In 1996 sales at Levi's Strauss & Co. reached $6.1 billion. But since then an explosion of competitor brands and the growth of sportswear and athleisure had taken its toll. Sales slipped to just above $4 billion and doggedly remained at that level for many years.

The brand's response was to follow the conventional wisdom of fashion marketing - market to influencers. Levi's previous campaign was designed to appeal to hipsters at the leading edge of fashion. It didn't work, chasing the edge of cool meant falling off the cliff!

A new campaign launched in 2014, 'Live in Levi's' helped stem the decline and delivered modest growth globally. But it was far from enough, and sales in the Americas, Levi's largest division (LAS), continued to decline.

Levi's needed a brand idea that could appeal to the masses as well as the few, creating worldwide fame and bringing the brand back to the center of culture.

Cultural Backdrop

In 2017, following the election of President Trump, Brexit, and the rise of far-right political parties, Levi's dropped their existing campaigns to respond to a divided and fearful world.

Levi's focused on its brand purpose of authentic self-expression, with values of optimism, inclusiveness and joy. These are all values that Levi's had long stood for, but this was the first time Levi's had crystallized these and taken them to the world.

Delivering on Purpose

The task was to create a sense of unity in a divided world.

At the center of the campaign was a film that showed how we're more alike than we are different. It moves seamlessly from group to group, from country to country and from culture to culture as we see the same thing; people coming together, forming a circle as they dance. Something we all do globally.

We travel from the American heartland to a street corner in Johannesburg, passing through a New Orleans Juke joint, a Hassidic Bar Mitzvah, a Russian punk club, a Jamaican dancehall, a Palestinian wedding, an Indian Bhangra club and a Mexican Rockabilly party.

As the story builds, we see how the Circle is a global phenomenon. The film seeks to inspire with the end line: "Let's Live How We Dance".

Results

The campaign outperformed previous campaigns, delivered increased ROI, and drove the brand back into significant growth.

Global revenue grew significantly, by +9% in 2017 and a whopping 13% in 2018

CAGR jumped from 2.9% (FY2014 - FY2016) to 11% (FY2016-FY2018)

Sales in LAS returned to growth:

Revenue grew by +4% in 2017 and 10% in 2018, following years of decline

Post Circles LAS revenue CAGR was +7% (FY2016-FY2018) turning around a decline of -1% CAGR (FY2014 - FY2016)

And the film became hugely popular:

The campaign has gained over 55 million YouTube views

The soundtrack became the most Shazaamed song

The film increased Levi's Youtube followers by 43% in one month.

In December, Adweek reported that Levi's 'Circles' was one of the top ten most watched ads on YouTube in 2017