Brand Positioning of Levi Strauss - Case Study Example

Student Name> Brand Positioning History of Levi Strauss Levi Strauss received a letter from a tailor from Nevada Jacob Davis in 1872. Jacob used to buy rolls of cloth from Straus’s dry good company and Davis told Strauss in the letter that he used metal rivets to strengthen the construction of the overalls (trousers of strong material usually with a piece extending up to cover the chest) he made. Jacob wanted to get his technological invention patented but he could not afford so he requested Strauss to join him as a partner and so he did. They got their invention patented in 1873 and the famous Levi Strauss & Company was formed. The history is available at (http://www.levistrauss.com/Company/). Background to the brand Levi’s Levi’s was invented in 1873 in San Francisco. Levi’s is well known for its classic, pure and the most authentic jeans. This brand is the most successful, recognized throughout the world in almost 190 countries and they are often and the most copied brand all over the world since Levi’s is extremely popular. Levi’s produces a classic range in jeans wear with their famous 501 jeans, Levi’s jeans, Red Tab and premium collections. Levi’s is the oldest and the most recognized brand. Their jeans reflect comfort and elegance. The brand is sold in stores all over the world. They have their own brand stores all over the world where their variety in jeans wear is available. The background is available at (http://www.levistrauss.com/Brands/Levis.aspx). Brands Perception and Image Branding involves developing an image that is what the consumer perceives of the product. Levi’s is not only a product it is a personality and an image. Brands have recently been marketed with greater depth and breadth since now they are used to depict a kind of personality as explained in Kevin Lane Keller (2006). Levi’s has always been targeted to the youth so they have advertised their brand depicting a young and rebellious personality. Although people perceive Levi’s to be the best in the making of the most authentic jeans in the world that is casual, smart and also a style statement. Since Levi’s was the first to produce jeans with metal rivets that made them stronger, unique and much more personalized. Levis’ image is more of a master in jeans wear that is worn by strong, rebellious, unique, young and successful men and women. Usually the teenagers go for Levi’s because it has depicted an image of a rebellious, unique and young personality. This has made the brand much more personalized. The brand has used certain personality traits to create its current image, perception and position in the market. They have used romance by showing couples in parties, on the beach and also in the kitchen with a fridge that shows live in relationships or married couples. Levi’s has used sexual attraction a lot through parties, beach and laundry since this is an essential characteristic in young, rebellious people. One of their advertisements have depicted physical prowess using the launderette as the set. This way they have targeted all kinds of personalities in terms of attraction towards the opposite sex. They have also depicted resourcefulness through the launderette, pawn broker, pool hall, a swimmer, a procession and a creek. The most important and visible personality trait in their advertisements is rebellion that they have depicted through a pool hall and also by showing a swimmer. Independence is another important trait they depict since all young people are highly independent and rebellious. They have depicted independence through a beach and a pawn broker. The most wanted trait that they depicted in their advertisement has really boosted Levis’ image as the most comfortable, casual but a jeans that makes you stand out and look good. They have shown people wearing Levis being admired often through launderette, fridge, parties, pawn broker and pool hall. They have managed to target all personality types up till now. Levi’s is a brand for romantics, rebellious, independent, adventurous, strong, unique and people who stand out of the crowd. Currently, Levis is considered to be a prestigious brand that makes one feel good, admired, strong, independent, rebellious and unique. Their image is of a brand that drives people to be themselves and depict the right image of them to the world. Levis is considered to be a brand for all who want to work hard and achieve high. Due to this even the labor class prefers Levi’s because it depicts their personality traits of hard, technical and mechanical work. Levis is considered to be the strongest and most durable jeans in the world. That is one reason that workers and laborers prefer Levis because in their rough work this jean lasts them for years and years. Levi’s is for a lifetime and the most desirable jeans in the world right now. Levi’s brand positioning and perception of the brand are available at (http://www.allaboutbranding.com/index.lasso?article=99). Levi’s has been positioned as a symbolic brand because it is a prestigious brand that expresses one’s personality type and is gives the image of a prestigious brand. Levi’s has depicted a certain kind of personality type with traits as already explained above and the brand is considered to be prestigious because it provides the most authentic jeans in the world. It is a status symbol and people with certain personality traits go for it since they wish to be identified with the brand and depict that personality. Levi’s helps them depict to the world that they are and will always be strong, rebellious and independent enough to be themselves. In order to make their brand image and position as a symbolic brand much stronger Levi’s not only advertises using personality expression and prestige but also has come up with other things that have made the brand image much stronger. Levi’s has