Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

France’s Louis Vuitton is ranked as the world’s most valuable luxury brand for the eleventh year running, according to the 2016 “BrandZ Top 10 Luxury Brands” report.Louis Vuitton started to expand since 1885. In that year the company opened the first store in London followed by other two stores in the next two years. In 1904 Louis Vuitton participated in World's Trade fair in U.S. trying to get the brand recognized by the Americans. In 1987 The brand established its presence in Japan, getting a share in the Asian market, and also prepared the strategy to expand in China, and other Asian countries. With a well-established presence in Europe and U.S. and Japan, and more than 1500 stores around the world and its e-commerce site, Louis Vuitton is a multinational corporation. Louis Vuitton uses the same quality of its products everywhere in the world. A bag sold in China or in India is the same quality of one sold in France. The company takes into consideration the cultural background and how people would understand better the concept of luxury. In Japan, the company promotes its products through innovation and the involvement in the art and architecture scene associating its products with the art. 
Louis Vuitton's products have the same price all over the world. The company adopted the dumping practice for the Japanese market as a strategy to have the greatest market share. In fact, about 90% of Japanese own a Louis Vuitton product. 

Ch. 4 - The Marketing Environment

Not only is Louis Vuitton one of the most well-known fashion boutiques in the world with one of the richest history, it is also one of, if not the most legendary of fashion houses in the world.

Largest luxury brand with exclusivity
The high prices commanded by Louis Vuitton products is justified not only by its superior quality but also by the high degree of scarcity and exclusivity, evident in their “no discounts or promotions” as well as “immediate disposal of defective products” policies.Louis Vuitton is historically known to serve the powerful and the wealthy. Its target market is both men and women from 22 to 65 years of age. In its marketing strategy, all the key factors play a very important role and are fully executed.

Economic Factors

One of the biggest factors that affects sales of LV goods in India is the tariff. The higher the taxes are for its goods, the smaller the incentive is to buy those goods because demand isn’t going to be as high if prices have to increase in order to make up for the tax. In order for luxury goods too. LV targets the richest people in the country. But on the other hand, most of the population is very poor and wouldn’t be able to purchase such goods, even if they saved up for it. However, there is a select group of rich people who would make setting up luxury stores in India profitable because there are very few stores in India for them to go to. The market is currently set up for an oligopoly because the demand for goods at a luxury store would be inelastic for anyone interested in a luxury item and there are so few stores

Technology factors
Various companies advertise online has tremendously increased due to the growing popularity of the social networking site. LV also gathers various information, opinions and attitude of friends, families reviews from the internet etc through various forums, blogs, chat groups, and websites. There is also growing trend of online shopping facilities and growing E-tailing trend facilities in the UK market. New technologies also have allergic perfumes for those who have allergic problems. Modern technology boosts new sampling innovations. it will increase competition among the market  with anti-ageing skincare formulations have advanced.

Political and legal factors:

Due to LV’s image, it has become one of the most counterfeited fashion brands in the world. Owing to its high price, generally, people cannot afford to buy it. In the recent years, no doubt there are numerous products bearing LV initials in the streets all over the world, but only a small percentage of the products are genuine. Lately, there has been a rise in counterfeiting luxury products because numerous manufacturing has been shifted to countries with poor intellectual property rights and with the opportunity provided to those countries by technology. Although LV has taken various actions to fight against counterfeit but there are still numerous fake LVs out there. Therefore the company has setup a team of people responsible fully on anti-counterfeiting with the help of special investigation agencies and lawyers.

Extravagant parties used for promotion:

As part of Louis Vuitton’s promotional strategy, Louis Vuitton holds extravagant parties. The  parties are thrown in a spectacular manner the extravagance itself and a large number of famous celebrities become topics of conversation which are rapidly picked up on by the mass media. Even though Louis Vuitton must pay if it is to hold these, the advertising results attained far surpass those that would be achieved through the same amount of direct advertising costs.

Ch. 18- Social Media and Marketing

 Louis Vuitton is a luxury brand that is known to millions of people across the world. But in the highly competitive luxury industry, is the brand able to maintain attention towards its products? With a great number of luxury shoppers using social media to find product recommendations and discover new brands, it is essential to understand what drives your audience, as well as the way they use each social media platform.
 Understanding public sentiment towards your brand is pivotal for companies in all industries. Talkwalker? social media monitoring tool can help you to visualize global online sentiment quickly and easily. The map below shows positive and negative sentiment worldwide for Louis Vuitton.

The brand emphasizes the personal selling, values the “fullness of information” exchanged between a customer and a Louis Vuitton salesperson; LV trains salespeople to tell the stories behind the products and inform customers regarding the rich details of latest pieces, how to care for the bags, and updates on key fashion designers. Yearly, Louis Vuitton supplements stores with catalogs that consumers can buy.  Louis Vuitton has many websites they mostly use all of their social media websites. And daily update them.

Ch. 2 - Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

You know the bag.

The chocolate-brown leather canvas emblazoned with quatrefoils and the LV monogram is immediately recognizable as the international symbol of globetrotting luxury. 
We all know that Louis Vuitton is known for its elegance and class. It's mission statement states to represent the most refined quality of western "Art de Vivre"(The Art of Living) around the world. Louis Vuitton product is a symbol of  creativity and elegance.
They need to maintain this reputation around the world.

