Louis Vuitton — euro-flash
Traditionally, Louis Vuitton was a niche lifestyle brand known around the world for creating luxury travel trunks and leather accessories for the well to do. By offering consumers a fresh take on its core product and by broadening the brand's scope of business, the 150-year-old brand has an image that drips luxury.
Artistic Director Marc Jacobs, who assumed the role in 1998, led the charge by commissioning artists such as Stephen Sprouse and Takashi Murakami to lend their cutting edge design ideas to the brand's signature products, creating must-have status symbols that met with a voracious demand. Jacobs also launched the first Louis Vuitton clothing line, which was promptly lauded by the fashion industry. Tapping actress/singer Jennifer Lopez as a model was another key move in skewing younger and getting some zest in print ads. But does Vuitton.com reflect this revitalized image?
Supporting a recent public statement that the brand owners are focusing on the Asia-Pacific market, the site is viewable in Korean, Japanese and Chinese, in addition to French and English.
The imagery reflects the brand’s revamped glossy veneer. Shots of sun-glazed men and women wrapped in product, draped across the desert, entice the viewer into opening their signature wallets. But the site is not all flash – its enriched content and superior functionality also earns kudos.
Vuitton.com’s added value is the creative glimpse into its inner sanctum. The equal time spent on both the brand’s image and on product quality is visible here. For example, the Louis Vuitton online magazine maintains the exclusive vibe long cultivated by this brand byoffering users the very latest information about in-demand Louis Vuitton products and providing a glimpse into the minutiae of highly publicized events. Comprehensive information about featured products is prominently displayed in the center of the page. Accompanying the eye candy is a virtual voyeuristic vault of celebrity stocked store openings and movies showings in the store windows.
But Vuitton.com also offers a view of what lies beyond the glamour of the monogram. Relating to product legacy and quality, the Tradition section allows the viewer to witness step-by-step video demonstrations of the construction of its famous bags and travel gear, complete with a link to an area where the buyer can order customized bags. Capitalizing on its long legacy, Vuitton offers both a chronological timeline of milestones and a history of the brand as an online documentary (mention of its alleged links with France's Vichy government during WWII are, not surprisingly, absent from the company's history). Event highlights focus on Louis Vuitton’s commitment to certain sports sponsorships (yacht racing and international car racing), which support the premium qualities of its brand.
A nod to its history as a trunk and travel accessories brand, the Travel section serves as a go-to guide for the cosmopolitan traveler. It contains a City Guide, catering to the jet set target market, and provides recommendations of places to dine, visit and, of course, shop in a number of global cities. Product recommendations are creatively woven into the travel guide service. For instance, Travel Notebook combines artist’s sketches of major cities and information about points of interest along with the location of the Louis Vuitton shop nearest the landmark. The Art of Packing combines instruction, gimmick and promotion, using clickable animated characters (e.g., businessperson on the go, couple on romantic getaway) to demonstrate how to best pack Louis Vuitton luggage for adventures in each featured city.
The Collections section is constructed as an online fashion catalog, using an easy to navigate pull-down menu. In a smart move designed to retain brand loyalty, visitors can instantly purchase Louis Vuitton products through a connection with eLuxury.com. Other selling techniques include a high quality streaming video, which displays a ringside view of the catwalk to appease the online fashionista, a store locator and an area to create a wish list.
The Search function is one of the few areas that could stand improvement. Because there is no search engine – searching can only be done by selecting a topic from a provided list.
Overall, Vuitton.com maintains its high standard of quality and well-held reputation online by creating a virtual experience that is on par with its product. Background music, streaming video, Flash animation and impeccable design elements are artfully woven into asuperior site structure rich with value added content that enhances the brand experience - providing just the type of decadent online visit the elite Louis Vuitton target audience would naturally expect.