L'Invitation Au Voyage - Louis Vuitton

This advertisement is the first TV advertisement by Louis Vuitton, and was only released in November 2012. This evoked curiosity and emotion in viewers, surprising them as to why a large brand, like Louis Vuitton would make a TV advert so late, questioning what triggered them to create the advert? Supermodel Arizona Muse is portrayed to have importance and prestige as she uses the key on her necklace to unlock the luxurious Louis Vuitton trunk, retrieving an envelope, which she tucks into her bag. This intrigues viewers, questioning what is in the envelope and further plays the mystery and curiosity portrayed throughout the advert evoking emotions in the viewers. An exploratory study with adolescents found that consumer curiosity and question responses to adverts facilitate memory, and enhance advertisement recall (Swasy & Rethans, 1986).

This advertisement reinforced the label’s heritage and cultural roots, associating the brand Louis Vuitton with the world famous painting, the Mona Lisa and spectacular attractions such as the Louvre and Eiffel towel. To conclude, another great French invention, the hot air balloon was used as her escape into the beautiful Parisian sunset, bringing a sense of fantasy and dream, enhancing viewer’s emotions and portraying “buy a bit of a dream with this bag”. Paris is known to be the city of love, thus the destination evokes romance and positive emotions. An experiment was conducted in a sample of 144 women who viewed different types of magazine advertisements, and results found that advertisements portraying fantasy led to an improved positive mood, making a lasting impression on the consumer (Tiggemann, Polivy & Hargreaves, 2009). Mills et al (2002) also stated that advertisers mainly evoke fantasy in adverts directed to woman to provide them with inspiration, hope and encouragement making them feel attached to the product.

Throughout the advert a handsome man, unclear why, trails Arizona, which enhances the curiosity and mystery. Possibly he is attracted to her because of her beauty; her bag or maybe he is after the envelope? Giving the viewers the ability to use their own imagination makes the advert ever more appealing and unforgettable. Page & Brewster (2007) found that imagination is one of the most prominent emotional appeals used in U.S. commercials to attract consumers.

Finally, the advert has no speech but is accompanied by intriguing music that slowly builds up suspense allowing viewers to emotionally engage with the advert. It has been found that background music improves attitudes and enhances positive emotions in advertisements, making them more memorable (Marchegiani & Phau, 2012).

References:

Marchegiani, C., & Phau, I. (2012). The effect of music on consumers’ nostalgic responses towards advertisements under personal, historical and non-nostalgic conditions.. The International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 22(1), 27-53.

Mills, J. S., Polivy, J., Herman, C. P., & Tiggemann, M. (2002). Effects of exposure to thin media images: Evidence of self-enhancement among restrained eaters. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 1687-1699.

Page, R. M., & Brewster, A. (2007). Emotional and rational product appeals in televised food advertisements for children: Analysis of commercials shown on US broadcast networks.. Journal of Child Health Care, 11(4), 323-340.

Swasy, J. L., & Rethans, A. J. (1986). Knowledge Effects on Curiosity and New Product Advertising. Journal of advertising, 15(4), 28-34.

Tiggemann, M., Polivy, J., & Hargreaves, D. (2009). The processing of thin ideals in fashion magazines: A source of social comparison or fantasy?. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology28. 1 (2009): 73-93., 28(1), 73-93.