This case study is part of the Blueprints of Billionaires resource series where we cover in detail the stories of iconic brands, their ups and downs, marketing and sales strategies, and future plans. Each of these companies left an undeniable cultural and sociological mark thanks to ingenious marketing, sales and brand strategy.
My current pair of Levi’s have been with me for 8 years.
Damn, Viktor… I was expecting the intro to be more business-focused!
Yeah, well… I didn’t expect my denims to last so long but they did.
Two major career changes, two major relationship changes.
Thousands of minor changes include lost weight, gained weight, food stains, spilled alcohol. Clients lost, clients won, mistakes and missed opportunities.
I’ve worked wearing them, I’ve dined wearing them, I’ve slept in them. I’ve even hiked in them. I did everything possible for them.
Hot, cold, wet, dry.
They’re my second skin. My uniform.
It’s a part of the identity I had built when I started my business. Putting them on in the morning strengthens my sense of purpose and helps me power through the day.
My story is more or less an analogy of what Levi’s has gone through as a business.
The only difference is that there are no actionable insights from my story. Levi’s one, on the other hand, offers plenty.
So, let’s see what Levi’s story is all about…
Sincerely,
Viktor Ilijev, Levi’s unclaimed son
This might be the lesson learned from the 168-year-old company Levi Strauss & Co., and here’s the proof.
In the world of denim, Levi’s has an outstanding reputation for excellence and legacy. It is one of the most trusted global brands of jeans, and it is so popular that there is a great chance you might have purchased a pair of Levi’s jeans once or twice in your life.
Certain brands are so ubiquitous, monolithic and iconic that they overshadow any product there may be on the market. That’s when you hear “hot tub,” you think “Jacuzzi,” when you hear “tissue,” you think “Kleenex,” when you hear “soft drink,” and you think “Coca Cola.” And so is the case with Levi’s jeans.
So, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about jeans? And, your guess is probably correct! It’s Levi’s—the insanely famous American clothing brand whose denim jeans are worn by almost every person in the United States.
But Levi’s jeans were not always called “jeans.” Back in the 1960s, the word ‘jeans’ was used for the first time by the brand. Before then, these jeans were called “overalls,” but we’ll get to that later.
So let’s take a look at Levi’s, the work this legendary brand does and the impact it has.
Levi’s vision statement, “We are the embodiment of the energy and events of our times, inspiring people with a pioneering spirit,” portrays Levi’s Co’s developmental path as the company strengthens its position as the leader in the branded apparel industry in the world.
With more than 2800 company-operated stores, more than 14800 employees and $4.5 billion net revenues in 2020, there’s no doubt that Levi Strauss is one of the largest global names and a fashion industry leader, with remarkable importance around the world.
The Levi Strauss & Co brands are among the most celebrated ones in the fashion sector, recognized for their quality, originality and integrity.
Today, Levi’s is one of the most successful clothing brands around the world and is known for its timeless, yet stylish apparel. Since the creation of the blue jeans in 1873, Levi’s has been the leader in the denim industry, becoming the most recognized, accomplished and imitated clothing brand globally.
In addition, some of their clothes are periodically modified to slightly differ with certain features from the classic denim jeans, adapting the design to fit each seasonal fashion trend.
The Jeans 501®, as an example, was the first popular jeans model made for men. New versions of the model may differ from the original, but these designer denim’s high quality and timelessness will never fail to reflect “effortless” American style.
Whether it’s plain or plaid, cotton or corduroy, Levi’s never fails to deliver a wide assortment of designs and materials. Even recycled fabrics are used to emphasize the significance of sustainability.
Consequently, Levi’s reputation revolves around timeless design and quality of the clothing, which means that the pieces will also last for many years to come. This notion is repeated in one of the brand’s slogans.
Levi Strauss & Co is a family of renowned brands recognized for their high-quality products.
Firstly introduced in 1986 by Levi Strauss & Co, this American classic was at the heart of the casual movement, providing men with more comfy and more universal clothes for every occasion.
Dockers is an American clothing brand most recognized for its khakis, offering a wide assortment of products, but it also features numerous styles within each category. As an example, there are several different styles of khakis available from Dockers.
Today, Dockers remains a worldwide choice and features a full range of fits and styles, with thoughtful designs and advanced innovations. It’s targeting young professionals and casual dressers with khakis, chinos and jeans.
In 2010, Levi Strauss launched dENiZEN in China, quickly expanding into India, Korea, Pakistan, and Singapore. The brand was aimed at young adults who want to be fashionable at affordable prices. With flexible fabrics, outstanding finishes and a broad range of fits for every taste, DENIZEN brings bold and positive energy.
The company formed a team of 10 brand ambassadors to promote and advertise the brand as a part of the launch known as the dENiZEN 10. The group included innovative young adults from East and South Asia, writers, artists, travelers, and musicians.
In addition, the group highlighted the social positioning of the brand, connecting to the idea of being an active person.
Levi’s brand has existed since 1873 with the invention of the blue jeans. However, the Levi Strauss Signature line is a newer creation that was first introduced in 2003 and has undergone massive growth since the initial product launch.
The stores that sell the Signature line vary from the regular Levi’s brand stores, typically high-end department stores and stand-alone stores located all around the world.
On August 5, 2021, Levi Strauss & Co announced the acquisition of the brand named Beyond Yoga, entering the activewear market. This brand was founded in 2005 in Los Angeles, California. It sells activewear for women and men in a range of different sizes, honoring and celebrating everybody from XXS-4X.
It offers various types of clothing such as dresses, leggings and jackets. In addition, the brand produces apparel that fosters wellbeing in luxuriously soft, no-hassle care fabrics for styles that keep up with the most challenging workouts and beyond.
Beyond Yoga is a female-founded, female-run and over 85% female-led company that focuses on a positive body image and celebrates diversity. The brand will operate as a standalone division, and it’s expected to contribute more than $100m to the company’s net revenue in 2022.
Levi Strauss, whose clothing became the epitome of America, was born in 1829 in Buttenheim, Bavaria. In 1853, after the news of the California Gold Rush reached the East, Levi made his way to San Francisco, where he established a wholesale dry goods company and served as the West Coast representative of the family’s business.
