Branded online entertainment is gaining enormous momentum in the U.S. as the newest form of integrated promotion, allowing brands to reach and engage audiences and build relationships with these consumers through sticky, imaginative experiences. As brands shape their promotions around consumers’ increasing attraction to branded entertainment content, Levi’s wanted to tap into the power of this to create a huge moment that would inspire consumers everywhere to join in sustainable practices.

Americans want to share their good fortune with others, and this sentiment is particularly acute in the San Francisco Bay Area – the nation’s most expensive market – where affluence and poverty/homelessness abound in almost equal measure. Levi’s tapped into this spirit of goodwill, asking people to search their closets for jeans to clothe their neighbors. Then we showed them what they’d done, laying their jeans hip-to-hip, leg-to-leg on 49ers’ field, creating a dramatic video with time-lapse footage of the build to share and encourage them to make the world a better place by donating, washing less and line-drying jeans.

In just two weeks, in one city, Levi’s campaign collected for the installation and later donation nearly 20,000 pairs of jeans from individuals, keeping more than 12 tons of clothing out of landfills, helping the community reduce waste, water and providing clothing for people in need. Levi’s time-lapse video went out to the world, generating 25 million social impressions, showing Levi’s commitment to community and sustainability and built for the long haul brand promise. Fifty-six unique stories appeared in leading U.S. publications like Sports Illustrated, Bloomberg, Mashable and GQ Magazine, along with tweets by key sports commentators for a total 238 million impressions.

“When the San Francisco 49ers announced its stadium partnership with Levi's, they jokingly nicknamed the new home the "Field of Jeans," and now the company has gone literal with the moniker, covering the turf with donated denim for a day. The company collected … jeans to be donated to Goodwill, but first it spread them out over the 49ers' home field to create an impressive visual.” Sports Illustrated