"Zoo" Display In Wuhan Playfully Highlights Brand's Iconic Emblem#
A panda sculpted out of Louis Vuitton bags for the brand's Wuhan display. (Yahoo)
Although Louis Vuitton has been responding to Chinese first-tier consumers' growing shift away from purchasing items with prominent logos, a new "zoo" display at the label's store in Wuhan featuring animal sculptures crafted out of its iconic logo handbags shows that highlighting the brand's classic emblem is still alive and well in its lower-tier marketing efforts.
Since seeing disappointing first-quarter China growth numbers, the company has been making a quick response to Chinese consumers' rising propensity toward "stealth wealth." Recent efforts have included marketing a new line of logo-free handbags to Chinese customers as well as expressing plans to avoid overexposure by cutting back on store expansion.
However, this new exhibition of 23 animals demonstrates that the company remains aware that logos remain popular in China's second- and third-tier cities. Designed by British artist Billie Achilleos, the menagerie includes a giant panda, cricket, armadillo, and beaver, which are featured with their companions in the brand's Wuhan International Plaza Atrium store location in Hubei province.
A logo-heavy Louis Vuitton cricket on display in Wuhan. (WAYCHINA)
As part of a celebration of the company's 100th anniversary of its SLG Savior Faire bag collection, the works are part of the increasingly popular practice among luxury brands in China to fuse art with retail in order to stand out among competitors in the country's crowded luxury market.
As lower-tier cities continue to become China's new luxury marketing battleground, Wuhan is experiencing fast luxury expansion, with Prada and Fendi planning openings there next year.
