DOCKERS: . . . CREATING A SUB-BRAND1

INTRQDUCTION , . . . .

In the spring of 1985,Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) was.flush with,its success in the blue jeans market. The company's star campaign, called "501 Blues," had recently brought new vitality to the company after several faded expansions into other apparel market segments in the earlier part of the decade. Confident in the wake of 501's success, the company was contemplating its next steps when research revealed a decline in jeans purchases by LS&Co.'s core customer base of baby boomers. In short, the company's "bread and butter" customer for the last 30 years-the American male teenager-was now 2 M 9 and was moving out of the jeans market at an alarming rate. T o retain these customers even as their jeans purchases slowed or stopped, the company 'introduced Levi's Dockers casual pants. Dockers, as the name was. later shortened to, was one of the most successful new product introductions of the 1980s in the clothng indusy. Consumers responded to the product design, which u h e d the comf0r.t and casual feel of cotton, and likeable adverdsingby purchasing enough Dockers to make it a billion-dollu brapd by 1993.

Over the course of the 1990s, LS&Co. enjoyed phenomenal success from its Dockers sub-brand. The Dockers brapd achieved record sales growth in 1998 and Fonunt magazine e s h a t e d in 1999 that 75 percent of American men owned a pair of Dockers and that the average customer owned 3.8 pairs. That year, the total number of Dockers owners exceeded 40 million. The company noticed at this time that younger consumers began to lose interest in Dockers, however, with many dismissing the pants as something "their fathers wore." In the late 1990s, L'evi Strauss developed new advertising campaigns and introduced new Dockers sub- b r a d s td counteract this trend. Sales of Dockers remained over $1 biUlon through 2000, but sales growth continued to slow. Many questioned the brand's long-term relevance. Would Dockers be able to keep up with changing consumer tastes and shifting fashion standards? Could the brand maintain a loyal customer base while adapring to new styles?

THE ORIGINS, OF LEV1 STRAUSS & CO. AND LEVI'S SO1 JEANS In 1849, a poor Bavaiian immigrant named Levi Strauss landed in San Francisco, California at the invitadon of his brother-in-law, theowner of a dry goods business. This dry goods business would later become known as Levi Suauss & Co. Suauss quickly learned that the gold miners were seeking a durable pair of pants that could

. withstand their rugged lifestyle. To meet their needs, Strauss designed a pair of pants from a heavy browri canvas-ke material-the world's first pair of "jeans." Levi's pants quickly became an indispensable part of the miner's uniform, p n i n g a reputation for being as tough and rugged as the people who wore them. Strauss called his pants "waist hlgh ovetnlls"--the miners called them "those pants of Levi."

Strauss soon switched to a sturdier fabric called "serge de Nimes,'! made in Nirnes, France, to make his pants. The fabric name,'was later shortged to ''denim," and indigo dye was added to give the jeans their blue color. In 1873, rivets were ,

added to strengthen pockets, which had been unable to hold up under the weight of the minus' gold nuggets, along with the patented double arcuate pattern sewn into the back hip pocket-America's lust apparel trademark-and the 'Two Horse Brand" leather patch. By the 1890s, the popularity of their jeans and other dry goods had spread, and to keep better track of the expandng product line, LS&Co. adopted a new inventory system. Levi's jeans were assiped the lot number "501 " and given that number as their name.

Sales of Levi's 501 jeans grew through the 1900s. During the 1930s, the jeans' popularity burgeoned as Western movies began to glamorize blue jeans, establishing 501's Western mystique. Levi's jeans became an even more valuable product during World War 11, when the government declared them an essential commodity available primarily to defense workers. In the 1950s, appearances by teen-age idols James Dean and Marlon Brando wearing jeans in the motion pictures kbcI Without a Cawt and Thc Wiild Oncj, respectively, captivated an entire'post-anr baby boom generation. LS&Co. abandoned the wholesale dry goods business and concentrated exclusively on selling their own brand of clothes t o a generation that represented d o n s of potential customers. By 1959, Levj's sales volume totaled $46 d o n . The love affair with Lea's jeans continued into the 1960s as students started to wear 501's as.a form of self-expression. By the time of the Woodstock rock festival in 1969, Levi's jeans were the essential fashion forthe emcgng baby boom generation. What had onpal ly been a tough pair of pants had become a symbol of freedom, adventure, and independence. Levi's 501 jeans were now an icon, and the Levi's brand name became synonymous with jeans.

DI'VERSIFICATION: 1970-1984 For nearly 30 years since World War 11, LS&Co. had serviced a seemingly "bottomless" jeans market. Through the 1950s and 1960s, the company doubled sales wery three to four years. By the end of the 1960s, the company's operations in~ludedjeans, cords, slacks, and s'portswear for men, as well as a range of apparel for w o m k and children. In 1968, new divisions for youthwear, sportswear, and accessories were created. The Levl's for Gals marketing unit was expanded into a full-fledged women's wear division. In addition, Levi Strauss International was formed as a subsidiary, enabling the company to parlay its legendq All-American image to foreign consumers eager to own a piece of Americana. With all this growth activity, LS&Co.'s worldwide sales in 1969 totaled $251 d o n .

