Sugarcups, gather around
If that Vuitton beauty launch didn’t make you stop scrolling to think, you might be missing the big branding swing of the decade. And it’s not just lipstick, it’s legacy, ritual, emotion onboarding in refillable containers – and the fun part…i am totally on it today. In a feedback loop of dupe discourse and sale prices, Vuitton just re-taught me that the game-changing marketing future will be scarily professional hands-off that bonds us; let me show you that campaign unlocked the moneymaking methodology behind emotion-led branding, technologized engagement, and microcollectible buying.
All I did was, in the Louis Vuitton new Bond street suite, wah dah wah dah wah dah wah wah da dah, da huh, wah da dah. Yes I was giggling to myself at a clutch of 20-somers having their “purchasable beauty moment” then onto arguably the most ridiculously stunning lipstick – Shade 854, a blue red with LV’s founding year – because colour names are a legacy too… And then it hit me, not just with the scent (a softly diaphanous bouquet of flower notes thanks to Jacques Cavallier Belletrud perfumery wizardry) but with the messaging. This was Vuitton’s generation Z rallying cry, “We get you, Gen Z and millennial pioneers of brands to come. You may not be spending the 3k on leather bag just yet, but here’s a 120-pound lipstick – and I say this with a refillable twist and a monogrammed finish – a…
Genius. Absolute cheeky genius!
Louis Vuitton Beauty Launch: Trend Forecast
After too many coffees (hotter than this) and meetings with stakeholders in front of the whiteboard than I’d like to remember, I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into this move. Here’s what is a well put together move by Louis Vuitton on this beauty launch:
1. Subscription Luxury Rituals
Think, a monthly lip refill, new colours, new fragrances and your name engraved each season. And this isn’t a new box, this is an emotion.
Micro-Niche Name: Craft the highest-value “Ritual-as-a-service” enabled by tech for brands. Example: One tap customization of VIP rituals + refillable packaging as Birchbox + LV combine to go & emotional invocation.
2. Beauty Will Transform into an Entry to Digital Collectibles
The fourth channel of physical collectibles. Now, for the first time, take that from physical to digital -virtual fitting rooms, bonus content, and loyalty rewards.
Tech-enabled Idea: Create a platform where brands can enable digital collectibles of the same brand against the physical product. For example: Every shade of lipstick can have a digital version stored inside the customer’s digital beauty vault.
3. AI-Based Emotional Design Will Impact Product Design
But while that emotional element of the science may be quite feminine, it’s mostly texture, scent and ceremony. And Vuitton, at least, is thinking for the longer term with each of the three – maybe even a little too long.
Business suggestion: it’s imaginable to produce an ai that simulates where it is you are feeling and assist manufacturers build for the rather than to stand up and function. Product: Mapping emotion in element-weight, ingredient, scent, tune, surface.
Strategic Pivot Led by Louis Vuitton Beauty Release
Alright, now we’re getting downright spicy. Here are some hyper-specific concepts that may be able to make it work in this new world:
1. LUXURY BEAUTY CONCIERGE FOR NEURODIVERSE GUESTS
The hyper-tactile grained touch sensations and refilling technique of Louis Vuitton all designs for specific people. There is large space for improvement inclusive to emotional, comfort and sensory regulation.
Develop a box or concierge service to serve neurodivergent beauty buyers: Boxes could highlight the role of smell, feel and control of your emotions.
2. Emotionally Intelligent Retail Technology
Just think, walk to the store and this little sample video which automatically tells you what mood you are in and fetch a particular lip stick shade for your mood without you going to buy it!
Make a novelty or produce an application for artificial intelligence to recommend you cosmetics with the interpretation of facial emotional Recognition. Study luxury brands that integrate an emotional retail strategy.
3. Heirloom Beauty Vaults
Pick Louis Vuitton small trunks to pass on. Envision a place that lets you pass down engraved product packaging, refill documents and smell memories of personalized great atmosphere kits to the previous five generations of your loved ones.
Create a digital logbook of your beauty routine. Your clients may also take pictures of the products they use, their own travel diary, personalized engravings and pass it to your friends like it’s a family secret.
And this was the part that makes my heart miss a beat (I’m a mere mortal, a little bit overly emotional). Louis Vuitton – just to nobody’s surprise – did not release more make-up. They released make-up that had a history. They did the make-up, they did the process, a ritual, a memory and a moment. And for us, owners of emotional touch points, that is a very special, very unique, touch point of inspiration.
Conclusion: Lipstick Is Just the Beginning
Yes, I left that suite with a new lipstick. But I left that same suite with a dozen new business models, a second lease on purpose and a smile that said, We’re just warming up. That Louis Vuitton perfume launch gave me that back. It reminded me of everything, how I connect with clients through our practices and how we create brand stories. It’s how the best marketing is quiet, intimate. That perfume that stays with you. That click that just clicks.
So if you are in the middle of creating a new brand, a new product, a new movement. Ask yourself, “are you selling stuff… Or stories” because Louis Vuitton just schooled us all. And frankly? I still have that lipstick trunk in my bones. If this gave you goosebumps (or at least made you smile a little bit), share this with your friends and coworkers. And if you want to create a legacy brand that doesn’t need inventory, let’s chat. We are gonna create some magic, or at the very least, something refillable and cute.
Until next time,
Love
Jasmin
