Levi’s, the American denimwear brand, wants to use its 15th anniversary in India to start its biggest marketing campaign till date. Starting on April 7 till June 9, it will span music, art, user-generated content and, of course, freebies on purchase.
Levi’s sells for a premium in the Rs 220-crore per annum branded denimwear market in India. Abroad, it does not have a premium position and sells through mass retailers. It is only now that it is sprucing up its own retail spaces in European markets. It recently refurbished its flagship store on London’s Regent Street, part of which showcases young musicians and artists, the brand’s new ambassadors.
In India, its new campaign will usher in some of that ethos too. It will take its association with music beyond sponsoring Great Indian Rock, an Indi-rock music festival. The brand has already put up 47 independent bands on its website, www.levi.co.in, for users to listen and download the original tracks. At the end of the campaign, the band with the highest downloads will get to cut its video with Levi’s ambassador Priyanka Chopra, and also go on a tour of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
The downloading is tied back to store purchases — one of the gifts on purchase is a music card with a code for enabling free downloads. Other gifts include cellphone pouches, drawstring bags and clocks. The ultimate lucky draw prizes are products from other American brands such as Apple (iPhones and iPod Shuffles) and Chevrolet (a customised Beat every week for seven weeks).
The third part of the campaign remains online, soliciting entries to “Change your World”. Through videos, messages and photos, users can convey their way of changing their world. At the end of it, the company will ask a jury to judge the entries, and 15 entries would get Rs 1,00,000 to start on their idea. “The brand is coming of age. Just like people when they turn 15 see possibilities opening up for them, Levi’s too is trying to bring in that sense of discovery. We are asking consumers to change their world and we will be the catalyst. Having been around for 140 years across the world, we do merit a voice like this,” says Levi Strauss Director (marketing) Shyam Sukhramani.
A TVC highlights the goodies being given away on purchase of Levi’s but before signing off mentions the website where more of the action is. Buzz on Levi’s Facebook and Twitter pages and emails to registered users would supplement the campaigns to direct traffic to the website.
However, with its focus on exclusive retail stores, Levi’s is not about to let the spotlight stray. Just like its Regent Street store, art will find its way into 15 Levi’s stores that are over 3,000 square feet in size. “It is a small step. We are inviting budding artists from art schools for their renditions of the theme Change Your World. Given the footfalls in our stores, it would also give them visibility” says Sukhramani.
With 282 stores on the ground, Levi’s is wary of accelerating its retail expansion. “We have become more stringent in forecasting the break-even time for our stores. We have drastically cut short that time,” says Sukhramani. Lower-tier towns will see 25 more stores come up this year. Sukhramani feels the price range that Levi’s straddles, Rs 1,500 to Rs 8,000, justifies the brand’s relevance in smaller towns. The brand has sub-brands such as Diva, Sykes, Red Tab and Red Loop.
Levi’s also plans to fine-tune its monthly installment scheme across its markets. “We have found that consumers who go for the scheme spend 50 per cent more on a transaction than the average transaction,” says Sukhramani. The scheme could lead to cross-tie-ups in other categories and trial offers depending on the shopping pattern of the users, he adds. Will the new campaign fuel more footfalls for such plans to take root? Come June and it will be clear.
