Case Study: Levi's Social Media Strategy Analysis

Now more than ever, retail brands are engaging consumers on social networks to offer deals, allow users to socialize around purchases, and more. Levi’s Jeans was one of the brands that used Facebook as a tool for sales and marketing initiatives and has launched a number of compelling campaigns using Facebook. I will analyze Levi’s strategies, tools, and activities undertaken by the company to leverage social media on a variety of channels.

Analysis

Levi’s allows Facebook users to like products on Levi’s online store and its Facebook page (which has nearly 4,328,095 likes) and share their favorite items with their friends. Levi’s promotes retail offerings with geo-targeted event advertisements on Facebook.

They also have a Twitter account with around 7,020 followers. They use it to post up to the minute information on their latest products, deals and exclusive events.

Let's review some of their creative social media campaigns that generated a more engaging experience for their customers.

Levi’s Guy and Levi’s Girl

Levi’s introduced a “Levi’s Guy,” 24-year-old USC graduate Gareth who engages consumers on twitter. He has around 8,100 followers and is responsible for responding to and engaging in conversations about the Levi’s brand on Twitter. He also posts announcements about competitions and promotions on his YouTube channel which has over 31,550 views.

The company also introduced the first Levi’s Girl back in 2010, which served as a female counterpart to Gareth. She acted as the new face and voice for Levi's Women in the digital space. She won the role after submitting a video showing off her unique style and personality.

Recently Levi’s opened it up to residents in the UK. To win a six-month paid position at the Levi’s HQ in San Francisco as the official spokesperson, social media coordinator and community manager for Levi’s Women, entrants had to submit a 1-2 minute video of themselves explaining why they should be the face of the brand. The contest was featured as a tab on Levi’s Facebook page. Adding this human voice to the brand’s communication has proved to be more interesting and engaging for the users.

Levis Curve ID

Levi’s is also getting consumers to try on some jeans — virtually — in a new in-app promotion with the Facebook game Mall World, designed to promote the Curve ID brand. For Levi’s, which introduced Curve ID jeans in the fall of 2010, Mall World was a “perfect fit” with the new brand’s targeted 18- to 24-year-old demographic.

Waterless

Another notable campaign was a Levi’s and Water.org partnership offering a branded app that taught users about saving water. The goal was to engage the users, provide more network exposure, promote the page, and eventually increase product purchase. The idea was a WaterTank game developed by Levi’s to support Water.org efforts to save water and support the organization’s clean water projects across the globe. By playing the Levi’s WaterTank game, users can complete a series of tasks to unlock water for Levi’s to donate $250,000 around the world as part of Water.org’s mission. The game included tasks such as:

1)    Like Us

2)    Visit a Levi’s store

3)    Pledge to wash my jeans every 2 weeks instead of each week

4)    Tweet Us

5)    Visit water.org to answer questions about water

6)    Find a Watertank QR code in any Levi’s store and scan it to show I’ve checked out a pair of Levi’s Waterless

7)    Make a donation to water.org

8)    Ask two friends to join me in playing Watertank

The game helped in increasing the number of likes, unlocking more than 66 million liters of water, and generating a feed story for each challenge completed resulting in more exposure for the brand.

Levi’s Film Workshop

Moreover, Levi’s launched The Levi's® Film Workshop - a place for collaboration and creative production that celebrates the craft of filmmaking. Everyone is invited to access the Workshop's equipment rentals, edit suites and other resources free of charge. It is promoted as a tab on their Facebook page.

They also have a Levi’s Workshops Twitter account which posts updates and responds to users’ tweets about its series of community-based venues for collaboration and creative production.

Juxtapoz x Levi’s

Levi’s has also teamed up with Juxtapoz, in the spirit of street art and graffiti to bring an enhanced version of what you have come to expect from Juxtapoz magazine. One of the brilliant art works done was The Levi’s Sculpture by Ian McChesney.

Levi’s FreeForm

Levi’s promotes on its Facebook page Levi’s FreeForm - a place where the users can share their stories about things and people who inspired them. This was also reflected on the Levis Guy youtube channel which shows the integration of their social media strategy across different channels.

They also use their Facebook page to promote new job openings, polls, manage community discussions, and allow the customers to write reviews of Levi’s.

Downsides

Levi's is clearly active on social media; however one potential threat could be the fact that they are leaving their social media efforts to a few people, rather than it being part of its culture's DNA. The Twitter link from their official website links to TheLevisGuy twitter account and not the company’s official account. Levi’s CEO - John Anderson - for example does not have any social media existence although I think he should be out in front, at least on Twitter.

Success Factors

I think personalization was a key success factor in Levi’s social media activity. A number of high profile campaigns have utilized the personal engagement of a particular character or person and proved to be quite successful, most notably Old Spice. It has been proven that having a 'Human Voice' in social media helps build customer relationships and positive word of mouth.

Their creative campaigns on Facebook are the fuel that drives their social media activities. Levi’s integrated engagement strategy with Twitter, Facebook and Youtube has a huge impact on creating and informing brand ambassadors who help drive sales through their own actions and word of mouth.

Are there other clever social media activities done by Levi's? What do you think of their social media strategy? Let me know in the comments below.