Tag: positioning

Today is the birthday of Louis Vuitton, born in 1821.  What can we learn about marketing from Louis Vuitton? Let’s just say Louis packs it in. Here are just a few:

Louis was born in Anchay France in 1821.  At age 14, he ran 292 miles away from home to get away from a strict stepmother. He found himself an apprentice to a box maker. He was so skilled at his craft, he found himself packing wares for Paris’ upper-class citizens, including the Empress of France. He soon opened his own shop.

The first thing we notice is how carefully Louis positioned his product. Well ahead of his time, the sign outside his shop read “Securely packs the most fragile objects. Specializing in packing fashions”. Louis was careful to differentiate his box from every other “common” box. His box was different.

The second thing we can learn from Louis is to keep an eye open for problems to solve, because common problems present opportunities. Soon after opening his store, he invented a solution to radically improve the common storage trunk. Most luggage in 1821 consisted of round-topped trunks, which could not be stacked when carried on boats, trains, or horse-drawn carriages. These round-topped trunks were treated roughly, and valuable items were frequently broken in transit.  Louis created a strong flat trunk that could be stacked. Both advantages were of great value to wealthy travelers, who were in need of many pieces of luggage and needed to protect their valuable items in transport.  In 1886, Georges Vuitton, Louis’s son, revolutionized the lock, turning a travel trunk into a treasure chest, and improving its value again.

The third thing we can learn? If you have a valuable product, you can bet that competitors will emerge wanting a piece of your pie. If you have competitors who want to be just like you? Take it as a compliment. It adds to your product value. Remember the Louis Vuitton conglomerate is one of the world’s most valuable fashion brands, yet Louis Vuitton knockoffs abound.

Learn from Louis. He was an inventor, yes. But Louis’s most amazing invention was how to position his products in the minds of the most wealthy and fashion conscious patrons in Paris.

That’s this week’s Imagination Hat.

Image Louis Vuitton Autumn 2012 Fashion Campaign.

Are you a Plucky Duck?

In 1992, a shipping crate fell overboard, containing 28,000 plastic bathtub toys. Since then, they have been sailing around the world and appearing on beaches in the most unbelievable places.  While much has been written about the Friendly Floaties, I’d like to present these little guys as an allegory of high-level business acumen.

Yes, they have provided new information to scientists regarding ocean currents, and provided another opportunity to bring important environmental issues to the surface. (Pun fully intended). But these guys are the poster child for the Power of Small.  And I’m not just trying to wring some ‘think positive’ psychology out of the allegory. It is real advantage.

Think of these three advantages alone:

Opportunity abounds

The waning economy has dumped and displaced many workers into the vast economic sea. But at that moment, hundreds of new startups were launched.  Imagine them all, minutes after they bobbed to the surface, all floating together in a friendly flotilla. They are free to do and go wherever they want, no longer hindered by the box. Don’t you love it? The big box store does nothing for creativity. Innovation is born from freedom and liberty. Opportunity abounds like never before.

Space to be me

There is always room for one more small business. Please do not view it as hundreds of new competitors. If you have carefully differentiated your small business, you have nothing to worry about.  There is room for all- even bumping up against each other. While large boats must stay quite a distance from one another, the small business, especially one that has positioned itself carefully, has all the room they need. Small business can swim circles around the big boys, under the radar, in customer service and niche offerings.

Instant adaptation

These little ducks are the ultimate evolutionary model. Darwin would have been so proud.  Currents change. Weather happens. Things a little duck cannot control. But these plucky ducks have endured storms that have brought down the most daring sailors and the largest ships.  They have instantly changed course. Recovered from the largest waves. Endured long periods of sustained sun and loneliness.

If you are a small business, you have more advantage and more help at your disposal than ever before. Got waves? Stop looking at the wave as a disadvantage and use it as a tool and an opportunity to rise to new heights and go places you have never been before.

Small is the new Big. If you are small business owner, you are one Plucky Duck.

If you have enjoyed an advantage of being small, please share it with us in the comments.

And if you would like more information about the friendly floaties, check out these sites:

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/what-can-28000-rubber-duckies-lost-at-sea-teach-us-about-

The Author of Moby Duck:

http://www.donovanhohn.com/Home.html