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis invented an iconic item of clothing, blue jeans. They had been trying to improve the durability of denim workwear. And finally, in the year 1873, they patented their idea for extra-strength work pants with copper rivets located at the stress points.
Their blue jeans have become an iconic symbol in American culture and represent youth, rebellion and nonconformity. This was one of the greatest achievements in Levi’s history.
After Strauss died in 1902, the company’s leadership was passed to his nephews and, after 1918, to the Haas family. However, the company’s most remarkable growth happened after 1946 when it was decided to abandon wholesaling and concentrate on manufacturing clothing under Levi’s label.
By the 1960s, the brand had become popular worldwide. And when the company went public in 1971, it was already operating in 50 countries.
In 1985 the Haas family and other Levi Strauss descendants staged a leveraged buyout that returned to private ownership. And in 1986, the new brand Dockers was introduced in the United States.
During the 1980s, Levi Strauss closed nearly 60 of its U.S. manufacturing plants and began shifting production overseas because of increasing competition and financial difficulties.
A 1990 lawsuit against the company claimed that the plant in San Antonio was closed and was relocated to Costa Rica to avoid paying pension, disability and other benefits to its workers. The case was eventually dismissed.
In 1996 Levi’s Vintage Clothing, a line of replicas of clothing items from the Levi Strauss Archives, was introduced worldwide. The company later launched the Signature by Levi Strauss & Co brand, a more affordable line of jeans and casual wear.
After that, in 2007, the company partnered with the French company ModeLabs Group to develop a series of Levi’s-branded mobile telephones.
Despite all these actions, sales stagnated, and in 2011, Chip Bergh was hired as the new CEO. After turning the company around, he got the credit for all the success, as he created changes and introduced new strategies. Then, in March 2019, Levi Strauss went public again, and its IPO raised more than $620 million.
May 20, 1873 marked the beginning of the iconic blue jeans. On the same day, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received patent #139.121 for the “Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings.” Or, in other words, for the process of putting rivets on men’s pants for the very first time.
Soon, the first riveted clothes were produced and sold. The copper rivets used to reinforce the strength of the materials were appreciated by miners and other laborers, who complained about frequent pocket rips.
Strauss and Davis initially made jeans in two types of fabric, brown duck and blue denim. Still, the creation of the denim 501 styles in 1890 enabled the latter fabric to take off, and, from that point forward, denim clothes, which were the traditional material for men’s workwear, were widely used.
Within a very short time, the jeans were a huge success. Although, they were called “waist overalls” or “overalls” until 1960, when the name “jeans” was adopted.
As mentioned earlier, in 1873, Jacob Davis and the company founder Levi Strauss created the first blue jeans using their patented process of putting rivets on clothes. The result was high-quality jeans that could stand up to the hard work thrown at them by many hard-working people at the time.
Levi knew the patent would expire in 1890, so he needed to make sure consumers understood how excellent and high-quality the jeans were. But how can you tell a story in a way that consumers could quickly comprehend and not overlook?
One of the answers he came up with was the image of two horses, each one pulling in the opposite direction while holding on the same pair of jeans, hopelessly trying to rip them apart.
However, that wasn’t the only reason they used the Two Horse logo. Understanding that not all of their clients spoke English, and not everyone in the remote West was literate, he knew that with a memorable image to guide them, the early customers would walk into their local store asking for “those pants with the two horses” and get a pair of Levi’s jeans.
The product had the name “The Two Horse Brand” until 1928, when it adopted the Levi’s trademark.
Levi’s made a historic contribution to the journey of gender equality when they introduced the world’s first line of jeans for women back in 1934.
The vision behind Lady Levi’s emerged out of necessity, but it was revolutionary, when you consider that women’s pants were not accepted until several decades later.
Known as Lot 701, Lady Levi’s sent a powerful message early on that Levi Strauss & Co supported women and their ability to do “men’s work.”
Back in the 1930s, women did not wear denim in public. Jeans were for men, especially laborers, because the class and cultural distinctions were highly rigid at the time. Not only this, Lady Levi’s jeans featured a button fly.
This was a surprisingly rebellious move back when even pants with a front zipper were already considered daring… But to wear button-fly pants was a bold move that broke away from the norm.
As it’s famously known, the classic Red Tab is undoubtedly an enduring symbol of Levi’s®. Not many would have guessed that a small piece of fabric could become a super-powerful marker of this global brand, right?
Levi Strauss & Co. protected the exclusive use of the Tab trademark for more than 80 years, earning it the fame it has today.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Levi’s introduced several new color Tabs for different types of Levi’s clothing, but affixing a red Tab on the 501 jeans never changed.
By the 1960s, Levi’s products were so popular that they led to a global expansion of the company by establishing offices and facilities in Europe and Asia. As a result, the international division of Levi’s was formed in 1965.
During that same decade, you could purchase the products in stores worldwide, including in a shop in Tokyo.
Levi’s is one of the oldest brands in the United States with a rich history in innovation. For many years, Levi’s has been at the forefront of textile technology, developing denim fabric that withstands rough conditions and is as if it’s never been worn, even after many years.
Because of all this, is the Eureka Lab, a facility dedicated to finding solutions for future generations and continuing this legacy of innovation.
Established in 2013 in San Francisco, this laboratory specializes in designing, researching and creating prototypes with advanced technologies, just like Levi’s Commuter, designed with Google’s ATAP’s Project Jacquard technology.
One of the most incredible advancements in wearable technology comes in a Levi’s Commuter Trucker jacket designed with Google ATAP’s Project Jacquard technology.
With just a simple touch of a jacket sleeve, cyclists can wirelessly access their phone or apps to change music volume, silence a call or get an ETA on their destinations.
This jacket results from a year-long effort between the Levi’s Innovation team and Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group. The discreetly placed Jacquard technology is incorporated into the jacket, allowing for easy motions like tapping or pinching on a sleeve to activate functionality.
And of course, it can be washed, just like any other jacket.
This perfect collaboration showcases the knowledge and know-how of Google ATAP’s Jacquard team and the performance strength of the Levi’s Commuter line, which is created to perform as excellent as it looks.
