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Jul 12th, 2008, 02:51 PM
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#31 |
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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so for all the tpf's ladies.... yes that is why they are getting wc speedy in hawaii in 30 and some of the asian countries...because again, its all who in who can bring money in and business..so the demands are coming from asians ... to say the least and how much i hate to say it.... LV is catering to them 1st..sucks maybe next trip in hawaii iam stocking up on LV's we cant get here in the sizes we wants LOL...
************f0000]by the way i got some of the articles atx and xxxx we do not allow you to post to other blogs, thanks! |
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__________________
 1) White MC Alma 2) Black MC Speedy 30 3) Tivoli GM 4) MC white zippy coin purse 5) Josephine PM (navy blue) 6) Montsouris PM backpack 7) Palermo PM 8) Batignolles Horizontal 9) MC Black Porte-Tressor Wallet Last edited by Swanky Mama Of Three; Jul 13th, 2008 at 11:05 AM. |
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Jul 12th, 2008, 02:58 PM
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#32 |
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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  Louis Vuitton’s Mythic 94.3% June 4th, 2008 W. David Marx Consumer Behavior, Fashion, Young Women  Luxury business experts from around the world gathered in Roppongi’s Grand Hyatt last week for the Financial Times‘ Business of Luxury Summit Tokyo ‘08. And what an appropriate setting for discussion about luxury — Tokyo! — the world’s most important site for high-end brand consumption. But proving this importance requires a catchy numerical figure. So in his opening speech, the FT’s Lionel Barber told the audience that 94.3% of all Japanese women in their 20s own a piece of Louis Vuitton. This number was then repeated in an article by leading Asian luxury expert Radha Chadha in the FT’s newspaper supplement about the luxury business: "For example, as many as 94 per cent of Tokyo women in their 20s own a Louis Vuitton piece." A quick google search on "94.3 AND Louis Vuitton" will bring up countless news articles from major international newspapers and magazines citing the figure. Even the Japanese fashion newspaper Senken Shimbun repeated the number in its June 2 recap of the FT summit. 94.3% is as good as gospel. Anyone who has spent a few hours in Tokyo knows that the Japanese deeply love Louis Vuitton. Japan gave the French brand both the capital and the formula to become an unprecedented global luxury powerhouse. That being said, 94.3%!? Let’s think about what this means. If you collected 100 girls in their 20s at random from all across Japan — from the frozen backwaters of Hokkaido to the beach huts of Okinawa — and put them in the same room, only six of them could claim to possess zero Louis Vuitton items. To be perfectly fair to all the experts who keeps repeating this statistic as unassailable fact, 94.3% is totally and utterly impossible. So where in the world did this imaginary statistic come from? We decided to track down the original source — a 2003 survey report of Tokyo metropolitan area consumers from the now-extinct Saison Research Group titled "The Image of Foreign Luxury Brands and Actual State of Brand Ownership" 『海外高級ブランドのイメージと所有実態』. And there on the bottom of page 6, we are informed that "94.3%" of girls in their 20s own a product from Louis Vuitton. Above this number, however, we get our first taste that something is amiss with this survey: "109.9%" of women in their 40s own Christian Dior! In most cases, the ownership rate does not top 100, but this Saison report is very, very special. You see, the brilliant researchers decided to simply add up all the percentages for ownership of different item groups (like bags, wallets, scarves, perfume, coats, suits, sweaters, pants, belts, shoes, etc.). So, if 50% of women in their 20s own LV bags, 30% own LV wallets, and 15% own cigarette cases, "95%" would be the final figure of brand ownership. Needless to say, this is an extremely problematic form of statistical analysis. But even the author plainly states: "These numbers are not a strict measure of ownership rates for each brand. For the brands where people own multiple items, the number can surpass 100%." (厳密には各ブランドの所有率を示すものではない。複数アイテムを保有する人が多いブランドでは１００％を 越えることもある。）I have no idea why the Saison Research Group ever thought to use this ridiculous measure of brand popularity in percentage form, but I think I know why they disbanded a year later. Although Saison printed the caveat along with the numbers, no one apparently paid much attention. The Japanese media happily reported these bogus figures as "strict measures of ownership," and eventually, the digits made their way into the Western media as well, with no one stopping to ask how 94.3% (or 109.9%!) could be possible for a single brand |
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Jul 12th, 2008, 02:58 PM
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#33 |
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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So what would be a more accurate figure for Louis Vuitton ownership?
