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1) The brand is always associated with Comfort, uniqueness, quality. However, otherfeatures were also being emphasized as time was going by, like: jeans are tough and

rugged as men who wear them. This image was even strengthened after some of the

teen age idols appeared in motion pictures wearing the jeans. Soon jeans, and so

Levis brand, became a symbol of freedom, adventure and independence. This also

was reflected in there sub brand Dockers.

2) Dockers were a completely new line of product introduced and did not have similarlooking products existing in the market. Therefore, it was essential for the company to

educate its target customers about the qualities of the product and create a brand

association, thereby building brand equity. Therefore, advertising was designed to

achieve two goals:

a) To educate its audience about thenew product itself and create brand awareness;

and

b) an image for the new product had to be created that leveraged the positive Levis

brand

associations but also established a certain amount of autonomy or distance to signal

the inherent product differences.

- To achieve these goals the company followed certain strategies like:1. The target audience for the advertising was defined demographically as white

collar working men between the ages of 25 and 49 who lived in major

metropolitan areas in the United States as these target men were expanding their

wardrobes to include more casual apparel made from natural fibres.

2. LS&Co. conducted a series of focus groups with men in its target market. The menwere shown pictures representing a variety of leisure situations and asked to

select the pictures that best described when they were most comfortable and

relaxed.

3. Based on the results of the focus groups, the company decided that the ads shouldcreate an image for the brand based on an emotional appeal. The ads were to

show Dockers as appropriate attire for a variety of occasionsfor work and for

weekends. Therefore, the advertising was to emphasize the sociability of men

wearing the pants.

4. It was also important for the ads to convey the high quality of the Dockers pantsline

and maintain the link to the Levis brand name and heritage.

5. The Levis name would help give the new pant credibility and capitalize on thetremendous loyalty of the target group to the Levis brand.

Media Strategy:

- The company planned to introduce Dockers through a multi-dimensional, high impactregional program aimed primarily at consumers and secondarily to the trade.

- The consumer advertising was to provide a positioning and image umbrella for boththe consumer and trade markets.

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- The markets where the pants were to be sold were selected on the basis of retailplacement of Dockers, potential for volume growth and geographical dispersion.

- The Dockers media strategy used spot television in all 11 targeted markets as it wasconsidered the most effective medium to communicate the Dockers attitude

-The commercials were aired during selective showcase prime time, sports, and latenight programs.

- Commercials were aired in sports events that included local target market teams.- In addition to television, the company targeted consumers through co-op

advertising with retailers.

- Dockers Shops and point-of-sale displays provided in-store visibility.- Sales promotions (i.e., gift with purchase programs), were planned during kick-off

and key seasons to create in-store excitement.

- An advertising kick-off party in New York City was planned for buying groups, tradepress, and key retail executives.

- A publicity campaign targeted key market influencers with talk show fashionpresentations and press kits.

The entire advertising and communication strategy adopted at the time of Dockers launch

emphasized on introduction of a completely new line of product that would fit in any occasion

yet leveraging the brand imagine of the Levis jeans.

3) We can infer from the case that the sales of Dockers were decreasing from 2003. So

Dockers move to expand into bedding, bath, and luggage markets can considered to be a

good move, as this would have given the brand to expand its self andhave helped them to gain

additional revenue through licensing its brand name to other companies to manufacture these

products.

5) We think Dockers went too far in adding these features to their clothes, because to implement these

features they incorporated technologies which require huge investment. So taking into account the

investment for the technology the returns were not at all acceptable through sales of Dockers

embraced technological products. The main reason for not enough sales of Dockers technological

advanced products may be the fact that the cost of these products was high.

6)The Company operated its website for 15 months, but the revenues that it could generate

from online selling could hardly met the cost of operating the site and delivering the

products The Company after spending $ 5 million and advertising on 20 prominent sites

received minimal responses to its sites.

We feel this may be some of the reasons for the non-performance of LS&COs onlineretailing, due to which the company had to stop the e-commerce features.

a) Delivery feeMay be the cost to buy from LS&CO website was more as compared to the products bought

from LS&CO retail shops.

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b) Delivery ofDefected Product

May be the products that were delivered at the customers door steps were having somedefects may be in few cases only, but this might had created a negative image about thebrand to buy products through its website.

7)Appreciation of your current loyal customerbase.

*Host-beneficiary relationship: a partner/vendor company who compliments the services or

products you sell, and focuses on the same market demo and psychographics as you do, but isnot in direct competition with you. For instance, a Fitness Gym may partner with a local

health food store that is nearby to co-promote each others products and services withcoupons, membership specials, etc.

What is happening to our priorities here? We all know that it takes more time, effort andmoney to acquire a new customer than it does to upsell and sustain a current one. Do themath. This business building strategy would work much more powerfully if there were

elements in the campaign to recognize and gift the loyal customer base as well. Surprise your current customers; knock them off their feet, with an impromptu gift coupon of your

products or services. Or partner up with a host-beneficiary* vendor and reciprocate thepromotion of each others products via a referral gift campaign or simply a THANK YOU

for being our customer campaign. Think about how to create brand champions from yourcurrent loyal customer base. This is a powerful opportunity to build a no-cost sales force

out of your own passionate customers.