Louis Vuitton’s ad “mistake” or a clever marketing move?

Louis Vuitton (LVMH.PA) has launched a beautiful advertisement as part of its “Core Values” campaign. It features Angelina Jolie sitting on a barge, informally dressed with a big Louis Vuitton tote bag by her side.

The photo was shot by Annie Leibovitz in the Siem Reap province of Cambodia and first appeared in WWD, followed by the International Herald Tribune, Vanity Fair and a slew of other news, general interest and lifestyle publications. It is expected to run for at least 18 months and will also feature a video interview with Jolie filmed on location. The campaign will run alongside a few other recent “core values” personalities, including Bono his wife Ali Hewson (in Africa) and Sean Connery (in the Bahamas).

Vuitton launched its “Core Values” campaign in 2007 to reconnect with its travel roots and thus reach a broader audience. According to Pietro Beccari, Vuitton’s executive vice president, “Vuitton gives a travel message through personal journeys which is a fundamental one for the brand.” Other personalities who have features in the campaign are Mikhail Gorbachev, Keith Richards and Catherine Deneuve.

However, there is one oddity in the Jolie ad: the Alto carry-on bag shown in the ad (Jolie's own) is about six years old, and is no longer available in stores.

A mistake? Quite likely not - Beccari commented that Vuitton is considering a "re-edit" of the Alto carry-on.

My take on it is that Vuitton will wait to see what the demand for the “Jolie tote bag” will be and then restart production and sales if expected to be profitable.

If I am correct, this would be one of the most cost-effective market researches for Vuitton. Let’s wait and see!

How Spirit Airlines uses Weinergate for it Marketing

Spirit Airlines is known for its non-traditional marketing. Even before social media took off for promotion, Spirit made it a habit to leverage controversial trends (MUFF, MILF) and scandals (Tiger Woods) to advertise its low fares.

The current Anthony Weiner scandal (dubbed “Weinergate” by the media) fits nicely into Spirit’s marketing strategy. On Tuesday, June 7, Spirit Airlines sent an email to its customers containing the following sales promotion: “Check out our Weiner Sale boasting fares just too hard to resist! This scandalous sale is no secret so get socially connected … book now before this sale gets hacked!” The company’s homepage offers more Weiner puns.

The promotion has been picked up by The New York Daily News, CBS, The Wall Street Journal and MSNBC.

Arun Sharma, a marketing professor at the University of Miami, explains that Spirit has packaged the promotion well by prominently mentioning its low-cost fares. For a value brand like Spirit, cheap fares are its key selling point. He does not foresee a possible backlash from customers who are uncomfortable with the sale’s theme. "These kinds of promotions do not seem to offend the general public," Sharma said. "They chuckle over things like this."

Previous Spirit marketing campaigns include its 2009 campaign when it ran its “Eye of the Tiger Sale” to leverage the Tiger Woods scandal. The airline’s homepage featured a tiger driving an SUV into a fire hydrant to promote its $9 fare sale.

During the BP oil spill disaster, a Spirit ad featured a sunscreen-covered sunbather and the teaser: "Check out the oil on our beaches."

Spirit Airlines also put a new twist on trendy acronyms. In February 2010, it ran a promo called MUFF to diving destinations. MUFF stood in this case for Many Unbelievable Fantastic Fares. MUFF followed on the heels of the MILF promo. According to Spirit, MILF stands for “Many Islands, Low Fares.”

A few years ago, Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza explained in an interview that the company practices "shock marketing" to keep advertising costs low: "People get the e-mail and forward it to their friends. ..."

Shock marketing and campaign going viral obviously work for Spirit Airlines. Let’s see what the next campaign will entail...