Ch. 8 - Segmenting and Targeting Markets

85mm Heel - For the middle target

The Louboutin brand is mainly catering to middle and higher class woman from the ages of 17 - 55. Although the brand entails products for men and children their primary focus is woman. And no wonder it is given that woman hold almost 2/3 of consumer wealth in the United States.  Louboutin has stated in many interviews that he caters to "Fashionistas" (fashion forward woman), but according to my marketing professor there is no such thing, and I'd like to agree. A 16 year old can be a fashionista and most probably cannot afford a $900 pair of Louboutin shoe.

45mm Heel = For their older market

They recently positioned themselves within the Men's Footwear industry and while they currently stock over 150 men shoes, they stock over 900 woman shoe designs. Clearly making woman their target market. You'd ask yourself how can the end bracket of their target market be woman of 55 years old when their shoes are so high and fancy. But lets not forget that woman over 50 control net worth of $19 Trillion and own more than 3/4 of the nations financial wealth, it'd be silly not

to cater to such a powerful market. This is were the brand developed their mid heel and flat shoe line. The mid heel line has shoes with both a 45mm heel and an 85mm heel compared to their original 125mm heel. If you ever shop for such a heel you will notice that the designs are more subtle and classic. With colors focusing on nudes, blacks, and other staple hues, this is because this shoes is catered to this powerful market, and older market set in time.  

Emma Thompson Age : 56 -yrs