Looking at these second layer metrics, we can start to understand Louis Vuitton’s success. The first analysis is to consider the share of discount conversation relative to the whole brand. This metric is a good measurement tool for leading fashion luxury brands as a means to measure brand equity. Think of it this way—the more conversation about deals, sales, secondary markets, the less exclusivity for the brand. In this case, we can clearly see that Coach is dragging behind the competitive set, even though the positive sentiment is higher than others (likely driven by finding sales, lower prices—but at the cost of no longer being a luxury brand).

Starting on the left, we can see that Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Coach all have similar amounts of positive conversation (67–69% for each brand). However, looking at passionate positive conversation, Gucci is much further behind—11% vs. 17% for both Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

Another way to visualize this data is to combine volume, sentiment and passion in a single comparison—in NetBase we call this the Brand Passion Index. Using this chart, we can see that Gucci is driving the most conversation (largest bubble) but that Louis Vuitton is driving the most positive conversation—and, importantly for this industry, more passionately positive.

• Relative share of unwanted conversation including discounts, sales, offers, secondary markets, etc. that would signify erosion of brand equity.
• Analyze sentiment by type to understand share within the brand—particularly looking at passion as an indicator of brand success.