Fashion evolves, tastes change, trends die. Becoming relevant is hard, but staying relevant over a long period is next to impossible. And, here’s Levi’s, founded when America only had 31 states, now operating better than ever, demonstrating a great example of ignoring this unwritten rule.
Levi’s has been operating and been in business longer than Coca-Cola, Chevrolet and Burger King, and now, it is more popular and profitable than they ever imagined. Levi’s has been a leader in this realm for the last 150 years, and their denim has evolved to be the de facto uniform for nearly every relevant, influential and disrupting youthful social group.
The history of Levi’s rise is the story of youth culture itself, including rock & roll music, beat poetry, skateboarding, and counter-culture. As a result of the enduring reputation of Levi’s among practically every dominant subculture, it has earned what no quantity of money can buy, and that’s authenticity.
It’s essential for every successful company to make a plan for generating profits. First, they create a model for identifying products or services they want to sell, the market they want to target, and finally, take the anticipated expenses into account. All these steps are known as a business model.
A business model helps target the clientele, then find marketing strategies and projections of revenues and expenses.
Understanding the business model helps the investors have a better sense of financial data and understand the products, business strategies and prospects. At Levi’s, they follow a few business model patterns, and they are:
In addition, the company has to meet several other qualifications to be considered franchising partners.
For example, Levi’s requires an initial franchise, advertising and royalty fees when running the store.
Mass customization is the process of creating a standard product and service with personalization for each customer’s needs. As a result, the cost of a custom-made unit remains low or equal to the mass production price. Levi’s engaged in two types of mass customization of their denim jeans.
The first initiative was aimed at in-store buyers who could get a customized version of jeans fitting an individual’s proportions using digital technology. The second type allowed clients online to determine their “Curve ID,” representing one of several body types, to find the ideal jeans fit instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.
A shop-in-shop is, in a sense, a retail-store-within-a-retail-store, but as the name implies, it’s not just the same old store, but a new, smaller version of it. For a brand owning a large store, a shop-in-shop partner can help to cover part of the expenses by paying rent for the space they occupy in the store.
It’s an excellent way for retailers to keep their store feeling fresh and always have something new to offer customers without coming up with new ideas or assortments themselves. It can also help large retailers attract a broader customer base. In large department stores, Levi’s clothing products are presented in a shop-in-shop.
It is evident that having a business model is crucial for the success of any company. This is the concept of the business model that Levi’s employs and how it’s the main reason behind the great success of this brand.
More specifically, it discusses how the primary goal is to find a suitable business model, keeping in mind their characteristic products.
When it comes to a business strategy, the saying “the best is often the enemy of the good” is thrown around. What this means is that in order to make your business outstanding, you have to go beyond what people expect. However, you can’t do that unless you start by doing what they expect in the first place.
Let’s take a look at some of Levi’s strategies responsible for this brand’s tremendous success story.
The company’s success is dependent on its brand strategy. It is the company’s identity and, in many cases, its competitive advantage. Brands can be built on a combination of product features, marketing plans and market presence. Additionally, the brand’s logo, mission statement and catchphrase are typically part of a successful brand strategy.
Levi Strauss & Company is a clothing company with two distinct business areas: wholesale and retail. Levi’s brand strategy consists of four main points:
Levi’s strategic plan is to be a relentless leader of innovation in the industry, continuously providing a fashion-forward product with the latest technology to their customers. Their reputation as the world’s leading jeans brand is based on their connoisseurship and innovative thinking.
Product positioning is how a product is described to the potential consumer. It helps clients realize how the product would fit into their life or lifestyle and why it’s better than alternative ones. The goal is to clarify who your audience is, what they need and how your product can uniquely help.
Levi Strauss & Co began manufacturing denim in 1853, and they sold their products to the California mining industry. In 1870, Levi’s began advertising themselves as an all-American product, and in 1873, they introduced branded denim overalls. As time went on, Levi’s became a symbol of America and a staple in wardrobes everywhere.
Levi’s product positioning strategy has been a massive success for the company, as it is currently one of the most influential brands in the clothing industry, and its efforts go towards keeping this place in a competitive market. They have started investing heavily in advertising campaigns to make their brand stronger.
The company also uses celebrities such as Beyoncé and Marshawn Lynch to help spread the news about their newest products.
This brand has been known to use social media marketing channels by maintaining a solid presence on various platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to reach the target market. The company also regularly interacts with buyers through customer service feedback campaigns and provides gift cards or discount coupons as a reward for their clients.
A distribution strategy is a way to plan how a company distributes its products on the market. There are many different ways of doing this, such as wholesales, direct sales and catalog sales.
Levi’s is entirely distinguished into three primary geographical areas: Levi’s Europe, Levi’s America and Levi’s Asia Pacific. The Asia Pacific region includes the Middle East countries like Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.
The official headquarters of Levi’s is based in San Francisco, United States. Levi’s distribution strategies are remarkable. It smoothly manages the entire supply chain and delivers through distribution channels, franchise models and their qualified and competent team.
Pricing strategy is an essential element of marketing strategy that is used to set the price for a product or service. The prices are determined through market research, pricing strategy analysis, the production costs, the competitors’ prices and the quality of products, demand and supply and negotiating skills.
Levi’s is a well-established brand whose pricing for a pair of denim jeans is measured by tons of research and factors behind it. These factors include the demand for the product, the cost of production, the product’s uniqueness and convenient characteristics, and the product’s affordability based on the target audience.
Levi’s has a policy of maintaining standard pricing all over the world. As a result, their pricing is mid-ranged, making their products affordable to middle-class and upper-middle-class sections. In addition, the brand follows a price discrimination policy in some countries, meaning they offer the same product for different prices.
There is one specific strategy they employ, and this is the good-better-best pricing strategy.
Whether you’ve noticed it or not, a good-better-best pricing strategy is everywhere if you look around. Also known as “tiered pricing,” the good-better-best pricing strategy typically presents customers with three choices for a product or a service at a gradually increasing price: the “good” option, the “better option” and the “best” option.
The success of thoughtfully executing the good-better-best pricing strategy has been proven beyond debate. And here are some examples besides Levi’s products to back up this fact.
Any time you go to a movie theater, and you can choose between a small, medium and large popcorn or drink, that’s good-better-best pricing.
