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eclaiming the identity of a brand
Page 1: Introduction
Levis is the best known jeans name on the planet. The business was founded by the
Strauss family in 1875 and produed jeans for miners out of tent fabri and anvas. !t
then went on to make jeans from denim whih is a oarse" heavy twill fabri. The jeans
beame popular with miners durin# the $alifornia #oldrush and were famous for the twin
rivets on the pokets.
The business went from stren#th to stren#th to beome one of the twentieth enturys best
known #lobal brands. %urin# the 1&8's the ompany branhed out into a ran#e of
#arments inludin# suits" before refousin# on one of its herita#e produts Levi 5'1s in
the early 1&&'s. ( T) ommerial showin# *ik +amen strippin# down to his bo,er
shorts in a launderette boosted the sales of all jeans" not just of Levi 5'1s and thousands
of men swithed to wearin# bo,er shorts.
The Levi $ompany has always had a reputation for innovation"
bri#ht ideas" e,itement and enthusiasm. -owever" it has not always been so suessful
in maintainin# the detailed proesses neessary to ensure ontinued produt suess .
hene the need for effetive brand mana#ement. /rand mana#ement involves havin# the
tehnial skills to reate a suessful brand mana#ement plan" as well as #ood ideas.
Page 2: Weaknesses in the late 1990s
/y the late 1&&'s it was all too apparent that the brand was slippin# and needed to be put
bak on trak. Sine the 1&0's" suess had been based on the brands assoiation with
youth ulture. %urin# the 1&&'s this assoiation be#an to lose some of its vitality. 1hile
sales of the brand ontinued to #row" it be#an to suffer from delinin# e2uity. /y this we
mean that the pereption of the brand in terms of the desired position was be#innin# to
slip.
1hile in the 1&8's Levis were seen as 3ool" youthful" innovative and se,y" market
researh revealed that this was no lon#er the ase by the late 1&&'s. /rand mana#ers at
Levis realised that they needed to revitalise the pereption of the brand. The ompany
had" wron#ly" been emphasisin# its role in wholesale merhandisin# . i.e. sellin# millions
of pairs of blue Levis to retailers and ensurin# #ood sales volumes and profits for these
retailers. -owever" this fous tended to i#nore the onsumer.
Sine the late 1&&'s Levis brand mana#ers have han#ed the emphasis to onsumer
foused brand mana#ement. /rand mana#ers reo#nise that their responsibility is to
deliver the ima#e of the brand both to onsumers and to retailers" as well as ensurin# hi#h
sales volumes and ahievin# retailers finanial #oals.
The emphasis now is therefore less inward lookin# . e.#. 3how many units have we sold4
and more outward lookin#" e.#. 3what do onsumers see Levis as bein#4
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Page 3: The brand management process
%ituational analysis
The first step in the brand
mana#ement proess was to arry out a situational analysis . i.e. a review of Levis
standin# in the market plae. %etailed market researh was arried out to obtain a learer
piture of market standin#. This inluded internal areas suh as whether there were too
many layers of deision makin# in the ompany and whether the ompany was foused
enou#h on its objetive of meetin# ustomer re2uirements. B,ternal fators that were
e,amined inluded the ran#e of new brands on the market" their impat on Levis
ompetitiveness and also the effetiveness of retailers in promotin# and sellin# Levis
jeans.
The situational analysis revealed that fewer retail stores were stokin# Levis. !n addition"
the market researh showed that onsumers awareness of the brand was delinin#.
$omparisons of fi#ures for Sprin# and (utumn of 1&&& showed a redution in the
number of people in the C+ who were able to identify the Levis brand. (lso" fewer
people named Levis as the most reent brand of jeans that they had purhased. This
deline was very small" but it still needed to be stopped.
&reating a brand plan
The first step in reatin# a brand plan is to identify the key objetive to be worked
towards. This is referred to as the desired outome. This an be set out in a few words or
a sentene e,pressin# what you want to ahieve e.#. to improve the brand presene at
retail outlets.