First of all, there are plenty of fashion subcultures and segments of 20 year-olds that do not place Louis Vuitton in their purchase consideration set. "Street-kei" girls from CUTiE or Zipper are absolutely not LV customers. And girls reading the very popular "girly" magazine Non•no are probably too laid back about fashion to purchase such an extravagant level of luxury handbag or wallet. Certainly, LV is a key brand for the mainstream and enormous CanCam set (the magazine features monthly advertorial from the brand), but even the CanCam/JJ faction is merely a large plurality in the market — not a majority. Moreover, there are relatively good surveys that cover LV brand preference and ownership. The TBS General Preference Survey (TBS総合嗜好調査) asks consumers in Tokyo and the Osaka-Kobe region about established brands. Over the last decade, Louis Vuitton has generally topped the survey’s list of beloved fashion brands for women in their 20s — at around 30%. This year’s rate for LV, however, hit a recent low of 26.7%, with only 19.3% of Tokyo women in the survey saying they like the brand. (Louis Vuitton remains stunningly popular in the famously logo-crazy Kansai region.) Brand Data Bank’s (national) data tells a similar story: only 15% of surveyed women in their 20s own a LV bag. The Japanese "conventional wisdom" (echoed here) seems to state that around 40% of women own a LV product, and while this may still be high, it is not even one-half of the FT’s oft-repeated imaginary figure. Our guess would be 30-40% of women in their 20s own some manner of Louis Vuitton item, with 15-20% owning a LV bag. This is still very, very impressive when viewed in the larger scheme of things, but when 94.3% sets the standard, 15% looks rather humble. One of the main messages at the FT conference was that the Japanese luxury market has matured and become saturated. Brands can no longer swagger into Tokyo and expect to be profitable without perfectly understanding their customers. Good information is more important than ever. So let’s all take a step into the future and bury the totally dubious 94.3% figure once-and-for-all. 7 Comments » |
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Jul 12th, 2008, 02:59 PM
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#34 |
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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Jul 12th, 2008, 03:00 PM
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#35 |
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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Louis lures the label-lovers
January 22, 2005 Page Tools In Japan the economy may be ailing but spending on luxury brands shows no sign of slowing, writes Deborah Cameron. Stephen Urquhart has long understood the power of a brand name in Japan. He recalls a business meeting in the 1970s that continued into the lunch hour. "The secretary walks in and asks what do we want for lunch. Normally in Europe or America they ask: 'Do you want a ham sandwich? Do you want a cheese sandwich?' But here they asked me what brand I wanted. I promise you. 'You want a sandwich? What brand?' " As president of the watchmaker Omega, Urquhart is alert to every tick in Japan's mood. "Without a shadow of doubt, this is our No.1 one market," the Swiss-based businessman says, sitting with a Tokyo lunchtime crowd to watch swimmer Ian Thorpe - his brand's "ambassador" - plant his hands in commemorative wet cement at a shopping centre. "It's incredible. There is a wealth base here that is unlike anywhere in the world," he says. But even Urquhart sometimes wonders how long it can all keep going. Japan's consumers are obviously not reading the financial pages. Their economy is supposed to be in trouble. The interest rate on savings is hovering around zero, housing construction is static, wages are falling, people are eating into their savings to maintain consumption, the population is falling, unemployment is stuck at 5 per cent, businesses say they feel negative about the future, and government gross debt is 151 per cent of gross domestic product. And yet the country's obsession with prestige brand names, preferably foreign ones, continues unabated |
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Jul 12th, 2008, 03:01 PM
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#36 |
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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That, to me, is the biggest surprise I've had in my life," says Urquhart. "To see how the economy is on paper. The stockmarket is now a fourth of what it was in '89 - a fourth! Money brings nothing at [the bank], exports are down and yet the consumption economy is still very, very strong."