Likewise, whenever you decide to get on a plane and enjoy your long-deserved vacation, there again are the three choices in front of you, the economy class as the “good” option, the business class as the “better,” and “1st class” as the best. If you decide to get a new VPN service provider, there are, again, three pricing options in front of you.
It’s the same strategy that Levi’s is employing. The good product is the pair of jeans that goes for about $60, the better product is anywhere between $60 and $90, and the best product is upward of that.
Implementing a “Good-Better-Best” strategy has three main benefits:
A good-better-best price strategy is all about the product’s price and not about its value. Price segmentation is a manufacturer’s preposition while the customers decide the value of the given product.
Price and value are very different things. For example, Porsche buyers believe that they purchased a good value for their needs. Likewise, Peugeot buyers also feel that they bought a good value for their specific needs. In a particular situation, some of us feel that a glass of Pinot Blanc is the best value, while for others, on a different occasion, a glass of Dom Perignon is the best value.
Price segmentation is a risky strategy, although easy to manage and interpret. Sometimes, the price points are assigned to mid-market, upmarket and premium. The automotive industry is an excellent example of this, providing entry-level, mid-range, mid-luxury, luxury, and premium models.
The best method of creating pricing strategies focuses on the customer’s perceived value, and all of us are value-conscious, which still holds true for those who pay super-premium prices. People value things differently depending on their needs.
Unfortunately, price-point strategy fails to consider our human tendency to believe we have purchased the best-value product from our specific set of necessities in a particular circumstance within the set of brands we can afford.
Marketing strategy is the direction that a company takes when trying to sell the product or service to their target audience. This involves decisions on how they will position themselves in the marketplace to gain more traction in their industry.
Levi’s is one of the biggest and most successful brands in the fashion industry, having headquarters and offices in all continents and selling their most significant product—their jeans—worldwide. It’s well known that Levi’s has been very successful in producing, studying people’s needs and requirements, distributing and promoting their products in the very competitive fashion sector, especially in the jeans market, for a long time.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, the denim jeans market grew dramatically during the heady days of rock & roll. Initially driven by the “casualization” of the young, then by the dawning of permissiveness, the rapid expansion of student numbers across the globe, and the advent of the hippie, denim became synonymous with youth, rebellion and a lifestyle in general.
Jeans advertising, taking the lead from Levi’s seminal commercials of the early and mid-1970s, preached—lifestyle. Youthfulness and rebellion conjured up images of an America that young people aspired to, which confirmed the previously humble jean as a major American icon.
Levi’s uses various channels for advertising its products. For example, the company uses fashion magazines, television commercials, banners, social media, and billboards to promote its clothing products. In addition, the company runs innovative and captivating advertisements that attract customer attention.
Levi regularly organizes events aimed at strengthening relations with clients. For example, personal selling entails Levi’s representatives meeting the customers, where they get a chance to understand their wishes and preferences. Another example is when the sales stores organize fashion-oriented events in order to increase customer trust and loyalty.
Technology and trends change quickly each day, which means even a company with this many years of experience in the industry can’t rely solely on laurels and strengths. Being agile, adapting to change and providing clients what they want are essential pieces of the puzzle.
One of Levi’s slogans, “Better clothes. Better choices. Better planet.” is the evidence of the environmental concern of the brand. Through modeling, they use different ethnicities, ages, sizes, and body shapes to consider a wide range of design preferences, thus having a large customer target.
The brand’s social media demonstrate the facts mentioned above and are characterized by very different eye-catching colors. In addition, their profiles promote various campaigns and new products, and they clarify their strong values, attracting a wide range of potential customers and ensuring that they feel represented.
Not only are they active online, but they use their presence to make a positive impact worldwide.
They have a website available in more than 100 countries, as well as numerous Levi outlet online stores, selling their clothing which is relevant to obtaining a solid online presence and plays a big part in raising sales.
Moreover, the brand has various Instagram accounts, and the main international one has over 7.4 million followers. Additionally, their Facebook account has more than 26 million likes, and their Twitter account has 745.7K followers. Furthermore, the brand promotes campaigns and shares posts of support, such as influencer advice to their “younger selves”, attracting the younger individuals with their words and ensuring new customers in the future.
Levi’s is a brand with a great past that has successfully adapted to society’s new trends, including increased technology use. By creating multiple websites and using social media, they have promoted campaigns and showed their values in various ways.
The production strategy aims to produce products in the most efficient way possible, at the same time maintaining the product’s high quality, while a manufacturing strategy is a term used to describe a company’s long-term vision for the production.
Production strategy requires an understanding of all aspects of production, from data collection to work management. It also requires collaborating with team members to achieve efficiency in production processes. The primary focus of a production management strategy is to satisfy customer demand properly, and it requires using a set of production techniques to achieve this goal.
With the rise of technology comes the ability to innovate, improve and create a wide range of new production methods and develop a much better production and manufacturing strategy. And, here’s when Levi’s shows creativity and inventiveness once again, by opening the Eureka innovation lab and introducing Project F.L.X.
A pair of jeans is simply just a few denim parts sewed together, correct? Well, not exactly. Maybe some are made this way, but Levi’s has agonized over making new designs and learning from past ones for decades. Meanwhile, they invest in various new ways to make the prototyping process less complicated and time-consuming.
The company’s Eureka Lab, which has been around for a few years, is coming up with new ideas. This innovation lab is where Levi’s looks at their previous jeans designs, invents future ones and puts it all together.
Using a new technology called F.L.X. ( (future-led execution) which combines technologies like digital imaging and laser print, the brand can create new prototypes or replicate past ones on a screen and then send them to a device that prints the final product.
In addition, by replacing manual techniques and automating the jeans finishing process, Project F.L.X. radically decreases production time and creates a way to eliminate thousands of chemical formulations from jeans finishing.
In the past, the procedure of finishing a pair of jeans took hours of hard manual work, as an individual would have to physically and precisely rip or thin out pieces of the fabric to create the previously intended effect.
At Eureka, Levi’s has automated this process, allowing the brand to test even more designs while paving the way for more product personalization.
Levi Strauss & Co received the first patent for the process of riveting blue jeans on May 20, 1873, which led to their being the only company permitted to make riveted men’s work pants.
