Levi’s is an American clothing company that has been defining denim since the 19th century and continues to remain a pioneer. Accepted by the audience worldwide, Levi’s jeans are sold in about 3,000 retail stores and more than 110 countries.
In this blog we have covered the marketing mix of Levi’s explaining the 4Ps in detail, let us first know more about the company.
About Levi’s
Levi Strauss & Co. was established in 1853, headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is a public company founded by Levi Strauss. Levi’s products are sold through online sites, chain retailers, and department stores. Along with designing jeans for men, women, and children, the company also markets and designs casual wear coupled with other accessories.
Levi’s is observed to prize upon the comfort, design, and durability that its products offer. Ever since the brand’s launch, it has been growing tremendously at a quick pace making a total revenue of 53% in 2020 mostly from America. Let’s know the reasons behind the success of Levi’s through its 4Ps in Marketing Mix.
Marketing Mix of Levi’s
For brands to have effective marketing the brand must concentrate on a range of different aspects instead of focussing on just one aspect. This is where Marketing Mix comes into play which helps brands to concentrate on numerous areas, thereby, making a more comprehensive marketing plan, classified under the 4Ps: product, placement, price, and promotion.
Let us look at the marketing mix of Levis-
1. Product Strategy of Levi’s
The brand has gained a loyal customer base with Levi’s jeans over several years. This is because Levi’s makes sure that customers get so used to the pattern, class, and reliability it offers that they do not wish to switch to any other brand.
About 30 steps are involved in the manufacturing process of Levi’s jeans which tells you the immense manufacturing skills that go into the making of the product. Unique design, dual seam durability, five-pocket convenience makes Levi’s stand out among its competitors.
Although colour variants like khaki, black, grey, green have received recognition over the years, Levi’s classic blue jeans are its most stand-out product in the Product Mix of Levi’s. Its jeans come in several fits: taper, slim, boot cut, skinny, flare, relaxed, and big and tall. Every pair of jeans has a uniquely identifiable 3 digit number series namely from 500s, available for men and women to 300, 400 available for women. Levi’s also has an assorted mix of shorts, jackets, trousers, jeans, skirts, socks, sweaters, belts, jumpsuits, underwear, dresses, and accessories.
The company believes in product innovation and differentiation to tackle the competition in the industry and to create a strong brand identity.
2. Price Strategy of Levi’s
The company has a policy of maintaining standard pricing all over the world. Their pricing is mid-ranged which can be afforded by middle-class and upper-middle-class sections.
Owning to a brand being an established player, price segmentation is a risky strategy. Levi’s jeans price is influenced by numerous factors like affordability for target customers, cost & demand of the product, and its famous features & uniqueness.
In India, Levi’s jeans price ranges from INR 1299 to 7000, covering both the price-sensitive and luxurious style customers.
The company also follows price discrimination policy in various countries which means they sell the same product for different prices in different countries.
3. Placement Strategy of Levi’s
Levi Strauss and Co.’s operation takes place in 3 main geographic divisions: Levi’s Strauss Asia, Levi’s Strauss Europe, and Levi’s Strauss America. The main headquarters of Levi’s is in San Francisco. Operations of Middle East Asian regions like Oman, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar are also managed under Asia-specific divisions.
An effective and efficient delivery and supply chain is maintained by the company via an innovative franchise model, duly formed distribution chain, and competent staff. They give customers different buying options from the various present distribution channels, including franchisee-owned retail outlets and showrooms.
Presently, Levi’s has 15000+ franchise stores and around 3500 outlets all around the world.
It is present in about 1500 stores across India which comprises 400 multi-brand outlets and exclusive stores like Lifestyle and Shoppers Stop
4. Promotion Strategy of Levi’s
Levi’s uses all kinds of media for its promotional activities like TV, newspaper, and magazine. The company is also present on different social media platforms to increase its reach. They have launched different campaigns and have their own company song as well.
While trying to market itself to youth, Levi’s always tends to take care of the aspects of individuality and uniqueness, established by the “Be Yourself” campaign that received a lot of appraisals. Levi’s organized public exhibitions in Europe to not only majorly promote itself but also to trace its development from almost 150 years back.
As a part of the promotional efforts of the brand, Levi’s introduced an environment-friendly “smart jacket” with waterless technology a few years ago. To promote Levi’s jeans in Walmart, from 2002 to 2006, the brand introduced a signature range of jeans for only those customers who prefer buying from Walmart. Levi’s launched a campaign with Red Tab Foundation which provided financial help to retired employees.
In India, with the help of newspaper print ads, internet, billboards, television ads, hoarding, and through brand ambassadors like Akshay Kumar and now Deepika Padukone, Levi’s has found a huge audience to cater to.
Conclusion
Levi’s today is one of the world’s largest apparel companies and it is the market leader in the jeans section specifically. Consumers spend a little extra for the brand because of the good quality products, they get a perception of a premium brand at affordable prices. Levi’s stores are also an attractive part as they are so well designed that they attract customers and give them an aura of superiority. The company is doing well overall, they just need to focus on brand innovation and should try to enter new market segments with new products.
Thank you for reading this case study on Levi’s.
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