Okonkwo Prelims

purchasing counterfeit goods. In addition, the company was one of the key

players in the formulation of the legislation that makes the ownership of

luxury goods illegal in France.

Louis Vuitton assists in seizing and destroying counterfeit materials and

finished products. In 2003, the company conducted a total of 4,200 raids,

leading to the arrest of nearly 1,000 counterfeiters. Louis Vuitton also helped

the US Customs Service seize 100,000 fake Louis Vuitton products that were

being imported from South Korea. In 2004, more than 6,000 additional raids

were conducted worldwide and over 8,200 anti-counterfeiting complaints

were filed by the company. One of the numerous counterfeiting victories won

by Louis Vuitton is the April 2006 court ruling against French (incidentally!)

supermarket group Carrefour, which was ordered to pay Louis Vuitton more

than US$37,000 in damages for selling fake Louis Vuitton bags in one of its

Shanghai stores.

In addition to these, Louis Vuitton continues to devise new strategies for

fighting counterfeits. The company now targets landlords who rent their

premises to vendors of fake Vuitton products, through filing complaints

against them for turning a blind eye to criminal activities on their property. In

April 2005, Louis Vuitton won a major victory against a New York landlord

who owned seven stores in the counterfeit hot zone, Canal Street. This led to

the eviction of the tenants and the prohibition of further fake goods retail,

among other actions. The objective of this strategy is to discourage propri-

etors from leasing their property to fake luxury goods vendors, thereby

making the business either impossible or more expensive to operate. These

examples ought to be emulated by other luxury brands.

The luxury branding death-wish list

Managing luxury brands is a fascinating business. However, the development

and implementation of effective strategies is a challenge that needs constant

revision and high adaptability. Luxury brands must remain innovative and

creative in their branding, marketing and retailing design. More importantly,

there should be clarity and consistency in delivering a luxury brand’s message

to its audience.

Every luxury brand worth their place in the market ought to ingrain brand

knowledge and management methods in their company’s DNA. As the most

powerful and single most important asset of a company, the brand should be

the blueprint, organizing principle and the basis for every decision made

within the company.

In conclusion of this interesting chapter, which has provided the tools and

techniques for effectively managing a luxury brand, let’s take a quick look at

the luxury branding death-wish list. The death-wish list consists of factors

that often lead to a brand’s death, therefore when a luxury brand decides to

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luxury fashion branding