introduced “Levi’s World” which is a virtual world where they invite their customers who will bring in with them their friends who share common perceptions and personality types. All those people who consider Levi’s to be their identity and wish to be identified with this brand to express their personality loudly in the world will be more than willing to explore the virtual world of Levi’s. Levi’s has also introduced mobile phones to make the image and position of their symbolic brand even stronger with people who wish to be identified with Levi’s. This is an innovation because now the age old theory that symbolic brands can not be positioned as functional brands simultaneously has been eradicated with ease. Levi’s has used a brand extension to their symbolic brand where they have extended their brand with a functional use in their consumers’ lives. Levi’s has given their consumers a unique way to further express themselves and also to identify with their favorite brand. In the future, Levi’s is expected to come up with ear phones, rings and watches to let their consumers express themselves to a further extent that they identify themselves to Levi’s. Levis as a symbolic brand is all available at (http://www.erwinvanlun.com/ww/tag/levi's) Levi’s is an impressive brand name in the market. The company’s mission statement that Levi Strauss & Co. is to sustain responsible commercial success as a global marketing Company of branded apparel” has given it a unique position in the market. Levi’s is the industry’s biggest brand and according to the Boston Matrix as explained in Dave Hall, Rob Jones & Carlo Raffo (2000). Levi’s is a cash cow for the company. It is true that the face of the market has changed recently and Levi’s has positioned itself as a premium jeans maker but the company has tried to reposition, as explained in Frank R. Kardes (2002); itself with several other extensions in their original brand. They have come with a silver tab that bill be different to their usual Red Tab which is their identity. But with this kind of risk they should be aware because a classic example is the failure of New Coke by Coca Cola Company so the Levi’s customers might not accept the silver tab. There are innumerable competitors in the market now like Armani, Calvin Kline, and Tommy that have snatched Levis’ market share. Levi’s is facing problems now. They need to revise their branding strategies and positioning to improve their sales. Levi’s will now have a problem in positioning the Red label jeans as an exclusive jean that is unique and prestigious to wear in comparison to its competitors. Levis’ branding strategies have all gone wrong because they have been trying to dictate their terms in the market and have not tried to adapt to the latest trends and demands of the market. Since casual look is in it would have been easier for Levi’s to step forward and introduce a new line of cargo pants or the latest styles in pants because jeans is totally in these days but in a baggy style and Levi’s with their strong brand identity in the jeans market could have easily captured the market share if only their branding strategies were correct. Although Levi’s has tried to save its brand image in circumstances when Tesco was selling their jeans as a regular commodity and they pulled out of this lucrative deal to save their image and identity because a Levi’s jeans available without the correct Levi’s experience is useless and will destroy the brand’s image and position in the minds of the customers. Branding is all about creating a particular image and position as an icon in the eyes of the customers so that it harmoniously integrates with the culture and latest trends to create a positive brand attitude. A brand must always have a strong identity and position because then customers tend to become insecure and hesitant in buying the products under that brand. Levi’s has made this mistake and was too slow to improve its positioning strategies and its competitors have already taken charge. Levi’s needs to adapt to the current market trends and environment to deliver all that the customers demand. Since the world was changing in the way it dressed, Levi’s was only bothered about selling jeans that landed them up in this fix. Levis’ current position in the market is available at (http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=24). Currently, Levi’s has been using line extensions that is using a successful brand name to introduce additional items in a given product category under the same brand name, such as new flavors, forms, colors, added ingredients, package sizes etc as explained in Kotler & Armstrong (2000). Levi’s has line extensions like Levi’s 501 jeans, Levi’s jeans, Levi’s Red Tab, Levi’s Red Line, Pure Blue, Levi’s Vintage Clothing (LVC) and premium collections. Fashion is their new strategy. They have planned to mix their heritage of causal jeans with a fashion icon in the market. This brand strategy has revived Levis once again as the leading company in jeans wear. They have made a bold statement that Levis is back and is leading. They have invested a lot in line extensions through new labels so that their products image takes a new shape. Now Levis is a sexy trendsetter in the market. This new strategy has been adapted buy the new CEO who paid heed to the fashion element in the market which is a marketing buzz nowadays. Now Levis has a killer strategy. Levi’s has been repositioned to target the women in the market much more than the men. They have been trying to provide the best fit to women and for this they had 14000 women try their jeans to get the right fit for all. Levi’s for men has been repositioned to be more sexy and hip in contrast to their plain and boring look with plain jeans. Levi’s is now focused on urban population who go for expensive, trendy and hip apparel. So now Levi’s is more of an aspirational