But you don’t get to keep an invention like this to yourself for more than 17 years, so they understood that in 1890, the patent would ultimately become available for the public, and all sorts of unique riveted clothes would soon flood the marketplace.
So, beginning in the 1880s, Levi Strauss started to create advertising to ensure consumers knew that their company was the first ever to manufacture high-quality men’s riveted pants.
One of the company’s first things was creating the Two Horse design and registering it as a trademark, after which it was stamped onto the leather patch that had been a part of the jeans since 1873 and visually represented how strong the pants were.
It probably had another purpose: not everyone spoke English as their native language, and not everyone could read and write back then. So giving customers a symbol to associate with the product was one of the many brilliant ideas.
Salespeople traveling the West to meet with their retail clients always packed their bags with colorful flyers illustrating their pants’ level of quality. They also carried price lists with drawings of the products available for sale, so retailers could order the products they wanted.
This became more crucial as the 19th century drew to a close, and more and more riveted pants and clothing items were added to their line and became popular. By the end of this century, price lists evolved into beautifully organized catalogs, which also carried images of the vast array of apparel the company had still been selling.
Levi Strauss & Co became more innovative as it entered the 20th century, and the company began painting the walls and sides of buildings with signs and advertising slogans. When silent movies came along, the brand created slides about local businesses and popular products to run as advertisements between movie reels.
In the 1930s, billboards came in, as the company began to use the cowboy as the symbol for the jeans and the brand. And around that same time, counter cards were created as a fun, 3-dimensional piece for store owners to place on the counters where Levi’s products were sold.
Newspaper and magazine promotions followed, especially ones featuring farmers and working men. The company had a lot of fun coming up with slogans to represent their products.
After World War II, the company’s sales region stretched out beyond the West to all American states, placing ads in magazines designed to reach new clients. But what changed the landscape was television, when the company released their first TV commercial around 1966.
The brand knew how important the music was to this new generation of youngsters and, in 1967, took a bold step of hiring The Jefferson Airplane to record radio commercials for the brand. People took the vinyl records to the radio stations in their region, where they were played to enthusiastic new audiences.
In the 1960s, the brand began expanding internationally, which demanded the creation of advertising for American and non-American markets. But one thing was popular no matter where Levi’s products were sold, and that was the poster. So, starting in the 1960s, artists from around the globe began creating images for the company, and they still do.
Today, Levi’s can advertise their products and brand all around the world at the speed of sound, but the goal is the same. Informing consumers, telling the company’s story and stating their role as the inventor of the blue jean.
Now, let’s take a look at some of Levi’s most successful and famous campaigns throughout the years:
The Laundrette commercial was created by John Hegarty, the co-founder of the advertising agency named BBH 1982.
The agency was eager to create scenes with integrated marketing that combined messages with the music, model and mood shown in the ad. John Hegarty described the ad as a “piece of magic.”
Levi’s stated that “the plan was for Nick’s handsome looks and athletic build to inspire Nick want-to-be fans to dress the same.”
The plan was indeed successful, as according to some estimates, sales skyrocketed after the advert by a massive 800%.
“Live Unbuttoned”’ campaign encapsulates the metaphoric nature behind the world’s most beloved, flawless, timeless, and outstanding straight-leg, button-fly jeans. It’s self-expressive, free-spirited and encourages customers to embrace the “Live Unbuttoned” attitude.
The Live Unbuttoned campaign focuses on the definitive spirit behind Levi’s 501 jeans, celebrating the moment when one “unbuttons” oneself and breaks free of convention and inhibitions. The unbuttoning of Levi jeans is the symbolic act of personal expression and revelation, as displayed in the campaign.
Launched by the Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency, the Levi’s Go Forth campaign is their first global initiative with a life-affirming message for the customers.
The motivational campaign made an impression on its customers with catchphrases such as “Men in suits did not build this country” or “All I need is all I got.” Eventually, it proved to be one of the brand’s most memorable campaigns today.
When Levi’s launched the global brand campaign in 2014, “Live in Levi’s,” it was inspired by real-life stories from buyers and the things they experience in their Levi’s, from going on first dates to taking road trips.
“Live in Levi’s” was much more than a campaign. It was a promising new approach that reinvigorated Levi’s brand. The energy, storytelling and iconic jeanswear became the focus and was something that reinforced what long-time Levi’s supporters valued about the brand and helped to attract new fans around the world.
The then-new campaign replaced the “Go forth” message that successfully ran for five years.
Levi’s has enlisted an outstanding lineup of talent for this global campaign, which urges people to “Buy Better, Wear Longer” and aims to position the brand as a sustainable and fashionable choice for eco-conscious customers.
“Buy Better, Wear Longer” also encapsulates Levi’s continued efforts to drive more sustainable production practices. This includes driving ambitious climate and water-saving movements, investing in materials and technologies such as organic cotton and scaling Water<Less manufacturing.
These innovations have also been open-sourced to encourage the fashion industry to adopt these water-saving practices.
At its core, longevity is sustainability. It’s a spirit Levi’s has reinforced for over a century and an invitation to consumers to wear the products they already love, but longer.
Levi’s Jeans have been a staple in the American Wardrobe for generations. The brand has grown from one person to an international brand by adapting to the customers’ needs and desires.
For over 160 years, Levi Strauss & Co has been the go-to name in casual clothing for an entire generation. Founded in 1853, it is one of the oldest companies in the United States and has been a part of American history ever since.
Due to the company’s longevity, competition from other brands such as Calvin Klein or Tommy Hilfiger has emerged over the years, pushing Levi’s to develop innovative and creative ways to stay on top of their competitors.
Let’s take a look at some of the most prominent competitors Levi’s has ever stamped on and see how they’ve found success in this competitive industry sector.
Calvin Klein began his business career in fashion in 1968 at just 26 years of age. The new, young designer accomplished great success and was even featured on Vogue—one of his great early successes—in 1969, just a year after he founded this renowned brand. He has been considered one of the most influential designers since the 1980s.
Classic cuts and tailoring characterize his early designs, highlighting clean and simple lines to create a sensual silhouette. In contrast to some of the decadent trends and collections of the 1970s and 1980s, Calvin Klein’s earlier collections demonstrate the struggle and pleasure of restraint and simplicity in clothing.
