| Name | Louis Vuitton |
| Industry | Luxury goods |
| Founded | 1854 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| CEO | Michael Burke |
| Revenue | 44.7 billion Euros (2020) |
| Profit | 4.7 billion Euros (2020) |
| Competitors | Hermes International S.A., Guccio Gucci S.p.A., Prada, Chanel, Coach, Burberry, Fendi, Versace, Michael Kors, Celine. |
Headquartered in Paris, France, Louis Vuitton is a brand that engages in selling luxury goods. Louis Vuitton is a part of LVMH and sells watches, leather goods, handbags, jewelry, trunks, shoes, and accessories. Louis Vuitton was founded in 1854 Vuitton. The brand started with selling designer trunks and established its first store in 1885 in London. Since then, the brand started to expand and launched in perfume during 2016, after 70 years, with an LVMH state-of-the-art fragrance factory. The company is the leading luxury brand and was ranked at the 9th Position on World’s most valuable brands list (Forbes, 2021).
Table of Contents
Louis Vuitton Strengths 2021:
- Increasing Financial Performance:
Louis Vuitton is one of the most recognized luxury brands. Since 2016, the brand value of Louis Vuitton has increased its value drastically from $10,444 million to $14,858 million. Even recently, the company increased its brand value from $13.58 billion in 2019 to $14.86 billion in 2021 despite the pandemic). The company’s financial performance has continuously experienced positive growth, therefore contributing to the company’s strength (Statista, 2021). - Eco-Friendly Products.
The company launched its eco-friendly line in mid-July in 2021 and has also revealed plans for making sure that all the raw materials used by Louis Vuitton for manufacturing products are sourced with 100% responsibility (Nyugen, 2021). This is a great opportunity that the brand has invested in. It builds a positive image of the brand and makes it seem that Louis Vuitton recognizes that sustainability is important. - Celebrity Endorsements.
Louis Vuitton has used A-list celebrities for endorsing the brand. A few of the celebrities that endorse the brand include Sean Connery, Rihanna, Pharell Williams, Madonna, Kanye West and etc. (Hinkson, 2010). Louis Vuitton has done everything from using Kanye for advertising sneakers to Madonna for advertising shoes and bags. This is a great marketing strategy carried out by Louis Vuitton as it promotes the brand image and reputation while also attracting new customers. - Top Designers Under the Umbrella.
The design team of Louis Vuitton comprises top and renowned designers, for instance, Virgil Abloh, Nicolas Ghesquière, Kim Jones, Julie Verhoeven, etc. Having products created by top designers adds to the image of the luxury brand. - Diversifying gradually.
Louis Vuitton has brought more diversity by launching its own café/restaurant in Osaka, Japan, located in the most successful flagship store of Louis Vuitton. The two cafés are located on the top floor of the building and are named ‘Le Café V’ and ‘Sugalabo V’ (Halo, 2020). This is a good investment by the brand as it makes it different from its competitors, increasing its appeal.
Louis Vuitton Weaknesses 2021:
- Weak Online Presence.
Louis Vuitton does not invest in digital technology as it believes that having a huge online presence will bring down the brand’s reputation, and it will no longer remain a luxury brand. The CEO of Louis Vuitton acknowledges that having a greater online presence will increase sales; however, they are still unwilling to expand further online (CPP Luxury, 2018). - Limited Target Audience.
Most of Louis Vuitton’s customers comprise a small part of society, which is mostly elite or upper class. The reason why Louis Vuitton’s customer diversification is so limited is because its products are sold at premium prices. This makes it unappealing for the masses, making the market of Louis Vuitton quite niche.
Louis Vuitton Opportunities 2021:
- Growing Market Potential.
The market of luxury products was valued at $224 billion in 2020, and this number is expected to grow to $296.9 billion by 2026, which is about a 4.8% increase (PR Newswire, 2021). This shows a growing market potential for the brand, and if Louis Vuitton manages to launch an innovative range of perfumes, bags, shoes, etc., it will manage to earn great profits during this increase. - Engage Customers Online.
As digital technology/marketing is gaining popularity, Louis Vuitton needs to encourage growth in its online market segment. Online engagement with customers can help to generate more profits. This will help the brand grow and stay strong in this market. - Environmentally Friendly Raw Materials.
Most of the textile industry is experiencing shifts in consumer behavior. They now prefer leather and fabric sourced with 100% responsibility and have done no harm to the animals or the environment (White, Hardisty & Habib, 2019). Since Louis Vuitton has already invested in this segment, the brand can further expand it. This way, it can target customers who are increasingly becoming consumption and environment conscious.
Louis Vuitton Threats 2021:
- Forged Products.
Counterfeiting has always been a major challenge faced by Louis Vuitton. Due to fake and forged products being sold at low prices, people tend to buy them more. This poses a threat to the brand’s sales and induces a negative image that tarnishes its reputation. - Government policies on International Trade.
Government policies regarding trade are always quite strict and prohibiting. This leads to limited trade and difficulty in sourcing raw materials or exporting goods. Hence it is a huge threat to the brand as it could limit production.
Louis Vuitton SWOT Analysis Conclusion:
In conclusion, Louis Vuitton has been in this industry for 167 years and has remained a valuable and recognized brand in this market. According to the SWOT Analysis above, it can be witnessed that Louis Vuitton has made a bold name for itself by capitalizing on its strengths, such as using A-list celebrities to market the brand, generating an iconic logo, and even diversifying to opening cafés and restaurants in its stores. This has helped build the reputation of the brand; however, the brand does have a weak online presence and limited target market, which are major weaknesses of the brand. Nevertheless, suppose Louis Vuitton focuses on investing and building on its opportunities to expand more online or collaborate with other luxury brands. In that case, it could minimize the threats and weaknesses while also helping the brand grow in the future years.
- You can find blank SWOT Templates here
- If you need assistance with your project, here are our done for you services
References:
- CPP Luxury. (2018). LVMH’s CEO still concerned about online sales of luxury goods. CPP Luxury.
- Forbes. (2021). Louis Vuitton. Forbes.
- Halo, V. (2020). Louis Vuitton chooses Osaka in Japan for its first restaurant. Retail in Asia.
- Hinkson, R. (2010). 13 Louis Vuitton Endorsements. Trend Hunter.
- Nguyen, K. (2021). Louis Vuitton Announces an Eco-Friendly Collection—Plus 5 Other Companies Making Sustainable Moves. Brightly.
- PR Newswire. (2021). Global Luxury Goods Market to Reach $296.9 Billion by 2026. PR Newswire.
- Statista. (2021). Brand value of Louis Vuitton worldwide from 2016 to 2021. Statista.
- White, K., Hardisty, D., & Habib, R. (2019). The Elusive Green Consumer. Harvard Business Review.
