LVMH should repeat Olympic sponsorship as a luxury showcase: expert

“LVMH’s unprecedented sponsorship of the Olympics has taken the brand’s commitment to a completely different level,” Langer told Business Insider.

The Paris-based luxury giant also enjoyed the home-court advantage of the Olympics.

That gave LVMH “the opportunity to host its best customers and give them once-in-a-lifetime experiences and access to other brands that they wouldn’t be able to,” Langer said.

Guests at LVMH’s pre-Olympic party last month included Anna Wintour, LeBron James, Zendaya, Serena Williams and other sports and fashion celebrities.

LVMH did not respond to a request for comment.

A “culturally relevant” city.

LVMH was not alone in turning the Paris Games into a retail showcase. US mass-market brands such as Glossier, Skims and Lululemon have sought to capitalize on Paris’ cultural relevance and the return of a large audience after the pandemic, BI reported in July.

“Paris as a city is so culturally relevant,” Harry Poole, VP of marketing solutions for Excel Sports Management, told BI last month. “There’s no question the market made a lot of sense for it.”

But it wasn’t just about Paris or French brands. The Olympics also gave LVMH marketing leverage, literally putting the company’s brands on a podium.

Making big marketing investments is nothing new for LVMH. The luxury powerhouse spent €72bn on advertising and promotional spending from 2010 to 2023 – €22bn more than five of its competitors combined, Bloomberg reported in July.

“The focus is on the athletes and by default people will look at what they’re wearing,” Fflur Roberts, global head of luxury at Euromonitor International, told BI in July.

LVMH’s visibility at the Olympics could drive aspiring luxury buyers to the company’s brands, Milton Pedraza, CEO of The Luxury Institute, told CNBC.

The Olympics came right after LVMH income decreased by 1.3%, to 41.7 billion euros, in the first half of the year compared to last year. Luxury conglomerate’s disappointing sales dragged down by slowing luxury demand China, and even a slow market for Champagne.

looking ahead Langer, the Pepperdine professor, he does not see why LVMH should not continue its strategy for the Olympics. The next Winter Olympics are scheduled for the fashion capital of the world, Milan, in 2026, while Los Angeles will host the 2028 summer games.

“LVMH is a global company and the US is one of their main markets. So I could imagine that sponsoring the upcoming Olympics is a long-term commitment,” said Langer.