Levi’s Dockers †creating a sub-brand Essay

Qn 1) Explain what is Levis stake image and what makes up its defacement equity. In this regard, assess the purpose of its flagship 501 jeans convergence. (40 suckers) grass image can be defined as perceptions to the superiorest decimal point a trade get wind as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory. It is basic each(prenominal)y what exists in the mind of consumers, come of all the reading they sacrifice received ab give away the brand from experience, word of mouth, advertising, packaging, services etc. And the in impressation is modified by selective perception, previous beliefs, and social norms.The brand image perceived by consumers of Levis products includes dur commensurate, comfortable, approachable, affordable, contemporary, individuality, independence, casual, spirtable and adventurous, when it became an indispensable part of miners uniform and gain reputation for being as spoiled and rugged as the people who wore them. It is also comf ortable enough to fit into the workers everyday lives twain in physical and social sense. Its affordability was also adored by students and miners. It has also become an essential goodness available to defensive measure worker during WWII.It portrays individuality, fashionable, independence when students and teenage idol wear 501 as a form of self expression and has become the essential fashion for the emerging do by boomers where it has transforms from a pair of tough knickerbockers to a symbol of freedom, adventure and independence.Most importantly, Levis 501 jeans had become an icon and its brand stimu deep had become synonymous with jeans where people tend to associate jeans whenever they saw the Levis logo. It had successfully been made cognize to millions of Americans and had realized its brand image in the hearts of every consumer.Brand equity was defines as the look upon of a brand based on the extent to which it has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived qua lity, cockeyed brand associations, and other assets such as patents, trademarks, and channel relationships.THE GALLUP BRAND EQUITY MEASUREMENT MODEL ground on Gallup Brand equity measurement model, the components of Brand Equity are the integration of several relate key brand characteristics They areBrand Presence is the degree to which the brand stands out from its competition. Levis bring managed to claim familiarity and hence have become synonymous with jeans. The success of Levis 501 jeans has become an icon and this mark the securities industry leader space for Levis.Levis brand established brand awareness by inventing the premier(prenominal) patented double arcuate pattern sewn into the back hip pocket which became Americans first robes trademark and the Two Horse Brand leather patch which act as the symbol & logo to enable consumers to recall and recognise & associate jeans with Levis Brand.Brand Position is the degree to which the brand is uniquely positioned and perc eptually diametricaliated from its competitors and Levis brand personality is driven largely by the firms heritage of providing clothes for miners, by the brand attributes and used contexts of western cowboy.Levis brand positioning can be derived from the combination of the brands personality and values and its rational associations. Levis personality composes of several characteristics or values with emotional associations, which are defined as Original, Masculine, Sexy, Youthful, Rebellious, Rugged, Authentic, American, Individual and Freedom.Brand Experience is the degree to which customers have had positive or negative experiences with brand purchase and use.Customer triumph can be seen throughout the 1900s where bargains of Levis 501 jeans grew and became the essential commodity available primarily to defense workers. This reflects a very high satisfaction of the product based on the extent of its usage and guardianship drawn which can be seen here whenan individual owns a bout 2.5 pairs of jeans.Brand Value is the degree to which the brand adds perceived value to a product or service, and or to a range of proposed product offerings.Levis brand value is perceived when it extended to Levis Dockers which proved to be a success.Brand homage is the degree to which the brand is preferred and selected over its competitors.Basically, in the initial stage of fixing Levis jeans, thither were no alternative products and competitors, which explain why the get behaviour is very strong throughout the 1900s. Thus, Levis actually enjoyed the prestige of gaining 100% customer loyalty, with also the help of the above components of brand equity which contributed to its success.The role of Levis flagship 501 jeans actually led to the line extension of more modern products. And the success of 501 lead to the governing body of subsidiary and globalization of Levis worldwide. Levis 501 jeans were able to sustain as the top selling jeans bowl 1979 which contributed to the success.Contradictorily, due to the over whelming success of Levis 501 jeans, the company became over diversified and this led to a sack from the core product which eventually led to a discipline in the sales of 501 jeans.Realising their blunder, Levis unflinching to shift their rivet back to 501 jeans and the success of 501 Blues jeans ad campaign had manage to reinvigorate the brand. interest the success of 501 