DOCKERS: CREATING A SUB-BRAND

How would you characterize Levis Branding Strategy in general? What are the positive aspects? Are there any negative aspects?In the initial years Levis positioned itself as the makers of blue jeans 501 that were indispensable part of the miners uniform, tough & rugged and have trademark Two Horse Logo. The target audience of the Levis was the baby bloomers. The points of parity & points of difference at that point of time was that the pants were durable and were comfortable for the gold miners. So in initial years Levis focus on these segments only.In 1970s LS&Co. decided to diversify & launched Jeans, Cords, Slacks, Sportswear for men, range for women and children. New Divisions were created for youth wear, sportswear & accessories, Gals marketing unit expanded into womens wear division. Levis Strauss International launched as subsidiary. Rapid expansion necessitated capital so company was taken to public. Sales boomed for the decade. 501 Jeans remained the top selling brand. Production was expanded locally & abroad to meet the continuous demand. Slow growth among its primary market 12-24 years old forced LS&Co to consider alternatives action to hedge against an expected decline in the jeans market in1980. LS&Co adapted a strategy to expand beyond core jeans lines to utilize Levis name on non jeans. Introduction of new product lines covering a broad range of family clothing was needed. Product line included Denim & Corduroy Jeans. Offered thousand of pants, slacks, vests, shirts, blazers & blouses. Acquisition of Koracarp Industries, Resistol Hats, Rainfair Industrial Clothing & Frank Starter Running Gear. Numerous licensing arrangements were done for products including shoes & socks and also with designers.

Brand Salience: Durable Pair of Pants, Withstand with the rugged lifestyle of the Gold

Miners.

Imagery: Pants for Hard Working American Men. Casual, Timeless Nature, Western Image.

Performance:Quality, Durable, Work Clothes, Stylish

Feelings: Feel of Cotton, Comfortable, Essential Fashion, Blue Colour.Judgments: Prospector, Good Working Cloths, Self Expression, Superior Quality, Likeable ad Campaigns. Right pants for variety of occasions.

Resonance: Those pants of Levi, Positive image among various demographics, Essential for teenagers.

Change in Communication Strategy:

Historically focused on exclusive quality if Levis for mens.

Ads, whether Print or television emphasizes on quality, durability & timeless nature of Levis. In 1970, It shifted its advertising strategy to reflect the companys change in product focus.

Replaced traditional Western Miner or Prospector image with more contemporary, psychedelic, and hip imagery of the day.

By 1982, the advertising budget had grown to $100 million.

Lost touch :

Levis dont have to be bluethey just have to be good

Quality never goes out of style

We put a little blue jean in everything we make.

LS&Co adopted adual approach, on one side they want to be contemporary, psychedelic & Hip imagery therefore wanted to ensure that American men understood that LS&Co still sold its traditional jeans as work clothes.

Reconstruction of strategy, each division was responsible for its own advertising strategy, focus shifted to target specific groups rather than selling products across division. More advertisement dollars allocated to Womens wear & Youth Apparels. Resulted in Non-Jeans lines struggled & face tough competition. Expands distribution to Wall Mart & K-Mart.

In general if we analyze the strategy the LS& Co:

Diversified too much.

Produced every thing form Hats to Suits.

No longer Stood for anything.

Lost focus on core products.

Retail relations sunk to a part of hostility.

After consecutive years of loss, the company was taken private through a $1.65 billion leveraged buyout.

A paradigm shifting of focus back to the core product businesses was done.

Many non core lines were either discontinued or sold off.

At this time, the company faced both increased competition and shifts in fashion trends.

At this time, the $36 million 501 Blues advertising campaign set out to create an image for 501 jeans consistent with LS&Co.s corporate philosophy and values.

It was felt that existing product lines did not sufficiently satisfy the needs of the 2549 year old male customers.

The idea was to package the product with a memorable, trademarked name; a unique, permanent, on-garment logo; and a colorful pocket flasher.