brand that everyone wants to own but is too expensive and only a part of the market can afford it. Their Red and LVC have the aspriational element in Levi’s. Now Levi’s has taken a leap and their sales have jumped with their current brand strategy. According to their brand architecture Red and LVC are at the top and are focused upon more because they are the most expensive lines of Levis. Pure Blue comes next since it has been inspired by the former two in line. Their new strategies are all geared up to make Levi’s a market leader. Thus, their line extensions have repositioned them and brought a great amount of luck in these years since Levi’s had fallen back badly. The other strategies used by Levi’s currently are brand extensions that are using a successful brand name to launch a new or modified product in a new category. This strengthens the brand identity and equity because people get more reasons to identify with the brand and its personality (Kotler & Armstrong, 2000). Levi’s produces pants, cords, shorts, tops and other accessories like belts etc for men. They produce capris, crops, shorts, tops, skirts, dresses and other accessories for women. They expanded their base to provide complete attire to men and women. Along with this they have made some major brand extensions as well. One of them was a failure. They introduced Levi’s shoes but it was too much for the customers to accept because Levi’s has been positioned in the apparel industry. Therefore, their shoe line was a failure and a bad decision. But Levi’s has introduced “Levi’s World” which is a virtual world where they invite their customers who will bring in with them their friends who share common perceptions and personality types. Levi’s has also introduced mobile phones to make the image and position of their symbolic brand even stronger with people who wish to be identified with Levi’s. The President of Levi’s has certain Brand rules that he likes to stick to always and these have helped him achieve the desired results. Build Brand Fame: He believes brand awareness alone is not enough because to have stronger brand equity Levi’s must be iconic and mythic as he likes to put it. He believes in displaying stuff in Levi’s store with as much care and pride like museum pieces or fine wines are displayed. Steal from yourself: Since their heritage has been their worst enemy but they believe in the saying that old is gold. Now they have begun to give their jeans an old, torn and tattered look. This gives Levi’s a sacred look since even the old and worn out jeans is special if it’s from Levi’s. Plus Levi’s believes that the older the jeans the better just like wine. Think about from the view of 2050: He wants his employees to keep in mind not the sales but the image, position and the brand name Levi’s will have in the year 2050. Thus, it is wise to keep the future in mind and also that the brand name must be recognized forever. All positioning strategies of Levi’s are available at (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/64/smartcompany.html). Recommendations Levi’s is a premium brand and also a corporate brand. Since the product is expensive comparatively to its competitors they have repositioned themselves to try a new strategy. Levi’s is dealing with a family of brands because all its extensions are known as Levi’s along with their respective names. By incorporating brand extensions into shoes, mobile phones and virtual world Levi’s used ‘brand leveraging’ strategy associates brand equity by using the existing brand name and introducing a new line of products. The most appropriate recommendation to Levi’s is to adapt a new strategy that is brand orientation. Brand Orientation refers to "the degree to which the organisation values brands and its practices are oriented towards building brand capabilities” (Bridson & Evans, 2004) This is an approach to work with brands internally and externally. Since globalization is increasing at a fast speed it is important to adapt to this strategy. Due to globalization competition has become intense in the market and companies have to increasingly innovate and adapt to the market trends. Nowadays, consumers have a wide choice and brand management is no more enough plus the recognized and huge brand names that are superior are also facing a downturn. Levis is a good example in this case. Due to the changing market trends and intense competition the product lifecycles have reduced incredibly. So strong brand identity and brand equity is essential to survive in the market. Only strong brand equity can save the organizations in the market. Thus, Levi’s must build further its brand’s capability to attract and retain customers. Brand loyalty that comes from strong brand equity is the only solution for Levi’s to increase sales and lead the market. Conclusion Thus, it is evident that no matter how strong a brand name has been in the past the current situation in the world with intense competition has made it very hard for companies to increase their market share. Works Cited Bridson, K; and Evans, J. (2004). ‘The secret to a brand advantage is brand orientation.’ International journal of retail and distribution management, 32 (8): 403-411 Dave Hall, Rob Jones & Carlo Raffo. (2000) Business Studies; 2nd edition, Causeway Press Limited. Frank R. Kardes. (2002) Consumer Behavior and Managerial Decision Making; 2nd edition, Pearson Education Inc. Kevin Lane Keller. (2006) Strategic Brand Management; 2nd edition. Pearson Higher Education. Kotler & Armstrong. (2000) Principles of Marketing. 9th edition. Background to Levi’s the brand. 8th December 2008 Brand image and perception. 8th December 2008 Current position in the market. 8th December 2008 History of Levi Strauss. 8th December 2008 < http://www.levistrauss.com/Company/> Positioning strategies 8th December 2008 Symbolic Brand. 8th December 2008 Read More