How we
landed
Levis?
By adding a touch of colour to all of our lives.
Our mission
Getting this colourful brand back to number one, that was the name of the game. Partly due to the financial crisis, consumers had been increasingly choosing retailers' own brands. In addition to dwindling sales, Levis was struggling with its image perception. Looking for a reversal of fortunes, they found their way to our agency. Could we help them with the challenges they were facing? Why of course!
A basis for change
The challenge was threefold: boosting sales, keeping the brand healthy and aligning communication with the Let's Colour-platform, as required by the mother company, AkzoNobel International. Not an option: price breakers, crazy contests or sensational giveaways. What then?
We wondered about injecting emotional value into the brand and making it more socially relevant. We wanted to give customers a reason to choose Levis. And to be loud and proud about it.
Ready for take-off?
We showered Levis in feelgood vibes, catering to the customer’s need for social relevance. How about we let customers make a real difference in their community? Like, for every pot of paint purchased, donating a square metre of paint to their favourite elementary school. No hassle or hidden costs.
Adding a dash of colour to kids’ lives … isn’t that just one of the loveliest things?
3…2…1… Launch!
Subscription to the campaign being mandatory, for obvious reasons, we sent a direct mail to schools, full of wonderful, colourful things. We got off to a flying start: almost one in three schools participated right away. The mailing was even elected one of the best direct mailings of the past two years by the "De Gouden Veer" awards folks. Talk about a great launch!
Schools responded enthusiastically, naturally, but retailers were quick to get on board, as well. Because, let’s face it: retailer input and support is vitally important. As long as retailers put their own brands front and centre, Levis is going to take a back seat with potential customers. Do we need to paint you a picture?
That is why we started distributing colour cheques. For every litre of Levis sold, the shopkeeper added a colour cheque. Customers could then use these cheques to donate paint to their favourite elementary school, online and completely (hassle)free.
In the air
The campaign clicked on multiple levels: schools were thrilled, retailers responded enthusiastically, leaving only consumer activation to be tackled. Painting by numbers, really, when you work a broad spectrum of communication channels.
So we told the stories behind the participating schools on social media.
A DIY show and school competition on vtmKzoom and RTL piqued the interest of Belgium’s tv audience.
Soon after, schools started promoting the action through their own channels; everyone wanted to give their buildings a new lick of paint. As a result, after about ten weeks of campaigning, Levis was already seeing its impact.
Mission complete?
Creating feelgood vibes: check, check and cherry on top check! The image of Levis flourished, with the brand giving consumers a good feeling, as supported by our evaluation. But we were going to boost sales, too, remember? Honestly, we passed that test with flying ... colours. We hit the forecast numbers four times over, and even more impressive still: the downward sales trend was bucked for the first time in five years. Our campaign was greenlighted for a repeat showing the following year, with a similar approach, and an even more colourful creative output. How great is that?
+63.000
website visits
49.210
donations
276.400
square metres of paint
1.778
participating schools