The rapid expansion necessitated further capital. In 1971, the company was taken public with an initial public offering of $47.50 per share. Sales continued to experience rapid growth as baby boomer teens entered college. By 1975, sales had reached $1-bdhon, and rose to $2 blllion in 1979. During this time the company's flagship product, 501 j m s , remained its top-selling product, and M C o . continued to hold nearly a thud of the U.S. jeans market. Production expanded locally and abroad to meet continuing demand. Nonetheless, given the slow growth among its

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primary market, 12-24 year olds, cash-rich LS&Co. considered alternative actions to i:::

hedge against an expected decline in the jeans market in the 1980s. ki !.i"i In the early 1980s, LS&Co. adopted a strategy to expand beyond the core I: ..

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jeans lines to ualize the Levi's name on non-jeans. "We are, not going to forget the ! .

gal we brought to the dance," explvned Robert Haas, then the company's Executive . !L: ,... . . ,.

Vice President and C O O and great-great grand-nephew of the company's founder. . .

'We want to reemphasize our central nature. But we want to bring out flanking 1 : .

products in our basic industries, to make them more exciting."2 The company I C

introduced new product h e r , covering a broad range of farmly clothing needs. ?/.;

Many of these came from within the company's existing divisions. Product lines included denim and corduroy jeans for men, women, and children; Action Suits and Tadored Classic blazers and slacks for professional men; and Activewear for sports participants-skiers, tennis players, and the general outdoors person. Counting I . * .f:,:' colors, styles, and sizes, the company offered thousands of dfferent pants, slurts, ,.. .-. + ,.. ... .

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vests, shuts, blazers, shorts, and blouses-even maternity jeans and jumpers. "I_. ,'. ." ,. . .

An acquisition strategy was implemented to provide for further growth. g I:.2

LS&Co.'s 1979 acquisition of Koracorp Industries, a ,6185 d o n Cahfornia ,... . F:.: , . * . .

c l o t h g manufacturer, immediately doubled Levi's women's wear sales. Koracorp businesses included: Koret of North America women's wear, Byer-Rolnick hats, k Oxford men's suits, and a European-based children's wear division. Other acquisitions included Resist01 hats, Rainfair industrial clothing, and Frank Shorter mnning gear. The company also established numerous licensing agreements for products including casual shoes and socks bearing the Levi's brand, as well as with designers, including Perry 'Ellis America, Alexander Julian, and Andrew Fezza to broaden LS&Co.'s scope of business into more fashionable clothing segments. As a result of h s vigorous diversification and acquisition strategy, LS&Co, owned apparel busi&sses that offered products to suit almost any lifestyle.

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COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY Historically, company advertisements had focused almost exclusively on the quality 52 I V..

of Levi's jeans for men. The ads, whether print or television, emphasized the C. ... . .

quality, durability, and rimeless nature of Lcvi's jeans for men. Western gold miner , . ,, . . . .. 5 5 ... ,

themes dominated the tone of the early ads. B e p n i n g in the 1 7 7 0 ~ ~ LS&Co. shifted k:; :i ;

its advertising strategy to reflect the company's change in product focus. The company largely replaced its tnditional western, miner or prospector image with

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more contemporary, psychedelic, and "hp" imagery of the day. Ad tag lines .. .

included: "Levi's don't have to be blue-they just have to.be good"; "Quality never goes out of style"; and 'We put a little blue jean in everything we make." At the p2

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same h e , even though i t was dversifylng dramatically, the company also wanted to ensure that American men understood that LS&Co. sull sold its traditional jeans as work clothes for men. Consequently, the company produced some ads that focused

,.. exclusively on men's jeans, retaining the traditional emphasis on jeans as th,iquality, , .

good-value pant for hard-working American men. When LS&Co. reorganized its corporate structure in the early 1980s, each

,.,. division became responsible for its own advertising strategy. As a result, the focus -.., . -. -- ... .

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of the company's ads shifted to target specific groups rather than selling products across divisions. Although LS&Co.'s advertising focused primarily on s e h g to men, expansion of its women's wear and youth apparel lines resulted in more advertising dollars being allocated to these two consumer groups. To sell its array of new apparel lines, LS&Co. expanded its advertising budget dramatically beginning in 1978. By 1982, the advertising budget had grown to $100 million! with much of that growth coming from increased television spending.

BACK TO BASICS Initial ,&versification efforts produced promising results. Starting in 1980, however, LS&C~. began a three-year earnings deche, Between 1980 and 1982,'saIes fell 10 percent and net income dropped 76 percent. Although sales 'and earnings rebounded in 1983 as a result of expanding r e d didistributioti toinclude Sears and JCPenney, they slipped again in 1984.