Levi’s and Calvin Klein are two of the most well-known names in the clothing industry. They both have a long history in this business, and they offer high-quality, fashionable clothes, but their styles oppose one another. Calvin Klein is known for its sexy, flashy style, whereas Levi’s is known for a classic, rugged style. Both brands have been around for decades, and each has changed the fashion industry in many ways.
The jeans industry has changed over the years. What was once an industry dominated by blue jeans, now has a variety of new styles to offer.
Tommy Hilfiger is an American corporation that mainly focuses on clothing and manufactures premium apparel, footwear, fragrances, and accessories for men and women. The company was founded in 1985 by designer Tommy Hilfiger himself, after almost 15 years of being in the fashion industry.
This American brand has over 2000 retail stores in more than 100 countries and has more than 16,000 associates. The fashion industry is often thought of as a bit controversial, but its success and influence are undeniable. Today, the U.S. apparel industry is a $12 billion business, and by 2025, the global clothing market is projected to grow to 2.25 trillion dollars.
This market is so large that it is often considered as one of the largest in the world.
Tommy Hilfiger has had great designs and massive success, however, contrary to most other luxury brands, it doesn’t fare as well. On the other hand, Levi’s may not have the boldest or stylistic designs, but their reputation for quality doesn’t lie.
It is definitely seen as a remarkable brand despite not earning as much revenue as Tommy Hilfiger.
Throughout the years, the definition of “jeans” has changed. As a result, companies like Levi’s and Diesel have shown their innovative work in the denim industry, making it even more difficult to decide which pair to buy.
Diesel, portrayed as one of the more exotic companies, is a private Italian retail clothing company founded in 1978 by Renzo Rosso. His father loaned him money to buy 40% of the shares of the firm he was currently working for.
This Italian company sells various things—footwear, accessories, men’s and women’s apparel, and most importantly, denim.
Diesel currently employs only 5,000 employees in over 80 countries worldwide and operates more than 400 company-owned stores.
Diesel’s apparel is full of millennial-inspired designs. As a result, their clothes can be flashy or eye-catching, making them stand out. On the other hand, Levi’s has always focused on keeping the classic look of their jeans, yet never sacrificing quality and durability.
One of Levi’s top competitors, Wrangler, is an American company making jeans and other apparel, particularly workwear. The company was formed in 1904, with headquarters in North Carolina, United States.
Wrangler produces excellent comfort and fashionable clothes at a very affordable rate. Their clothes are well-known for their lasting quality and are designed to fit the requirements of people wearing them. In addition, the company has created a platform for innovation and had a great idea to develop some of the best jeans and jackets on the market.
As more and more people are buying jeans every year, Wrangler is committed to improving the functionality of jeans and bringing out a positive difference in people’s lives. The company has a wide distribution channel that sells jeans to mass merchandisers like Target and Walmart.
Wrangler is highly recognized and celebrated for their jeans and other clothing products, which is the main reason why it is one of the top Levi’s competitors. Wrangler’s denim has a rougher texture and feels like a thicker thread than the Levi’s, which is why they are cheaper, costing approximately half as much.
The denim industry plays a significant part in the global textile and clothing trade and has been so since the late 1800s. Modeled after Levi Strauss’ original blue jeans, this mass production of denim jeans has led to an ever-changing market.
The brand name “Replay” is closely linked to the company’s mission and the man behind their great success, Claudio Buziol. It all started in 1978 during the World Cup in Argentina, where Buziol read the word “Replay” and decided that it would be an ideal concept or a name for a clothing brand with a mission to promote vintage clothing in a modern way.
Their mission has always been to excel in an innovative style, distinctive Italian design and superior products. The brand can be found in all European markets, the Middle East, Asia, America, and Africa, with products sold in over 50 countries. There are 120 Replay single-brand stores, while there are around 3000 multi-brand points of sales.
To this day, Replay is the ideal brand for customers looking for high-quality, affordable, authentic products. Replay’s dedication to research into the finest materials, fabrics and production has allowed the company to grow and make a significant impact in today’s competitive fashion market.
This Italian denim and casual-wear brand brings its authentic and contemporary style worldwide.
Environmental sustainability is a topic that is growing in importance as the public becomes more and more educated about the environment and its impacts on society. There are numerous ways to make sustainable decisions, such as purchasing plastic-free products, recycling, riding bikes instead of driving, avoiding fast fashion products, eating less meat and dairy products, etc.
In the new global warming predictions, scientists expect a very dangerous 2.7 degrees Celsius warming by 2100, meaning unprecedented fires, storms, droughts, floods and heat, and profound land and aquatic ecosystem change.
Simply put, sustainability is about making our planet more sustainable for future generations by doing things like reducing waste and using renewable energy.
For example, do you know that one person by just going vegan can save approximately 829.000 liters of water a year, or that in the United States alone, replacing outdoor lighting with LED lighting can save $6 billion annually and reduce carbon emissions by the equivalent of taking 8.5 million cars off the roads for a whole year?
If we all work together, we can help protect our planet and keep it a habitable place for many years to come!
For the past few years, sustainability has been a buzzword for environmental issues. However, companies can no longer afford to ignore the growing focus on environmental sustainability. It may cost them everything they achieved in the past if they do. So sustainability is not just a buzzword—it’s a necessity.
The clothing industry is infamous for its wasteful use of water, energy and other resources, and it’s the record on recycling that matches the reputation. In the US, 85% of discarded materials end up in landfills or incinerated.
Still, Levi’s, one of the world’s most recognizable fashion brands, concentrates on lowering its environmental footprint with several innovative initiatives.
In addition to switching to more sustainably produced cotton, the company is experimenting with several more eco-friendly fabrics, such as cottonized hemp. Additionally, Levi’s Water<Less program is estimated to have saved more than 4.2 billion liters of water since its beginning in 2011, and recycled more than 9.6 billion liters.
Levi’s has introduced Tailor Shops to numerous stores where buyers can take their jeans to be customized or restored. It’s calculated that if we wear our clothes twice as long, we’ll lower our negative environmental impact by 44%, so teaching clients to fix or repair what they already own rather than discarding and buying new will have a considerable effect on the environment.
