Levi’s Branding on the Signature Line Case Study

Do you think that Levi’s was correct to keep the Levi Strauss name on its Signature line? Or would it have been better off creating a completely new brand name? Present both sides of the case. Take and justify a position.

Levi’s decision to keep the brand name sounds reasonable, seeing how it is easily recognizable. Even though the company has little experience in designing sports clothes, which the results of its partnership with NASCAR show, it still remains a household name associated with quality, which the company should use in their further marketing projects.

What do you think Levi’s image is among the fol- lowing? What are the marketing implications of your response?

Levi’s popularity among different social strata, as well as different age groups, varies, seeing how the legend behind the brand might be in chord with one type of the target audience and at the same time fail to satisfy the needs of another type.

1. Tween girls might not be that interested in Levi’s products, as the company clearly targets practicality instead of fashion.
2. Tween boys, on the contrary, maybe more inclined to buying Levi’s products, since the latter are known for their durability and, therefore, will not be torn in an active game.
3. Teenage girls may be interested in the brand more than tween ones since the former will most likely take relatively low prices for Levi’s goods into account.
4. Much like tween boys, teenage boys can be attracted by the durability of the product.
5. As some young women note, Levi lacks its own signature style, which makes it rather doubtful that the company will be able to attract many young women. However, it should be noted that, with such a partner as NASCAR, Levi will finally be able to identify itself with a particular style of clothing, sportswear in particular. Therefore, it can be expected that young women preferring sports style in their choice of clothes will pick Levi.
6. As has been stressed above, the lack of a definitive feature is what sets Levi way back in the line of jeans producing companies. As a result, young men also prefer other companies to Levi when it comes to buying jeans and related clothes. However, with the introduction of a sportswear line, Levi will have the potential to have young men among their range of customers as well.
7. It would be a mistake to consider that the new strategy will exclude women aged 36–55 from the list of the company’s customers; on the contrary, with a reasonable marketing strategy and advertising program, Levi can link the concept of sport with the idea of retaining youthful looks and being in trim; thus, Levi’s products will appeal to the specified audience.
8. Likewise, Levi will be able to recycle the idea of being young and sporty with the male population aged 36–55 successfully.

Do you believe that Levi’s brand is as “elastic” as Levi’s executives believe it is? Or, have they “overstretched” the name with the Signature line?

Despite the fact that the idea of the Signature Line does seem somewhat risky, it is still hardly believable that Levi has “overstretched” the brand name. Granted that Levi’s collaboration with a sports company that is involved in the racing business sounds hardly credible at first, the given change will give people reasons to actually talk about the company and, therefore, raise its popularity.

Develop the “brand schema” that you think existed for the overall Levi’s brand before and after the introduction of the Signature line (i.e., an associative network map of links and nodes). What are the marketing implications of the differences?

In order to introduce a brand new set of products into the market, Levi has to change its brand schema considerably.

The brand schema for the product in question, i.e., the Signature Line, should look the following way at present:

The given schema shows that at present, now that Levi has declared its readiness to start a partnership with NASCAR, the company should make sure that the advertising strategy should be targeted at the right audience, i.e., teenagers and adults, primarily male population, though it will also be required to design the strategies for the attraction of female audience. In the past, the brand schema must have looked like the one shown below:

In other words, in the past, the company was obviously less concerned with brand name recognition issues. As the schema provided above shows, in the past, the company was not targeting a particular audience and preferred to trigger people’s attention by providing high-quality casual clothes. However, with NASCAR sponsoring the firm, Levi is clearly intending to redefine its product together with the manner of addressing the target audience.

1. Out of the six environmental segments, the concept of Eco jeans appeals most to global issues. Because of the concern for environmental pollution and the on-coming global warming with its aftereffects, people are highly concerned about the impact that they make on nature. The idea of using Eco jeans made of 100% cotton.
2. Due to a sharp increase in the number of organic buyers, i.e., the people promoting the purchase of products that harm the environment the least, Levi’s idea of Eco jeans has good chances to be successful.
3. Even though Levi is clearly redesigning its image and attempting at promoting a completely new brand, it still has grown the cult following that appreciates a different aspect of the company’s operation. Throughout the years of its existence, the company has acquired a unique image that has been shaping under the influence of a number of events and can hardly be affected by the influence of the eco craze or the introduction of NASCAR theme into the products. Levi has become the staple of quality and triggers associations with high-quality clothes that have a very long shelf life. As a result, no matter what changes Levi does to itself, as long as it maintains the same standards, it will have its devoted audience.
4. As has been stressed above, Levi has been having issues with promoting to the younger audience. With the introduction of a completely new brand, the company will most likely wish to reconsider its target audience; however, the means of attracting more customers from a younger age group still seems rather unrealistic. Nevertheless, it will be reasonable to address the demands of the younger crowd. The given objective should not be net by trying to create a brand legend of a “cool” and “hip” character; it will most likely seem forced and contrived. Instead, it will be more reasonable to appeal to young people’s common sense and promote the ideas of a sporty lifestyle and saving the environment.
5. Levi can use the following to enhance its brand image:
   1. Emotion: making people concerned about the environment and their health;
   2. Humor: designing advertisements that will make people laugh and, thus, help them memorize the brand better;
   3. Maslow’s needs: cater to people’s need to stay in shape;
   4. McGuire’s needs: raising environmental awareness;
   5. Brand personality: create a brand legend that people can relate to;
   6. Self-concept: help people define their selves by creating a likable and engaging brand legend.
6. Levi can promote its products to a wide range of nations by using an appropriate strategy:
   1. African American: incorporating the elements of African American culture;
   2. Arab American: appealing to the Arab American community;
   3. Asian American: using unique elements of the Asian American culture;
   4. Indian American: incorporating cultural references into advertisements;
   5. Native American: introducing elements of the Native American folklore into advertising;
   6. White: using pop cultural references.