Red tags & sales slumps in the Guardian

[Paul T]

The UK Guardian ran a story on Levi's this morning. Personally I think we've seen a better analysis of the situation here on sufu - why they couldn't get insightful comments from any competitors or analysed Levi's problems on the basis of new information, I don't understand. For instance, why are For All Mankind seen as a happening brand in some quarters, whereas Levis' are outmoded, when FAM is ripped off from Levi's ideas? So is the problem a marketing one? And why so, when Levi's marketing, particularly in Europe, was legendary for many years?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2094549,00.html

[Chicken]

lack of leadership?

reminds me of apple computers during the "beige" era, when they were without steve jobs.

[>++fishb0neR]

Levi's has never been a trendy label, preferring to play up its historical status rather than try to jump on any bandwagons, a point the company openly concedes. Asked why the company's fortunes plummeted so dramatically in 1996, Levi's worst year, Onda admits the company failed to follow the shift in the denim market to what he calls "a more urban, hip-hop, baggier look - we were late jumping in on that trend". But, he adds, with the defensive pride of the captain of a nobly sinking ship, "we have always been a rock'n'roll brand, not a hip-hop one."

with regards to "bandwagons" i do recall the 'silvertab' craze that swept through my middle school (due to marketing on MTV), which subsequently died out around 1996:D

hipper, baggier jeans, if i can remember correctly....

but overall it is interesting-

i work in engineering/construction, and the number of middle-older age guys walking around here in levis is pretty large (might have to take pics for some of you real denim heads)...however, i leave my building to wander around downtown philly, and not one person in my demographic is wearing levis (hell even i'm wearing PBJs, heh).

The last Levis add i saw was when i was in London...in fact i stopped by the store near piccadilly circus, because i hadn't seen a levis store (non-outlet) stateside.

imho they seemed to marketed pretty well in the UK, especially given the raw trend at the time, but even still the store wasn't as packed as neighboring boutiques.

I just want to know why people pay as much for shit that's holding on by a thread as i would for a fresh,. unwashed pair that i can personalize..levis or not...

i mean it is 'fashion' to swing from the nuts of what's hot, but i guess Levis shouldn't worry, as they've stood the test of time til now, and still make the "original" that others are only temporarily profitting from

[rnrswitch]

It seems like levis is in a bit of a bind. On one hand they have the ability to make obscenely beautiful jeans, see their early lvc stuff and some new lvc stuff, but selling this line probably only produces large profits in Japan. If they try to get onto the "designer" denim tip they are screwed because Levis for most people, ages 0 to 35, associate the name with Mervyns, JCPenneys, etc. and anybody lookin for "designer" denim would not be caught dead not wearing some high class sounding denim name. If they choose to ditch their cheap line, then they lose their working class credibility, but if they don't they can't compete with the diesel, von dutch crap and even if they do ditch that line they still have to lose that image, which could take years.

It appears that levis fucked themselves. If they stayed dedicated to producing high quality denim, which they did up until the mid 80s, then they shipped most of their factories over seas or to Mexico after NAFTA passed in 94(Thank Bill Clinton). Levis is the quintessential (sp?) American corporation looking to turn a buck rather than producing quality goods. Willing to sell out their workers so that upper management and their shareholder get sweet bonuses after each quarter. They can lick my nuts.

[chad]

Hey Paul,

I think that these days the denim market is so broad in terms of price, design, and quality that it is increasingly difficult to compare brands. The staple for companies like Seven is denim at a premium price point starting at over $100, whereas Levi's has a core volume business selling jeans under $50.

Premium denim has seen the biggest growth and Levi's clearly does not have an edge in that area. Seven gets so much attention in the US because they have had phenomenal growth in the premium sector and have opened up the market for $100+ jeans at a time where the average price paid for jeans is around $35.

So I think it just has to be looked at on a level playing field. Levi's still gets lots of attention at lower price points, but new premium denim companies are creating buzz at premium price points and continuing to open the market with innovative trend led fits, washes, and styles.

[chad]

Speaking of brands, there was an article recently in WWD on the top 12 denim brands ranked by customer loyalty. The study was done by New York based Brand keys with the survey focusing on more than 3000 men and women in the US aged 18-60 who cited the jeans brand they last purchased. The list actually had Levi's at number 1.

1. Levi's

2. Joe's Jeans

3. True Religion

4 Wrangler

5. Tommy Hilfiger

6. Diesel

7. Guess

8. Rock & Republic

9. Seven for all Mankind

10. Gap

11. Evisu

12. Lucky