Blues jeans, Levis was able to penetrate into another market segment and this led to the sustain of Levis Dockers.2) Critically assess Levis branding strategy in general. (30 marks)The branding strategy for a firm reflects the number and nature of common & distinctive brand elements applied to the contrary products sold by the firm. Brand strategy involves deciding which brand elements will be applied to which products and the nature of new and alert brand elements to be applied to new products.The branding strategy adopted by Levis include line extension strate gy, brand extension strategy, diversification and marketing strategy.In 1873, the first jeans was sold and by 1890s, Levis adopted a new inventory system and the name Levis 501 jeans were born. From the late forties through the early 1960s, Levis Strauss had virtually no competition. Gradually, the Levis brand was recognized as the post-war exemplification jeans. In the mid 1960s, Levis Strauss expanded its distribution internationally and by end of 1960s, LS & Co. launched their first maturement beyond their core category of blue denim and ventured into a wide variety of new apparels which include cords, slack and sportswear for men, as well as a range of apparel for woman and children.To command its rapid expansion, an initial public offering was launched in 1971. And in the early 1980s, LS & Co. adopted diversification in its brand stretching strategy where it expand beyond the core jeans lines to utilize the Levis name on non-jeans where new product lines was introduced. The se covered a wide range of family clothing needs, denim and corduroy jeans for men, women and children. fulfill pillowcases and tailored classic blazers, slacks and activewear.At first, the new accessions gave Levis momentum, but the business climate readily change and Levis was not structured to compete in the fast-paced and unforgiving fashion apparel business. Eventually, this new product line proved to be a flop resulting in a heartrending slump in the sales which caused a negative impact on Levis.The shift in focus on image rather than keeping the product contemporary wasthe key reason for Levis decline. And the heterogeneous reasons contributing to the pallure of the line extension could be due to the various non-jeans products being launched to the market which could have act as a competitive threat to the 501 jeans and at the same time diluted the sales of the core products.Secondly, the various product bearing the Levis brand could have also led to confusion to the c onsumer which led to the lost of focus of Levis core product as multiple product lines were a great deal promoted in one commercial which add on to more confusion.Thirdly, the establishment of numerous licensing agreements which led to Levis restricted distribution policy further eliminated market share opportunities thus leading to decline in sales.As a result of vigorous diversification and acquisition strategy, LS & Co. own apparel business that offered products to suit al or so any style. Thus, with too much products on hand, Levis begin to lose their concentration on its flagship product.Another reason could be due to the non performance of the non-jeans lines, the failure to recognize the shift in the food market dynamics, Levis management was completely unprepared for competitive threats when competition attacked their market share from every direction. The slump in sales was also due to failure to keep pace with changes on the jeans market.In late 1984, Levis shifted focus back to core product business, reinvigorate the companys core product, cease distribution expansion of non-jeans products and licensing agreement, re cause retail relations and reemphasize its basic jeans and corduroy lines.To revitalise its flagship product, Levis launch new designs target at specific customer segments with the support of aggressive procession and advertising, upgrade its retail presentation and enhance partnership with retail customer. They also improve operations by implementing a demanddriven supply chain to better manage inventory and retail relationships.The success of the 501 jeans campaign was exact as it was the centrepiece of back to basics strategy which manage to reinvigorated jeans sales and brought back the brands core value.With the success of 501 Blues, Levis adopted brand extension strategy and branched out to introduce Levis Dockers in 1986 where diversification was built on the trend to smart office wear. It was a good move to avoid the satur ation point which might be rapidly approaching for the primary(prenominal)stream brand. In addition to that, Levis also pioneered on the concept of casual Friday and had since managed to establish a leadership position in casual fashion.3) Evaluate the Levis Dockers discourses strategy. (30 marks)Marketing communications being the final and most flexible element of the marketing mix are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade and move consumers directly or indirectly about the brands that they sell. In a sense, marketing communications represent the fathom of the brand and are a means by which it can establish a dialogue and build relationships with consumers.Marketing communications can contribute to brand equity by creating awareness of the brand and or linking strong, favourable and unique associations to the brand in consumers memory.Foreseeing