' Remarkable Louis Vuitton’s Worldcup Campaign
Last year, a picture of two football icons — Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo facing each other on a game of chess, instead of competing on the football pitch, went viral on the Internet ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
I still remember how astonished I was when I saw the picture, as I have never seen these two world-class icons featured in the same scene. And both of them posted on Instagram for a “VICTORY IS A STATE OF MIND” campaign that trumpets Louis Vuitton’s sporting roots.
Luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton has been a long-time partner with the FIFA World Cup since 2010. The French Maison’s affinity to the world of football culminated with its 2010 core values campaign featuring all-time greats like Pele, Maradona, and Zinedine Zidane. These legends posed for photographer Annie Leibovitz and it spotlighted the brand’s monogram canvas bags.
The new brand campaign 2022 “Victory is a state of mind” was a generational follow-up to the celebrated 2010 campaign and it was a big success. Football fans around the world expressed their excitement and awe when the picture first hit the Internet, as the campaign signified a never-before-seen reunion of two of sports’ greatest, yet most respected rivals in a luxury brand.
Take a look at some of the Twitter reactions from fans.
Not just a brand campaign!
Louis Vuitton has a connection that goes beyond mere campaigns, the FIFA World Cup Trophy is transported in a carefully designed and crafted suitcase by LV, which is another of the astonishing variety of custom-made travel objects since its foundation in 1854. The Trophy Case was presented at the opening match and the final of the 2022’s tournament. Furthermore, Louis Vuitton also unveiled an exclusive collection designed for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
There is a delicate balancing act that involves labels creating an association with the prestige value of the tournament rather than the host country. The rules of luxury marketing are being written and the sector is no longer watching from the sidelines. Football is a ubiquitous sport that unites the globe, played on dirt roads and multimillion-dollar stadiums — but the FIFA World Cup is an elite tournament.
What I learned from this case
As we all know, luxury brands carefully choose collaborators or promote a specific campaign, as they would be afraid of depreciating the brand value. For example, even during the pandemic when people were locked at home and not permitted to go out shopping, Chanel would rather take risks of reducing sales than offer an online service to buy clothes, as it is contrary to Chanel’s principles — “Craftsmanship”.
However, from the case of Louis Vuitton’s 2022 campaign, we can learn that cooperating with a national movement will not detract from the brand value, as long as you choose the right angle that fits your brand positioning, such as Louis Vuitton featured two iconic football greats and is the maker of the FIFA World Trophy’s suitcase.
This will not only disparage the luxury positioning but also will increase brand awareness to a higher level.
