The first remarkable thing about the two spots is that they belong to the genre anime. From a western perspective it almost sounds like a cliché, when you say that in Japan, even Louis Vuitton ads are animes. The spots are much longer than regular ads. The first one is about 5 minutes, the second one about 3 minutes. A 15 second preview announces the ads. Louis Vuitton didn't want his spots to be understood as ads, but as real short anime. After all, there is no product explicitly promoted. Besides, the spots were shown in the Louis Vuitton store in Tokyo.
Obviously, the target audience of this ad were japanese anime fans / Otaku, or even more largely young people identifying with japanese pop culture. Why would a high fashion brand like Louis Vuitton try to attract Otakus? - Well it's simple. Older buyers are attracted anyway by Louis Vuitton's high quality and lifetime repairs for free. That way, Louis Vuitton was able to enlarge his clientele.
As other fashion labels were presenting interesting new colorful products, that were much more appealing than Louis Vuitton bags, that always came in the same style. Louis Vuitton as brand had to reposition itself. With the new multicolor product line and the appropriate ad, Louis Vuitton was able to create a buzz and to add certain associations to the brand. With the new product line, Louis Vuitton was not only classy and high quality, but also sexy and bold, up-to-date and modern.
In order for the ad to work, Louis Vuitton had to be very careful about certain aspects. I think that's the reason why the ad took a little girl instead of a fully grown woman. As the girl was young and little, it didn't need any sexual attributes, that could have been irritating because of the woman's role in the society. She could also act very immature (she wanted to beat the Panda) because she was still young. Even in the spot where Aya grew up, she is presented as young lady in her school uniform. Even the romantic part of the spot is very innocent and not sexually charged.
It was very smart of Louis Vuitton to team up with Takashi Murakami. Since his "Superflat" exposition in 2000, he has been a popular artist in Japanese pop and Otaku culture. In the pop culture because of its colorful, anime-like art. This also applies to Otakus, but furthermore they also recognize direct lines between Murakami's art and certain anime characters.
Another smart move of Louis Vuitton was the collaboration with Fantastic Plastic Machine - a popular band in Japan, belonging to the Shibuya-Kei, a sub genre of Japanese pop music. Fantastic Plastic Machine does also mix elements of French pop music into their music. Overall, the perfect musicians to sell a french product to Japanese Otakus, right? It is also notable that there are no words but a lot of facial expressions in the spot, which can be ascribed to the fact, that Japan is a high-context culture.
Another genius idea was the ad that followed up 6 years later. In order to celebrate the 6 year collaboration, Murakami created another spot. Bringing Aya back as young lady and letting her travel back in time to France, where she meets Gaston Louis Vuitton has a lot of implications for different target groups.
First, all those who liked the 2003 spot, must have been very interested by the follow-up. Even if they had no interest in buying another Louis Vuitton product at all, it must have been interesting for them to see how Aya's story continues. So, the fact, that the ad would create some buzz was somehow sure. True Otakus, having some sort of emotional engagement with the story from 2003, must have been delighted to hear, that Aya's journey goes on. Especially, when you think about the subject of the second spot: Meeting the first love, just a shy innocent smile, love at first sight - subjects that touch the hearts of Otakus and other romantically inclined people.
In order for the ad to work, Louis Vuitton had to be very careful about certain aspects. I think that's the reason why the ad took a little girl instead of a fully grown woman. As the girl was young and little, it didn't need any sexual attributes, that could have been irritating because of the woman's role in the society. She could also act very immature (she wanted to beat the Panda) because she was still young. Even in the spot where Aya grew up, she is presented as young lady in her school uniform. Even the romantic part of the spot is very innocent and not sexually charged.
It was very smart of Louis Vuitton to team up with Takashi Murakami. Since his "Superflat" exposition in 2000, he has been a popular artist in Japanese pop and Otaku culture. In the pop culture because of its colorful, anime-like art. This also applies to Otakus, but furthermore they also recognize direct lines between Murakami's art and certain anime characters.
Another smart move of Louis Vuitton was the collaboration with Fantastic Plastic Machine - a popular band in Japan, belonging to the Shibuya-Kei, a sub genre of Japanese pop music. Fantastic Plastic Machine does also mix elements of French pop music into their music. Overall, the perfect musicians to sell a french product to Japanese Otakus, right? It is also notable that there are no words but a lot of facial expressions in the spot, which can be ascribed to the fact, that Japan is a high-context culture.
Another genius idea was the ad that followed up 6 years later. In order to celebrate the 6 year collaboration, Murakami created another spot. Bringing Aya back as young lady and letting her travel back in time to France, where she meets Gaston Louis Vuitton has a lot of implications for different target groups.
First, all those who liked the 2003 spot, must have been very interested by the follow-up. Even if they had no interest in buying another Louis Vuitton product at all, it must have been interesting for them to see how Aya's story continues. So, the fact, that the ad would create some buzz was somehow sure. True Otakus, having some sort of emotional engagement with the story from 2003, must have been delighted to hear, that Aya's journey goes on. Especially, when you think about the subject of the second spot: Meeting the first love, just a shy innocent smile, love at first sight - subjects that touch the hearts of Otakus and other romantically inclined people.
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