that the existing product lines did not sufficiently reward the needs of the 25-49 year old male customers, LS & Co. d ecided to address the opportunities in the casual slacks market by identifying its challenges to increase Levis slacks brand share.Levis slacks were considered to be more contemporary, little conservative and more casual than other leading slacks. However, its Action Slacks line fail to address the customer needs and fail to reflect the core values which therecent 501 jeans campaign had established successfully. This give rise to the idea of having a different market segment with a new product that will motivate and retain customers within the Levis brand franchise which promise to be different from anything it had sold before.To establish a leadership position in casual fashion, Levis Dockers was introduced where it was positioned as the new knee breeches to men as more formal than jeans and less casual than dress slacks. It was also intentional to satisfy an unfulfilled need in the mens pants market and to appeal to the baby boomers fashion demands.In order to achieve brand ass ociation and to create brand awareness, Dockers was eventually tract with a unique logo & a colourful pocket flasher which consisted of interlocked wings and anchors to integrate the brands name with its symbols.To enhance the brand, the pocket flasher was attached to the back of all pants and the Levis moniker was incorporated in the Dockers winged logo to establish an understated association with the Levis name. ruin of Levis communication strategy involved marketing Dockers pants to the retail trade as a major fashion statement an alternative to jeans and the driving force in the new casuals category.In an effort to establish Levis Dockers new casuals line, LS & Co. identify their key target distribution channel by concentrating distribution in segment stores and chains where its majority target consumers of 25 to 49 year-old men did their shopping and where one-third of all slacks were sold.Levis work closely with retailers in order to generate excitement and support for its new pants and had resorted to woo retailers nationwide, including those department and speciality stores that had previously curtailed business with LS & Co with aggressive marketing strategy with capacious presentations, sell-in brochures and swatch books. Trade promotions such as sales support, sales kits for retail-based marketing,cooperative advertising and sales promotion programs were provided. In additionally, supplemental financial support was also offered for advertising and promotional activities to important high-image department stores.A decisive component of the companys marketing effort was the establishment of Dockers shops within chief(prenominal) floor mens area of major department stores. With such vigorous marketing promotion techniques, retailers were getting more confidence in Levis products and were showing greater interest in advanced(a) merchandise techniques.Being sensitive to the market trend, the first in-store concept shop was introduced for the mens main floor area and key trade show was set up introduce Dockers casual pants to retailers.The Dockers in-store shop sought to create a friendly, accessible environment, prominently displaying the sporty Dockers logo and linking consumer advertising with point-of sale signage and posters.Levis also adopted point-of purchase advertising through shelf talkers to give consumers an entirely different kind of shopping experience which the concept proved to be very successful. Point-of sale displays were established in stores where shops were experiencing space or financial constraints.All the above product positioning and marketing strategy was able to overcome the initial reluctance of retailers and ultimately generated an exceptionally high level of prepromotion excitement in which Levis Dockers was also seen as the leader in the new casuals category and moved the pants ahead of its competitors. obeying that, LS & Co. shifted its attention to the development of an effective communicati ons program focused on the consumer. They recognized that a focused comprehensive consumer marketing effort would be required in order to establish Levis Dockers as a major brand.Given the market opportunity for casual pants, Levis believe that a high impact consumer marketing program would accelerate the growth of the Dockers line and generate consumer support.Part of the advertising strategy was defining target audience accordingly by demographically, attitudinally, clothing needs and purchasing behaviour and a focus group was selected for determination on the type of ads that appeal to the target group.To force Dockers, consumer advertising was adopted, commercials were aired during selective prime time slots and spot TV was used in all 11 major regional markets. Also Levis brilliantly chose the notorious fashion garment territorial dominion the New York City for their advertising executions in a bid to reach out to more consumers where TV spots were supplemented with subway signs and mobile billboards located primarily around the citys garment district.In addition to TV, co-op advertising with retailers, point-of-sale displays, sales promotion during advertising kick-off party, publicity campaign and follow up visits to key retail accounts also contributed to Levis successful communications strategy.