Specialist
Former senior executive at Salvatore Ferragamo SpA
Agenda
- Why is Louis Vuitton (PAR: MC) outgrowing Gucci (PAR: KER) post-pandemic?
- Comparative analysis of product architecture, pricing strategies, targeted customer profiles and channel strategy
- Profitability analysis, discussing gross margin and EBIT margin differences and drivers
Questions
1.
How do you expect Louis Vuitton and Gucci to grow organically over the next three years? What growth profiles are you expecting, touching on the key differences and drivers between them?
2.
Kering Group recently hosted a capital markets day with regards to Gucci and the group has spoken about a shift in aesthetic. What have we seen in terms of this shift? Do you think it’s sufficient to help return the brand to high double-digit growth?
3.
What sort of aesthetic shift do you think is required from Gucci?
4.
Do you think Gucci’s Creative Director, Alessandro Michele, can steer the brand towards a more classical or reassuringly conservative look? Is his aesthetic too bold for the new Gucci? Might we need to see some sort of change in creative direction?
5.
Do you think Alessandro Michele needs to leave Gucci, or could the brand continue to succeed with him as its Creative Director?
6.
How does the organisational structure differ at Gucci vs Louis Vuitton? Why do you think Louis Vuitton is able to have this internal creative structure, and why can’t Gucci imitate that?
7.
How does the mix between seasonal and carry-over differ between Gucci and Louis Vuitton?
8.
Gucci recently announced Maria Lomanto as its new CMO [Chief Merchandising Officer]. What are your views on her ability to steer the Gucci brand in the right direction?
9.
How confident are you in the new leadership at Gucci in China, given it’s been announced that Laurent Cathala will take over as President there?
10.
Maria Lomanto has been put into the new position of Brand General Manager and comes from Roger Vivier, a much smaller brand. How confident are you on her ability to manage Gucci, given this brand’s size vs Roger Vivier’s?
11.
How do the targeted customer profiles differ at Gucci vs Louis Vuitton? In the most recent capital markets update, Gucci spoke about growing with millennials and gen Z.
12.
What do you think is the rough Asia customer mix for Louis Vuitton?
13.
What do you think is the skew towards millennials and gen Z for Louis Vuitton?
14.
How else do you think the product architecture differs at Gucci vs Louis Vuitton, given we’ve discussed seasonal and carry-over?
15.
How does the product architecture differ within leather goods between Gucci and Louis Vuitton? We’ve spoken about carry-over within the category.
16.
How do Gucci and Louis Vuitton’s pricing strategies compare?
17.
What is the difference in ASP or AOV across Gucci and Louis Vuitton?
18.
How do you think about Gucci and Louis Vuitton’s pricing power, given Louis Vuitton’s higher ASP?
19.
You mentioned the risks regarding inflation, and we’re also hearing about the threat of a recession. What strategies might Gucci and Louis Vuitton look to employ in the event of a recession to protect themselves? How have these companies previously navigated recessions, and what difference in approach have we seen from them?
20.
Could you compare Gucci and Louis Vuitton’s D2C strategies? Louis Vuitton focuses solely on the D2C channel, and we’ve heard from Gucci that it will be keeping its wholesale channel in the long term.
21.
Why do you think Gucci will continue to keep part of its wholesale channel, while Louis Vuitton is 100% D2C?
22.
Why do you think Louis Vuitton can have 100% D2C and no reliance on wholesale?
23.
Gucci has most recently noted a EUR 45,000 sales density per square metre. How do you think this compares to Louis Vuitton?
24.
Do you think Gucci can close the gap on Louis Vuitton’s sales density through improving product mix and price architecture?
25.
How do Gucci and Louis Vuitton’s online strategies differ in terms of dot-com and third party, given online is a key part of the channel mix?
26.
How does the product mix differ between Gucci and Louis Vuitton’s online channels in terms of product availability?
27.
A key difference between Gucci and Louis Vuitton is Gucci relies on third-party platforms such as Farfetch to meet its online customers, whereas Louis Vuitton uses D2C and thus avoids any third-party platforms. How sustainable do you think Louis Vuitton’s strategy is? Might we see a scenario where the brand has to partner with some of these larger online groups?
28.
What are the top three key drivers of gross margin difference between Louis Vuitton and Gucci? You’ve touched on profitability in terms of the product architecture.
29.
Could you outline the top three key drivers of difference between Louis Vuitton and Gucci’s EBIT margins, so through the cost structure?
