I’ve recently seen a fantastically produced advertisement for Louis Vuitton featuring Keith Richards playing guitar at 3a.m. in what I assume is his hotel room. This seems like a straightforward brand strategy to involve rock stars as a promoter of your goods. What I am impressed with, though, is the fine print on this ad. It says: “Keith Richards and Louis Vuitton are proud to support The Climate Project”.
The Climate Project is a Nashville, TN based non-profit organization presumably linked to Al Gore. I am sure this organization has great intentions, but how exactly does Louis Vuitton and Keith Richards support The Climate Project? To me, Louis Vuitton represents luxury, a high level of craftsmanship, excess, and extreme consumption.These are all things that seem to tie Keith Richards to Louis Vuitton making a near perfect associative brand pairing. Why muddle this down with a confusing and not particularly sincere statement about The Climate Project? Could someone shed light on this objective?
I would suggest to Louis Vuitton to make a stronger and more integrated statement, and then show us a bit how they are committed to this statement rather than throwing in what appears to be an arbitrary afterthought.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:06 am
what I think you fail to understand is that the people who care about initiatives like The Climate Project and furthermore may be upset about this image, do to what you call a “representation of excess and extreme consumption”, are not the people that this ad are targeting. It is targeting the market with an appreciation for fine craftsmanship and fine art as well as luxury who could care less about how much effort they put into The Climate Project. This market appreciate the subject matter in the Ad as well as the Producer of the piece and the manufacturer of the product. they also respect what these three pieces of the puzzle have contributed through their life’s work and relate their credibility to this relatively new organization called the Climate Project. this market also understands what the brand stands for and that more information can be found if they are intrigued by the cause supported by this ad. I’m surprised that you, as a blogger, didn’t take the time to browse the louis vuitton site to read about their commitment to the environment outside of The Climate Project. you make them sound like wal-mart. i’m even more amazed that you call yourself brand crack and yet seem to miss some simple points behind this campaign.