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Transform stories from Cannes Lions: Levi's and Louis Vuitton

Cannes Lions is back with a bang and celebrating its 70th anniversary. Here’s a roundup of all the best brand design and strategy action from the first day of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2023, live at the Palais II.

There seemed to be no better place to kick off Transform’s visit to the always-excellent Cannes Lions than the Palais II. In a world of storytelling, gamification and building communities, ‘The product, the hero’ sought to demonstrate an alternative approach: how you can build a brand consistently by using your product.

The session focussed on legendary denim jeans brand Levi’s. Founded in California in 1853 by German-Jewish immigrant Levi Strauss, its iconic 501 jeans have been its flagship product for 150 years. “To endure that long, you need a strong brand,” noted Scott Bell, chief creative officer at global advertising agency Droga5.

He was joined by Levi’s SVP and chief marketing officer, Kenny Mitchell, and Levi Strauss & Co Archives’ historian and director, Tarcey Panek. In explaining why a strong brand – a brand which endures and makes you feel something – is worth having, Mitchell said, “Brands that tell emotional storytelling helps command a premium and differentiates you in the market.”

Historian Panek believes Levi Strauss understood and respected the power of product brand early on. This explains why the iconic ‘Two-Horse Emblem’ was established in 1892, meaning the product could be recognised as a genuine Levi’s pair of jeans.

How can brand strategists learn from Levi’s? Mitchell has four pieces of advice:

Stay true to the core product values. For Levi’s, this means embracing authenticity and quality.
Embrace the community that adopts your products (whether rockstars or everyday people).
Use products to tell culture-forward stories (connect with prevailing cultural themes).
Take risks with product front and centre (this also worked well with Apple).

Heed this advice and perhaps brand strategists can make their client’s products the hero for the next 100 years, just as Levi’s has succeeded in doing.

Next up, also in the Palais II, The Brandtech Group’s Mark D’Arcy caught up with Faye McLeod, visual image director at LVMH, to discuss her work, and just how Louis Vuitton is able to use brand to make a big impact on the global stage.

During her 14 years at the company, McLeod has been responsible for the creation of over 400 Louis Vuitton store displays. With some of them arguably making the grade as the most spectacular is branding history, Mcleod picked out a number of examples that were personally important to her and her team to discuss today.

Sun on Vendome

In 2017, McLeod and her team transformed the Louis Vuitton Maison Venedôme, the brand’s iconic central Paris store. Hoping to create something which felt joyful and generous, the team recognised how the building was influenced by King Louis XIV, known as the Sun King. Playing on that theme, a huge sun model with a six metre diameter was erected with scaffolding poles wrapped in gold tape. The Louis Vuitton store became part shop, part museum.

‘To be Instagramable was a natural layer to the work. You just have to give people the space to interact with it’

Louis200

To celebrate the 200th birthday of brand founder Louis Vuitton himself, McLeod hoped to humanise the man behind the iconic brand in this 2021 touring exhibit. The ‘200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries’ exhibition honoured the career of Louis Vuitton, who started his working life as a trunk maker at just 16 years old. The 200 trunks were custom-made and personalised by select, famous visionaries.

“The best way to come at this was by celebrating creativity in a way that was democratic.
I wanted to have fun and celebrate his birthday in a way that was full of heart.”

Chengdu Tiger Tail

To celebrate the New Lunar Year in China in 2022, McLeod saw the perfect chance to capitalise on the festivities. At its flagship Chengdu Maison, an enormous tiger tail was built throughout the store’s interior and exterior.