After the successful 501 jeans campaign defining Levis as jeans, meant the new brand had to establish its independence and leverage the Levis brand name in a way so as to maintain a link to the existing name and heritage but not detract from the core jeans focus.

Launch of Dockers:

Decision was made to create a new product Category New Casuals. New Casuals satisfied the unfilled need in the mens pant market.

Package the product with a memorable, trademarked name, a unique, permanent, on-garments logo and a colorful pocket flasher.

The strategic market positioning of the companys very successful 501 jean campaign had defined Levis as jeans, so the new brand name has to establish its independence and leverage Levis brand name in a way to maintain a link to existing name & heritage but not detract form the core jean focus.

The name Dockers was taken from a Levi brand in Japan and Argentina.

Dockers name was ideal because although it did have some nautical connotations, for the most part it was considered a neutral empty basket that the company could fill with imagery that was relevant to its broad target audience.

The logo that was chosen blended the Argentine and Japanese logos and consisted of interlocked wings and anchors.

The company courted retailers with extensive presentations, sell-in brochures, and swatch books.

A critical component of the companys marketing effort was the establishment of Dockers shops within main floor Mens areas of major department stores.

Advertising Strategy had to achieve two goals:

Because there was no consumer terminology for Dockers-type pants, the ads would have to educate its audience about the new product itself and create brand awareness; and

An image for the new product had to be created that leveraged the positive Levis brand associations but also established a certain amount of autonomy or distance to signal the inherent product differences.

Target Audience and Advertisements:

The target audience for the advertising was defined demographically as white collar working men between the ages of 25 and 49 who lived in major metropolitan areas.

The ads were to create a singular, appealing, and relevant image for the brand that elevated Dockers above all other possible alternatives.

The men wearing Dockers were to be real, approachable and attractive, but not fashion models.

The Levis name would help give the new pant credibility and capitalize on the tremendous loyalty of the target group to the Levis brand.

The focus was on the waist down, and no faces were shown at any time.

The tagline ran: Levis 100% Cotton Dockers. If Youre Not Wearing Dockers, Youre Just Wearing Pants.

The Result was that the consumers responded to the product design, which utilized the comfort and casual feel of cotton, and likeable advertising by purchasing enough Dockers to make it a billion-dollar brand by 1993. The fastest-growing clothing brand in history. Fortune magazine estimated in 1999 that 75 percent of American men owned a pair of Dockers.

Two brand names: Levis and Dockers

Levi's moniker was incorporated in the Dockers' winged logo to establish an understated association with the Levi's name.

Sub-brands Levis Signature.

Positive Aspects:

Successful sub-branding strategy

Capitalize on the strengths of the Levis brand

Differentiates between Levis and Dockers

Negative Aspects:

Dockers image was not appealing to many consumers

Dockers brand idea does not support the new trends in the market.

Lesson learnt form Levis:

Intensify, dont multiply. Instead of accentuating its core brand values, Levis has confused jeans buyers with an apparently limitless array of different styles. As brand expert Al Ries has put it: In the long term, expanding your brand will diminish your power and weaken your image.

Focus on your strengths. If Levis stands for anything it stands for the original jean. In order to fully recover it will need to consolidate and strengthen this identity.

Dont look down on your original brand. When Levis launched the Silvertab range it fell into the same trap as Coca-Cola when they launched New Coke. As branding expert and journalist Ian Cocoran has pointed out, Levis now seems to have a real problem in convincing the consumer that ownership of the previously indomitable red label still represents sufficient kudos to command exclusivity.

Question: Analyze Dockerss communication strategy at the time of the launch. How did it fit in with past Levis advertising efforts? How did it contribute to brand equity? The advertisement creates an image for the brand based on an emotional appeal.

The attitude of the advertising was contemporary to ensure the styling of the pants be perceived as timeless and classic. At time of launch, product focused, consistent with some Levis advertising from the 1980s.

Other Levis ads very image-oriented, Dockers did not add an image element until later.

Part of the advertising strategy was defining target audience accordingly by demographically, attitudinally, clothing needs and purchasing behavior and a focus group was selected for determination on the type of ads that appeal to the target group.