As the textile production alone is estimated to release 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas into the atmosphere yearly, Levi’s sustainability goals are very impressive, and they include a commitment to make a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2025.
As a big part of sustainability, Levi’s animal welfare and use of animal products are labeled “Not Good Enough.” For example, it does not use fur, angora, or other exotic animal skin but still uses leather, down feathers and wool. Levi’s current Animal Welfare Policy insists that the supply chains for the sourcing of all animal products must be traceable where practicable to ensure “humane” practices.
Purchasing leather products directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses because the skin is the most economically important co-product of the meat industry. Leather is also one of the environment’s biggest enemies, as it shares accountability for all the environmental destruction caused by this industry and the pollution caused by the toxins used in the tanning process of the leather.
Although leather making has a 7000-year old tradition, in its current form, it is an unsustainable practice that plays a significant role in turning the fashion industry into a polluting mess with little to no transparency.
In conclusion, Levi’s is doing a great job taking many new and creative initiatives to reduce the environmental footprint (see more in Levi’s sustainability report). However, there’s still much more that can be done.
When times are tough for an established company, it can be hard to imagine a way out without help, offering a new point of view. When a brand, built on persistence and a perpetually winning proposition, is stuck in the past with outdated strategies and an overly homogenous environment, certain specific steps must be taken to create a new identity and attract new customers.
This part of Levi’s study discusses how an existing business with a long successful history overcomes a challenging economic environment.
Consistent and predictable wins can often shift innovation and creativity into the rearview, and generating large profits can replace the ambition that drove the success and achievements in the beginning.
Levi Strauss & Co is one of the most recognizable brands in the clothing industry and has one of the world’s best reputations. Though this is undoubtedly an enviable position, it does not come without challenges.
Approaching 2011, they were heavily leveraged and encountered unprecedented competition, eroding market share. Struggling to combine the fundamental values of their prosperous past with the invention and flexibility that the future demands, Chip Bergh was brought in to help stabilize this brand’s economic situation and set them back to their once-held position as an industry leader.
One of the biggest challenges that he had faced as the company’s new CEO was setting a direction for the brand that focused on delivering consistent and reliable profitable growth, which is what great companies do. They figure out how to grow year in and year out.
At the same time, he had to strengthen the company’s financial situation. In 2011, the brand had roughly $1.9 billion in gross debt and generated $4.5 billion in sales. So, creating a strategy that would begin to deliver strong financial results and reviewing Levi’s value chain analysis was a top priority for him, and about six months after his arrival, they rolled out the new plan.
It had four key elements, each of them memorable and easy to comprehend:
After that, they concluded that their business had a high market share but relatively low growth.
The brand also had very low sales in developing markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, which they saw as a great opportunity at the time.
Their brand wasn’t always showcased in various department stores, but in their retail stores, where they controlled the customer’s experience and saw much higher margins on sales.
All this led them to conclude that they should focus on the growth in sales in more department stores, as well as their websites, predicting that, over time, more and more customers will choose the option to shop online.
As we can see now, the new CEO was correct. More and more online shops open every day, and the Covid-19 pandemic just accelerated the method.
One of the first steps they took was relocating the Eureka Innovation Lab. The initial location of the lab was in Corlu, Turkey, colocated in one of the factories. To get to Turkey from San Francisco takes more than 12 hours, so, people would travel for a week, once or twice in a year, and there were fortunes spent on shipping samples back and forth.
This was when they raised the question: “How could an apparel company put such a low priority on innovation?” and the following action was clear—opening a new facility four blocks from the company’s headquarters.
Since the lab opened in 2013, their most significant success has been the updated women’s denim line, launched two years later. Their women’s line business had been in decline, and the reason was partly because of the rise of athleisure wear.
Instead of jeans, women were choosing athleisure because it’s more comfortable. So the designers began creating denim with new technologies, such as four-way stretch; fabric that recovers quickly. Consumers loved the stretch, the comfortable and soft material, and the way they looked in the new designs.
Since the relaunch of the women’s line, the sales have increased from less than $800 million to more than $1 billion annually.
The other significant investment came in 2013 when the company bought the naming rights to Levi’s Stadium. This was a 20-year contract with an option for extension to 25 years, worth $220 million. Bergh knew that the people attending concerts and NFL games are Levi’s core customers, so this would put the brand back at the center of attention.
When the Super Bowl was played in Levi’s Stadium in 2016, the experts estimated that the brand exposure from that week was worth a significant amount of what was paid for the naming rights.
Part of their new strategy was to live with one foot deeply planted in their history and the things that have made them popular, while taking the other foot and stepping into a future full of innovation.
One example was the mix between the old and new in their iconic trucker jacket. They collaborated with Google to create a wearable technology version that lets you control your iPhone from your jacket sleeve. As a result, sales of all Levi’s trucker jackets grew by nearly 40% that year.
Website and company-owned retail locations sales have grown 51% in the last few years, showing that consistency and smart work is the true recipe for this brand’s success and achieving the goal of being a world-class omnichannel retailer.
The company is now making significant progress and has doubled in value. In addition, they have dramatically increased their investment in advertising, with great ROI. They have more than 3.100 stores now, continually opening new ones.
Levi’s lost a generation of customers in the early 2000s, but now they are gaining momentum as they bring them back.
Brand Ambassadors are an excellent way to promote your brand and generate sales. The word “Ambassador” means a person who is the representative, promoter, or advocate of someone or something else.
Brand Ambassadors are the face and voice of your company. They do this by providing free samples and promoting your product at events and through social media.
Here you can see a list of Levi’s Brand ambassadors throughout the years promoting and representing the brand:
Behind every successful brand is a great founder, a person that created what we have today.
Originally named Loeb, Levi Strauss, the founder of this successful brand, was born into a big family on the 26th of February, 1829, in Buttenheim, Bavaria. His father, Hirsh, and his mother, Rebecca Haas Strauss, had two children together, while Hirsh had five additional children from his first marriage with his first wife, who had died in 1822.
Living in Bavaria, this family experienced religious discrimination because they were Jewish and were controlled by many rules and restrictions.
