As naming-rights partner for the pro-football San Francisco 49ers’ new stadium, Levi’s sought to engage and connect with new audiences through an activation to highlight values it shares with the 49ers and with fans/consumers in its hometown – values of sustainability and community. On a football field the city had nicknamed “The Field of Jeans,” Levi’s built a literal “Field of Jeans,” featuring 1.85 million square feet of playing field topped with nearly 20,000 pairs of jeans, donated by the community and 49ers fans over two weeks to a nonprofit used-clothing network. The only green on the field left was a swath of turf forming the universal recycling symbol. Levi’s developed a time-lapse video of the activation, which supported Levi’s “Built-for-the-long-haul” brand promise, referring to product durability. Levi’s pushed the video out through 49ers’ and its own social channels, and the activation became the platform for a powerful earned media campaign.

The “Field of Jeans” was an ideal creative concept to help Levi’s connect directly with consumers in its home community. We kicked off in late October with an in-stadium call-for-jeans announcement and video. Levi’s and 49ers social channels also distributed the video. Collection bins were posted at Levi’s headquarters, 49ers’ offices, partner locations and throughout Levi’s Stadium.

On Nov. 12, volunteers descended on Levi’s Stadium to deliver nearly 20,000 pairs – 12+ tons – of jeans, working overnight to create a literal Field of Jeans. The field was covered in denim, except a swath of grass forming a recycling symbol. Images and a time-lapse video of the build ignited local, regional and national broadcast coverage, and Levi’s and 49ers tweets directed fans to the video on Levi’s Stadium’s home page.

Levi’s activation went out to the world through a time-lapse video of the build, showing Levi’s commitment to community and its sustainability and built for the long haul brand promise. We achieved a 25 million social reach and 238 million impressions over all. Over two weeks, in one city, Levi’s collected and donated nearly 20,000 pairs of jeans, keeping more than 12 tons of clothing out of landfills. Fifty-six unique stories on the activation appeared in leading U.S. publications like Sports Illustrated, Bloomberg, Mashable and GQ Magazine, along with tweets with embedded video by key sports commentators.