Their main objectives are:-

1. Be creative and innovative
2. Aim for excellence
3. Portray  the image of the brand with passion 
4. Do the best in what they do.

SWOT ANALYSIS 

strengths
1. The brand is one of the oldest fashion houses  with more than 150 years of history
2.The brand is easily recognizable because of its logo and monogram canvas on most of its products
3. The brand has its presence in most of the large shopping hubs of the world
4.The brand is available exclusively in its own stores.
5.The brand also makes custom Tailored products for its few elite customers
6. The brand has a clientele including international celebrities
7. Extremely high brand recall and global presence.

weakness
1.The brand is available only in its exclusive stores making it difficult for people all around the world.
2. Fake imitations affect brand and sales.

Opportunities 
1.The company needs to adopt the current fashion trends to stay in business.
2. The company can offer once in a year discounts for its custom.

Threats
1. The brand is counterfeited all around the world
2. An Economic crisis can hurt the brand sales in a negative way.

Competitors

1. Prada  
2. Gucci 
3. Coach
4.  Chanel

OBJECTIVES
Louis Vuitton has established itself as one of the most high-end brands in the fashion industry. Its product is similar to other high-end fashion brands such as Prada, Gucci, Celine, Fendi, and Hemes. Its success and ability to remain in the market is because of its effective marketing mix.

Product
Louis Vuitton has established its own identity in this fashion industry. Nowadays people call it as LV. Louis Vuitton has established itself as a handbag that has a unique quality that makes customers choose between Louis Vuitton or nothing when shopping for handbags. 
Louis Vuitton does not  only offer to its customers' unique designs and high controlled quality products but also inducts  them  to form attachments by giving to each product a name instead of a serial number. 

Price 
Louis Vuitton chooses to price itself in terms of value rather than price, which is why they choose to mark its products at a very high level. Value refers to the benefit consumers receive for what they give. Its high-price makes consumers feel that they are part of an exclusive society when they carry a Louis Vuitton bag.

Place
Louis Vuitton chooses not to sell their products in department stores and instead establishes individual high-end Louis Vuitton stores. It distributes its products through its own stores located throughout the world, which allows it to control product quality and pricing. 

Promotion
Louis Vuitton advertisements mainly consist of celebrities. This is done in order to target the effective component of consumers’ attitudes by allowing them to feel a certain emotional connection. It gives consumers a social reference group that they are part of a group of celebrities. 

Effective strategic planning 
Louis Vuitton, the world's biggest luxury brand in terms of sales, is planning to dampen its expansion worldwide and focus on high-end products to preserve its exclusive image, said Bernard Arnault, chief executive of parent LVMH. Louis Vuitton, which is known for its LV-embossed handbags, has started offering customers made-to-order bags in exotic skins and created invitation-only spaces in its shops.Instead of opening new boutiques, he said, Louis Vuitton will expand existing ones, as well as offer customers a more personal relationship. 

Chapter 1. History and Mission Statement

Louis Vuitton Malletier famously known as Louis Vuitton or LV is one of the world's leading fashion houses of today's fashion industry. For six years consecutively (2006 to 2012) Louis Vuitton was named world's most valuable luxury brand. This brand is about 150 years old and was founded by a French box-maker Louis Vuitton in Paris, France in 1854. When Louis was only sixteen years old, he was determined to change his life and wanted to become a trunk maker. Vuitton introduced his flat-bottom trunks with Trianon canvas, making them airtight and light weight. Before Louis's trunks were introduced trunks with round bottoms were used.  In 1867 the company participated in a universal exhibition held in Paris. To protect his designs from being copied he changed Trianon design to a beige and brown strips in 1876. The company opened their first store by 1885 in London on oxford street. Due to replication of his look in 1888, Vuitton Created Damier Canvas pattern which bore a logo that said " marque L. Vuitton déposée ". After the death of Louis Vuitton in 1892 his son George Vuitton took the hold of the company and started the campaigns  to build this company in a world corporation.
In 1913 they opened Louis Vuitton building which was the largest travel good store at that time. After that, they opened various stores in New York, Washington, Bombay, London etc. After the death of George Vuitton in 1936 his son Gaston-Louis Vuitton took the company in his hands. In 1987 Louis Vuitton company Merged with Möet-Hennessy, the leading manufacturers of champagne and cognac, to form the world largest luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. Which gave them profit and 130 new stores were opened around the world. LVMH is a brand that consists of 60 different luxury good brands like  Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Hennessy, Krug and Glenmorangie Whiskey, while the perfumes and cosmetics division distributes brands such as Christian Dior, Guerlain, Bliss, Fresh, and Benefit. Fashion and leather goods include Louis Vuitton,Givenchy, Donna Karan,Fendi , Kenzo, Marc Jacobs, Ce'line. Watches and jewelry: TAG Heuer, Zenith, Ebel, Chaumet, and Bulgari. LVMH also owns selective retailers including Sephora cosmetics stores, Le Bon Marché   Paris department stores.In 1997 Louis Vuitton named Marc Jacobs their artistic director. The following year he introduced a new clothing line for men and women " prêt-à-porter". 
Louis Vuitton mission statement is to"embody unique savior-faire, a carefully preserved heritage and dynamic engagement with modernity and to represent the most refined qualities of Western “Art de Vivre” (The Art of Living) around the world; to be synonymous with both elegance and creativity; to blend tradition and innovation, and kindle dream and fantasy",to be creative and aim for excellence.