Strauss lost his father to tuberculosis when he was around sixteen years old. So he, his mother and sisters made their way to the United States. Upon their arrival, the family reunited with Strauss’s two older brothers in New York City, where they had established a dry goods business, and Levi went to work with them.
The California Gold Rush led many to travel out west to seek their fortune. Strauss was no exception, and in the early 1850s, he headed out to San Francisco to sell goods to the thriving mining trade. In addition, Strauss ran his own wholesale dry goods business and operated as his brothers’ West Coast agent.
Using many different locations in the city, he sold clothing, materials, and additional items to small stores in that region.
One of his customers, Jacob W. Davis, wrote a letter to Strauss in 1872, asking for his help.
Jacob originally relocated from Latvia to San Francisco in 1854, later moved to Canada in 1858, and stayed there for a period of nine years. Before moving there, Jacob Davis additionally ran a few tailor shops in New York City and Georgia. Finally, in 1868 he decided to settle in Reno, Nevada, and opened a shop, where he saw the problem with ripped pockets.
As a result, Jacob came up with the idea of using rivets to strengthen the corners of pockets on pants.
Very soon, different tailors from this area began using his idea to put rivets into pants’ pockets to strengthen them. Finally, Jacob contacted Levi by a letter indicating he needed his help to patent his idea.
The U.S. Patent Office published the patent on May 20, 1873, to Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss & Company for “Fastening Pockets and Openings.” After receiving the patent, Jacob moved to San Francisco and delivered his first pairs of pants to Levi on June 2, 1873.
Levi Strauss expanded his business interests over the years, buying the Mission and Pacific Woolen Mills in 1875. His other business pursuits were a charter member and treasurer of the San Francisco Board of Trade, director of the Nevada Bank, the Liverpool, London and Globe Insurance Company, and the San Francisco Gas and Electric Company.
While remaining active in the company, Strauss began to give more responsibilities to his nephews who worked for him. He also provided the funds for 28 scholarships at the University of California in 1897.
He died on September 26, 1902 in San Francisco at 73, and left his estate with around 6 million dollars. Part of it was left to his four nephews, while the rest was left to charities. After his death, Jacob Stern, his nephew, took over the company as the president.
The legendary brand they created continued to grow and is still one of the most recognized American brands.
Denim and jeans are two fashion staples that are frequently confused with one another, and people incorrectly interchange these words.
Denim is a cotton fabric made using a twill weave, creating a slight diagonal ribbing pattern, which was produced in the seventeenth century. Numerous manufacturers produce denim fabric made from a combination of cotton fibers, polyester and elastane to create a more stretchable material and increase durability.
Denim is usually dyed with indigo coloring, resulting in its characteristic blue color. After this process, the manufacturers can wash and rinse the fabric and later produce a wide array of denim colors, from dark to light.
Jeans are casual-wear pants made from denim material. In the nineteenth century in the US, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patented the blue jeans with rivets on the pockets. Today, a regular pair of jeans usually features a button clasp, a zipper, belt loops, and front and back pockets.
The main distinction between denim and jeans is that jeans are clothes, and denim is a fabric. Denim fabric is used to make various types of clothing, including jackets, shirts and jeans.
Since the 19th century, jeans have gone from rugged workwear to fashion apparel that can be found in everyone’s closet. Social, political and pop culture has played a huge role in jeans’ growth.
The trends that have come and gone and are here again, throughout the long history of jeans. Yet, without the long-lasting, versatile and strong fabric called denim, all this wouldn’t have been possible.
While denim’s birthplace is still debatable, many believe that it was first produced in Nîmes, France. This fabric was classified as a twill weave fabric using one colored thread, and one white one.
During the unsuccessful replication attempt of a hard-wearing cotton fabric known as “jeane,” people in Nîmes realized that they had developed a unique and sturdy material unlike anything else.
This fabric was made using a twill weave, with the weft passing under the warp threads. The weavers used indigo to dye the warp threads blue, which were naturally in white. This process gave the fabric a unique blue color on one side, with white on the other. They called it Serge de Nîmes (translated to “twill of Nîmes”).
While there is still a bit of debate over which came first—denim or jeans—they are connected to a European background, originating in the 1700s. In France and England, denim gained popularity as a durable and comfortable fabric. In Italy, jeans were made into topcoats and fine trousers for working men, not engaged in “manual labor.”
Back in the day, in the mid-1800s, “waist overalls” were everywhere, and not because they were stylish but rather practical. As already mentioned, Levi Strauss and the tailor Jacob Davis were the ones to put metal rivets on jeans to create a durable uniform that stood up to the rough-and-tumble work of the Gold Rush miners.
Jeans known as workwear continued throughout the 1920s and 1930s, particularly among miners, cowboys and laborers in the American West. However, it wasn’t until Hollywood adopted this trend with Western films that jeans entered mainstream culture.
In the 60s, the casual look that jeans gave, symbolized a carefree generation, and they were bell-bottomed and often decorated with beads, embroidery and paint. It was a statement of non-conformity. The ’80s was the rock scene: acid wash, rips, holes, and “cut-offs.” Finally, the 90s were about a neat and classic look.
Destiny’s Child, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were among the many who popularized the ultra low-rise jean at the beginning of the new century. But, of course, flare and bootcut styles were on-trend, too, while retro Capri jeans became trendy in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Around 2010, when the music festivals began rising in popularity, vintage-inspired jean trends, like overalls and jumpsuits, became must-have fashion items and festival apparel. However, one of the most notable trends in the last decade is—skinny jeans.
While denim fashion is heading toward more variety, skinnier styles reign supreme. Regardless, there is a gravitation toward a looser fit, where comfort doesn’t come at the cost of fashion. As a result, medium to high-waisted jeans, with either a straight or boot cut, are now trendy, as well as (sometimes cropped) wider-legged styles.
Jeans have made their path into our daily style and have lost their association as “working class” apparel.
The official Levi’s brand logo colors are Red and White. This Levi’s brand color scheme can be used for digital or print projects that need specific color values to match their company color palette.
Red color:
Hex Color | #C41230 |
Pantone | PMS 187 C |
CMYK: | 7 100 82 26 |
RGB | 196 18 48 |