At this point, the economy has been in a difficult place for quite some time. Less products being sold is bad all round. It leads to less investment in new products; a holding-back of innovation and progress. Competition intensifies substantially as brands chase after fewer available $$$s.
But when market conditions create challenges, what is really the best response?
Give people what they seem to want (lower prices), is the instinctive reaction. Leaders therefore have a tendency to adopt strategies of hard-selling and price-cutting. In fact, the quickest and most effective way out of a difficult situation is actually to re-ignite interest in the brand.
With their new Laundromat ad, Levi's just proved this to be true. For the second time around.
In the early 80's economies around the globe were in a mess. Levi's too were facing difficulty as a brand that had lost its edge in the face of more 'cutting-edge' competitors. At that time, after taking a detailed look at itself, the company released its Laundrette ad, which became an ad industry icon, but more importantly, immediately captured the imagination of consumers, turning the brand around overnight.
Recent times have been a challenge for the iconic brand, too. Intensifying competition has eaten into the company's margins. Wholesale sales have fallen rapidly, forcing Levi's to try to sell more through its own retail channels. The company has also been trying to diversify its brand beyond purely jeans. With an updated vision of its Laundrette ad featuring Beyoncé, the company has done it again. Levi's is right back in the conversation.
In both of these instances, price cuts and hard selling would have applied a very short-term Band Aid, leaving the underlying issues still festering. In deploying creativity to bolster its brand, Levi's not only fixed an immediate problem but also created long-term success for its brand.
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