To advertise Dockers, consumer advertising was adopted; commercials were aired during selective prime time slots and spot TV was used in all 11 major regional markets.

The consumer advertising was to provide a positioning and image umbrella for both the consumer and the trade markets.

Targeted consumer through co-op advertising with retailers an old Levis advertising efforts. Sales promotions planned during kick off & key season to create in-store excitement.

Dockerss contributed to brand equity bya)There was no consumer terminology for Dockers-type pants, the ads would have to educate its audience about the new product itself and create brand awareness; and

2) An image for the new product had to be created that leveraged the positive Levis brand associations but also established a certain amount of autonomy or distance to signal the inherent product differences.

Question: How would you characterize the Dockers brand image? What makes up its brand equity? Evaluate the move to expand the line into bedding, bath and luggage markets.Brand image

Casual dress brand, positioned in between jeans and dress clothing

At the time of its launch, the brand image tied almost exclusively to the khakis popular with the suburban set

Dockers updated its communication strategy and its design styles to convey a more sophisticated, urban image

Brand equity

High awareness

High market penetration

Strong channel support

Positive image in numerous demographic segments

Again Dockers plans to diversify its brand and is diluting the brand as it failed earlier, the chacnces are that they would probably fail again as the financial position is also not very encouraging.

Question - Describe some of the changes in the Dockers marketing strategy from its debut. Has LS & Co. maintained a consistent enough marketing message? Are they well positioned strategically and tactically to maintain their strong leadership status in coming years?

Dockers altered advertising to convey a more sophisticated image

Nice Pants offered more edginess, more sexiness, less stuffiness, younger target

One Leg at a Time was a departure, confused consumers

Levi's work closely with retailers in order to generate excitement and support for its new pant

Trade promotions such as sales support, sales kits for retail-based marketing, cooperative advertising and sales promotion programs were provided.

Returned to Nice Pants, better consistency.

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.

Levi's 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.

Dockers is positioned well

Leading brand of casual pants

High awareness levels

Many different lines, broad market coverage.

Dockers need to do the product development by using the technology; they have created certain new products. They should continue to do it. Question -Dockers missed out on the wrinkle free trend when it first surfaced. Not incorporating this technology into pants hurt the company. Years later, Dockers embraced technology in its products, creating the Thermal Adapt Khaki and Perspiration Guard shirt. Was adding this technology to their products the right move, or did Dockers go too far in adding these features to their clothes? Challenge of changing the image among young consumers

Necessary to target this market.

The company has to move with the times and incorporate the best and the most innovative technology available. In highly competitive market, the need is to differentiate your product. By giving these options Dockers presents the point of difference to the consumers, there fore in my opinion Dockers Did not go too far.

Evaluate Dockerss decision to stop selling products directly to consumers on its website. Dockers main competitors are heavily involved in online retailing. Should Dockers reconsider their decision? LS&Co. did not enjoy the e-commerce success.

Reluctant to offer products for direct order online for fear of angering retail partners.

Each Brand Levis. Dockers. And Slates had separate website with information about the seasonal lines & retail locations as well as online ordering feature. Touted its e-commerce venture with $5 million of web advertising on more than 20mprominent sites.

The internet advertising effort met with minimal success directing traffic to Levis.com The revenue from the website could not offset the costs of operating the site and delivering the products.

The retailers sites sold 60 % more merchandise than LS&Co did at its own website.

LS&Co should approach more retailers like Macys.com to have tie up with them to sell their products online.

Imagine you are John Goodman and have just been named as the head of the Dockers Brand. What are your priorities? What do you do first?

As Dockers had introduced new identity, logo, slogan and advertising campaign that helped in stem the losses from the previous fiscal year, my priority is to make continuous efforts in redefining the marketing initiatives for the Dockers.

Conduct extensive marketing research to assess the image of Dockers among different market segments.

Analyze the possibilities of extending the brand, especially using sub-brands in order to attract new customers, while keeping the brand relevant.