The trend is not confined to the cities. Provincial Niigata, in the news recently because of earthquakes and landslides, would not generally make much of an impact in Europe. But the quiet port town, with a population one-68th the size of the Tokyo metropolitan area, has its own Louis Vuitton boutique. In Australia this is the equivalent of having a Vuitton branch in Queanbeyan, outside Canberra. For 30 years, no market has mattered as much. Last year, 34 per cent of Vuitton's worldwide income from fashion and leather goods was from Japan. The next biggest market, the US, contributed 23 per cent. The founder of Louis Vuitton in Japan, Kyojiro Hata, says Vuitton has to keep devising ever more luxurious limited edition products to keep the wealthiest interested. Add the colossal amounts spent by Japanese tourists on their world travels and the country's importance is even greater. On busy days in London's Bond Street Vuitton store, for example, there are so many shoppers from Japan that one visitor from Tokyo reported having been given a numbered ticket and allotted a 15-minute timeslot at the counter. Ferrari, too, would be a lesser beast if it weren't for the 500 cars sold in Japan annually, putting it into the car maker's top 10 markets. Never mind that the speed limit on most of Japan's roads is 80kmh, which means many rarely get out of first gear. That is because there are two Japans. The first has economists wringing their hands because of poor growth and squandered savings. The second, which is where consumers actually dwell, is a haven of high income where the average Tokyo household earns close to $100,000, about twice average household incomes in Sydney and Melbourne. Most visible among spenders are singles who live with their parents until well into their 30s. As a group they are a study in affluence. Many don't marry, most won't have children, few aspire to home ownership, a lot have cookie-cutter careers mapped out, and there is the added security of their parents' nest egg. The width and evenness of wealth has made definitions such as "middle class" redundant for a generation of young Japanese. "Japanese society doesn't have a distinct hierarchy," says the millionaire and best-selling business book author Ken Honda. "A high-school girl in North America, Europe or Australia whose father works for a regular company wouldn't think about buying a Louis Vuitton bag that costs $2000 because they know where they belong. "But Japanese people don't have a notion of whether they belong in the middle or upper middle or elite class. They have this illusion that if they have Louis Vuitton or a Ferrari then they are wealthy." Honda, who surveyed 1200 fellow millionaires in 2002, believes most lived modestly but the evidence from rising French champagne, perfume and fine food sales is that Japan is enjoying the good life as never before. Wealth speaks in the supermarkets, too. The nation's taste buds and deep pockets have made millionaires out of South Australian tuna fisherman and been sweet bait for every other agricultural exporter. Japan's current fad, habenero or "atomic" chilli-flavoured snacks, has added such heat to the market that Mexican habenero chilli growers have announced plans to invest $1 million in new machines to increase their output. America's luxury caterers Dean and Deluca, Wolfgang Puck and Spagos each have thriving takeaway counters. Starbucks, which had 534 outlets in Japan at last count, told shareholders in May that it had been voted the country's top cafe brand in an annual survey by Nikkei Business Publications. Urquhart is inclined to think the Japanese attachment to brands is because of the association with quality, but he is puzzled about why Japan looks abroad for its must-have luxuries. To be sure, there is no shortage of high-quality goods that originate in Japan; think of Sony for electronics, Lexus for cars and Issey Miyake for fashion. But at home, none has the cachet of the big design houses of Europe and the US. For Japan those brands are wealth's shorthand. And for some of the world's biggest companies, the Japanese market is crucial. Last month, the venerable Danish toymaker Lego blamed sluggish sales in Japan and the US for a financial result so disastrous that the chief executive stepped down, leaving the company to ponder a sale of its Legoland theme parks. In 1978, when he opened the first Vuitton store, Hata knew he was on to a sure thing. Japan's craving for luxury brands was well documented and profiteers were buying up large quantities of stock at European retail stores and reselling them at vastly inflated prices in Japan. But Hata could not have imagined the scene in 2002 when Vuitton opened its then biggest flagship store on one of Tokyo's most glamorous promenades. The 10-storey emporium, with the brand's famous monogram etched on its windows, took its architectural inspiration from the firm's famous travel trunk. Even with the Japanese economy in full reverse, the threat of terrorism and SARS, and signs that consumer spending was dead, shoppers were unstoppable. Hundreds of people camped overnight for the opening. Although there were almost 50 other Louis Vuitton shops in Japan, about a dozen of them in Tokyo, the moneyed crowd hovered together at a new epicentre of fashion. A shopping melee in a store like that, where an empty wallet costs $500, goes beyond brand loyalty. It's addiction. Page Tools |
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Jul 12th, 2008, 09:43 PM
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#38 | ||||
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Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Southern Cali
Posts: 1,884
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 Japanese women usually are seen with nothing but LVs. 