1ith this objetive learly defined" the key tasks needed to deliver must be identified. !n
other words" the brand mana#er needs to reate a plan7strate#y. !n this ase the strate#y
involved6
arryin# out the market researh
findin# out in how many stores Levis were sellin#
evaluatin# the urrent level of presene" i.e. was Levis happy about the e,istin#
profile in retail outlets . or was there room for improvement4
-avin# reated a plan the ne,t step was to measure suess and to use this proess to
drive improvements in the or#anisation. This measurement proess has #iven Levis a
muh learer fous. ?or e,ample" a senior brand mana#er workin# for Levis mi#ht have
been #iven the objetive of openin# up 1' new stores in five key ities in Burope where
there is a very stron# retail setor.
This proess #ave staff a lear outline of aountability for what had to be delivered. The
performane of brand implementers and brand mana#ers ould now be reviewed a#ainst
e,petations. ?eedbak an be #iven on how to improve performane and a review
proess enables the on#oin# evaluation of the strate#y. The net effet of these han#es is
the reation of a muh more effetive ommuniation proess within the Levis
or#anisation. Levis employees know where they stand and where their responsibilities
lie.
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Page 4: Creating a ne brand mission and strateg!
Diven a downturn in the pereption of the
brand" brand mana#ers at Levis ame up with a new brand mission and the need to
ommuniate this learly to the tar#et ustomer. The brand mission was6 3to be the
oolest and most profitable jeans brand.
!n order to sueed in this mission it is first neessary to relaim leadership in the denim
ate#ory with youn# people. $lear objetives were set for reversin# the sales deline and
re.buildin# brand e2uity with tar#et onsumers Esee fi# belowF.
&reating a ne' brand strategy
This brand mission enabled Levis to develop a plan whih involves suessfully
brin#in# to#ether three key elements i.e. the produt" ommuniations with the onsumer
and the way in whih Levis produts are presented in retail outlets. The marketin#
plannin# proess involves #ainin# a lear understandin# of the onsumer arhiteture Ei.e.
the struture of the orret produt to the orret onsumerF" enablin# Levis to identify
the various setors of the jeans market. 1ith this information arefully mapped out" it is
possible to #et the brand arhiteture ri#ht . i.e. to produe the ri#ht jeans for eah
se#ment of the market.
The onsumer arhiteture map shows the
key #roups of 15.:> year old onsumers in 1estern Burope. (t the top are the fashion
leaders. !t is throu#h the fashion leaders that Levis seeks to influene the rest of the
market. Levis has desi#ned various brands to appeal to different se#ments of the jeans
market. Grodut innovations are then desi#ned to appeal to and positively influene eah
of the relevant #roupin#s.
?inally" it is important to use retail se#mentation to tar#et Levis produts at the
onsumer orretly . in other words" to #et the ri#ht produt to the relevant onsumer
shops. ( hi#h level of sophistiation is re2uired to ensure that appropriate retail outlets
stok the relevant brands. This is all part of the proess of suessful brand mana#ement.
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Page ": Implementing decisions
<ne brand mana#ers have reated
objetives and developed the plan" the ne,t step is to implement their deisions" i.e. to put
the plan into ation.
Levis objetive is to relaim the brand. This has involved developin# produt
innovations to e,ite the relevant tar#et market . empowered youn# people. ( reent
produt of this proess has been the new onept of Levis I Bn#ineered HeansJK
Ltwisted jeansL.
( lar#e part of Levis advertisin# and promotion in ;''' is based on this produt and is a
symbol of youth ulture. Cnlike earlier Levis advertisin# whih had used heroes suh as
/rad Gitt and *ik +amen" the emphasis is on the produt as LheroL. Twisted jeans rapidly
won the support of youn#" fashionable people and are representative of Levis new way
of thinkin#.
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Page #: Conclusion
This ase study has shown how Levis has used effetive brand mana#ement plannin# to
relaim the brand and to turn around the fortunes of the ompany.
This is a lo#ial" step.by.step proess whih has been implemented by brand mana#ers.
The final sta#e in the proess involves the analysis and evaluation of results.
To date" ompany researh reveals that the strate#y is deliverin# e2uity for the brand
whih is rapidly re#ainin# its ool and innovative status. The finanial tar#ets have also
been e,eeded.
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