) for the creativity and efforts put to decorate the stores’ windows. As you will notice from the pictures below, the Vendome store is no exception. The penguins holding the watches give the windows a fresh new and innovating look compared to other neighboring...
Louis Vuitton feels the presence of Cartier …
On July 3rd 2012 Vuitton opened its newest store on Place Vendome, dedicated exclusively to jewelry and horology. As reported by the newspaper Le Monde, prices range from €900 to €30m (!) and a 80m² workshop has been created on the first floor. Although it may be a detail, it seems that several months of renovation did not succeed in wiping out the traces of past owners. As you can see on the picture below the spirit of...
Product display: Hublot innovates once again
Hublot is really an innovation champion and it translates not only in the products but also in the way they are displayed. We already reported on in-store techniques that they use (see video) below. This time their store of Place Vendome got also a display innovation that was visible from the outside. Have a look below … Hublot store window in November in Paris from Into The Minds on...
A paper-based customer experience: the incredible printing skills of the luxury industry
As part of our mission to spot marketing trends, we receive a lot of magazines from all sorts of brands. We just received the latest edition of the Blancpain’s magazine called “Lettres du Brassus” which is, once again, a amazing piece of literature and of printing skills. We were literally stunned by the cover of the magazine which depicts the most successful watch of the brand, called the Fifty Fathoms. The Fifty Fathoms is a diver’s...
Rolls-Royce’s extreme segmentation
Sometimes brands can go very far as far as segmentation is concerned. In the luxury business the growth path goes through Asia and in particular therough China. I recently came across a crazy example. Rolls Royce actually prepared a limited edition for the Chinese market only. Nicknamed “Year of the Dragon”, this limited series of the Phantom sold out in 2 months although it was priced at 1m€ each. The red exterior (the...
Louis Vuitton’s stores’ windows enhanced through multimedia
We reported already on the trend in retail aiming at enriching stores windows with a touch of “experience”. This new enriched customer experience can take different forms which we could range from passive to active. Let’s start with the example of a passive multimedia enriched experience. After our post on the magnificent window design by Vuitton in May, we found out that this design was aligned at the European levels. The windows we...
Innovation and customer experience in luxury boutiques
We recently carried out a qualitative analysis of luxury boutiques and analyzed the customer experiences provided in the different stores. Although the results are proprietary we were, by and large, disappointed by the experience and service quality provided by the most renewed brands. Non empathetic vendors, lack of knowledge about the products, sales-driven rather than care-driven, level of language (sometimes colloquial) not...
Anatomy of a packaging: Guerlain’s “La Petite Robe Noire”
No need to repeat it once again; packaging is a pert of customer experience, bit it from an aesthetic viewpoint or from a functional one. Apple for instance masters the functional aspects of the packaging; other brands goes very far to have every tiny aspect of their packagings aligned with their very positioning. Let’s review today Guerlain’s latest perfume (“La Petite Robe Noire”) packaging. In the case of a...
Jaeger LeCoultre giant watch on Place Vendôme
Jaeger LeCoultre (also known as “JLC” by watches aficionados) is currently renovating its store on Place Vendôme. The store will remain closed for several months (normally until Q3 2012). JLC has opened an (really small) ephemeral store in Rue Saint Honoré to welcome its customers in the meantime. JLC found a very innovative and eye-catching way to inform customers and prospects about the existence of this ephemeral store....
What is the future of luxury brands in Asia?
Specialized media flood us with figures all the more crazy than the others. Prada plans to open 160 new stores in Asia to support its growth, PPR (Pinaud Printemps Redoute) plans to open 100 new outlets, the Swedish group H & M announced it will enter the luxury segment to counter its rival Zara. “Last but no least” if the industrial future of France seems to be doomed to die (the ratio of industrial value added in GDP...
Once again a great example of store window by Louis Vuitton
Sometimes, less is more. I hate crowded stores’ windows, so full of products you can’t grasp what it’s all about. I recently fell in love with the new products display in Louis Vuitton’s store in Brussels. It’s simple, eye-catching, impacting and yet modern and complex enough to cope with Vuitton’s top tier positioning. Unlike most stores there is only ONE product on display in each window. Unlike most stores there is HOMOGENEITY...
What should you do if you have too much money: follow Cartier’s example
A member of the Richemont group (Van Cleef, Piaget, Montblanc, Lange und Söhne, …), Cartier is already the world’s most famous jewelry brand and Chinese consumers’ overall favorite brand. As you may be aware luxury brands are overperforming all others industries in terms of profitability and have cash in excess. What should you do in such a situation ? Why not producing a three-and-half-minute movie glorifying your brand and playing...
The most beautiful ways to display products. Part 4: Fendi
You may remember, if you are a loyal reader, of our series on the most beautiful ways to display products in brick-and-mortar sales points. The last post on the subject regarded Lalique. The Christmas time is a renewed opportunity to witness the creativity of marketers and this year the Fendi crew did a really amazing job in their flagship store of Rome. Each showcase was actually a painting in itself. All objects were arranged in a...