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Jul 13th, 2008, 02:08 PM
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#39 | ||||
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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Murakami to design for them, but they should make it available for us that can afford it too.. MY SA wont call for the 30 to be delievered in Vegas, thats in Saks... They said its strictly Hawaii and if i wanted it... i would need to make the call and see if they would ship it out... kindah ruined my day..... |
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Jul 13th, 2008, 02:11 PM
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#40 |
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Sofa King Banned
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Raiding PBC's closet... shh!
Posts: 7,186
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My SA told me what you said in your original post, months ago. I thought it was a well-known fact. I didn't think this would surprise anyone.
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Jul 13th, 2008, 02:18 PM
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#41 | ||||
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~~GeMiNi~DiVa~~
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: Las Vegas/Cali
Posts: 483
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it surprised me because 866-vuitton can pretty much call al the stores in usa to see if theres an availability and if its for the 30- even if its available if ur not in hawaii they wont sell it to you... didnt know that.. |
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Jul 13th, 2008, 03:21 PM
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#42 |
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work the middle...
Joined: May 2006
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 5,747
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i like to think of it as LV catering to their biggest VIP: the japanese customers. i think it is unfair to others who'd like to own exclusives not available to them, BUT if i remember correctly, the WC 35 sold extremely well and i would expect the brown 35 to sell just as well. i guess its one of those if it ain't broke don't fix it.
plus, hawaii is considered part of the asian market, not the north american one. |
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My Japan Food Journal(day 1, day 2 updated 11/11/09 Card Making! My Collection: (updated 3/8/09 on pg. 15) |
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Jul 13th, 2008, 10:24 PM
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#43 | ||||
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(Isabel)
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Hawaii
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__________________
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Jul 13th, 2008, 10:30 PM
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#44 | ||||||||
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(Isabel)
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 7,094
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Hawaii is considered more to be part of the Asian market than the North American one (in terms of designer goods), because of the huge amount of tourists (mainly Japanese) that come here to shop. Hawaii is a mecca for designer goods, and that is a major draw for some tourists. Designer goods are cheaper here in the US than Japan. If you've ever read the book How Luxury Lost Its Luster, they mentioned how huge Hawaii is in terms of designer product sales. It does not at all surprise me that Hawaii and Japan get the "limited editions", because the sales and demand for LV items here are off the charts. I do not necessarily AGREE with these marketing tactics, but that's how it is. |
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Jul 13th, 2008, 11:51 PM
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#45 | ||||
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Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Southern Cali
Posts: 1,884
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 Although it is unfair to many of the LV loyal customers but LV is out to make money and I dont think they care too much for the loyal customers. Once you are addicted to LV, you will still buy their bag regardless. *sigh*
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Email to a friend 
anyways, I asked the SA there why they only released 35 on the Watercolor speedy.. She said she did not know why but only Asia like Singapore etc and Hawaii would get it... No answer back! So, after long thought on the way home LOL... I figured me being FilipinoAsian there's a thing about designers to us, it means ALOT size and everything! LOL.. I figured Asians are small, short people... well most of us... I am 5'2 115lbs.. (gained weight LOL) and they said that the most demand for designer good such as LV is coming from Asians around the world, and I think they released it to Hawaii because Hawaii is 95% Asians/Filipinos...?? could that be the reason? andI say that because my SA from the forums shops have told me before LV even hires alot of Asians because alot of their business comes from Asians? and they need lots of translators!! I think thats so stupid!! LOL So we dont get size 30 because of that reasons?? the SA did tell me that USA demand was for larger bags 
So, she told me I cant call the Hawaii boutique for you for the 30's but you can try and call them and see if they sell it to you.. I havent tried calling but If I did it would be a waste of time I think... I am afraid they wont sell it to me because I am outside Hawaii and in Las Vegas.... Am I trippin'??? I seriously think thats the reason and it's totally not fair at all................
I really would love it In Brown Water color Speedy in 30 not 35!! What's your guys input to this....................