Many of the company's non-jeans lines struggled in the face of more established competition. Concern arose that the failure of a number of non-jeans products could adversely impact the cachet associated with its'jeans. Management had learned that while the Lwi's brand.was the company's most powerful asset, it also had its limitations in terms of the products with which it could be identified. With the decline in sales, the company began to consider further expanding its. distribution to accounts like Wal-Mart and K-Mart. Reflecting back on the yeus, Robert Haas described the situation as follows:

We had diversified tw much. We produced everytIung 'from hats to $2000 suits, but we no'longer stood lor anydung. We had lost our focus oq our core products. Our retad relations had sunk to a point of hostility.4

In October 1984, Tom Tusher, president of Levi Stqxuss International, was named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer..At the employee meeting in which his ippointrnent was announced, he indicated his fvst deasion- LS&C; would not expand its dsmbution but would rather concentrate on c h a n p g product f o k s and rebudding relations with its department and specialty store accounts. Under Tusher's direction, the company instituted plans to improve relations with its retaden and re-focus the Levi's brand name and image to bolster saggtng sales.

For Tushec and.Haas, LS&Co.'s main objective was to preserve the company's "important values and traditions." To achieve ttus objective, N C o . planned to move away from non-core products and re-emphasize its basic jeans and corduroy lines, which comprised almost two-thirds of revenues, and to "grow the company from the battom'he-through greater efficiency, penetrating market segments more effectively and through cost savings."s

STRENGTHENING THE BRAND iMAGE LS&Co. next focused its marketing efforts on s t r eng theq the Levi's brand. In mid-1985, after reporting a $114 million loss, the company was taken private through a $1.65 billion leveraged buyout, the largest LBO ever at the dm;. Levl's then began to implement the strategic direction outhed by Tusher in late 1984- shifting focus back to the core product businesses. Consistent with the core product focus and as a means to pay down debt, non-core businesses were sold or discontinued: Rain Edit in 1984, Resist01 in 1985, Koret of North America, Oxford, and Frank Shorter in 1987. LS&Co. also discontinued its licensing arrangements '

with Perry Ellis America and Andrew Fezza in 1986. The company closed 40 factories and streamlined staff, reducing payroll from 48,000 employees in 1980 to 36,000 employees by 1986.

IS&Co. also set out to reinvigorate the company's core products. At this time, the company faced both increased competition and shlfts in fashion trends. In the early 1980s, there had been a proliferation of new products in the apparel market. W i h the jeans market, competition had intensified at the same time that consumer demand began to fall. The well-defined urban image of Lee jeans and western image of Wrangler's jeans, in addition to the hlgh priced, fashion un?ge of Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, and Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans, posed a serious threat to the loyalty of the traditional Levi's 501 jeans buyer. Moreover, LS&Co., whose historic h c h i s e had been in the Western United States, found its sales failing to meet expectations in the Eastern United States, particularly in major metropolitan areas and among its key target market of 12-24 year olds. This slump in sales was due, in part, to the company's failure to keep pace with product changes in the jeans market LS&Co.'s products remained "non-washed" long after designer jeans and IS&Co.'s own international markets had begun to rinse and bleach products to appeal to more fashion-conscious consumers.

501 Blues The $36 d o n "501 Blues" advertising campaign set out to cieate an lrmge for 501 jeans consistent with LS&Co.'s corporate philosophy and values. The ads feanued a variety of real people "being themselves" by wearing 501s as part of everyday life in a series of urban East Coast settings. The ads' audio focused on Levi's unique, personal "shrmk-to-fit" and "button-fly" attributes and blended blues-style music with free assodation verbiage. The hope was that the campaign would remind existing customers of the uniqueness of 501 jeans and how comfortably they fit into their everyday lives, both in a physical and social sense, as well as introduce the company's flagshp product to a new generation of adults. The award-winning carnpa.tgn helped 501 sales double in 1985, despite the fact that overall U.S. denkn sales for the year deched, and placed 501 jeans of a fumer footing nationally.

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N E W CHALLENGES By the beginning of 1986, management was confident it was 'on the right track. The 501 jeans campaign had proved extremely successful among its target 12-24 year old urban audience. N& only had it re-invigorated jeans sales, but also had brought the ~ & i ' s brand back to its core values. Plans were to continue with the "Blues" campaign for the near future!

A per-capita jeans purchaies chirt prepared by the LS&Co. Menswev research department, however, revealed a troubling hcc 2 5 4 9 yeax old U.S. males. purchased an average of 1 to 2 pairs of jeans annually, as compared to an average of 3 to 5 pairs for 15-24 year olds. In 1980, there were 36.8 d o n men in the U.S. between the ages of 25 and 49; by 1990, this figure was expected to be 47.5 milbon, ncarlv half o f the,,adult male population. Although these baby boomers had grown. ' up 4 t h Levi's jeans and had,developed tremendous loyalty tothe Levj's name, they nowsought a different kind of pant. Baby boomers viewed t'hemselves as distinct from their parents generation-s they had proven by adopting jeans as'idds-ad they wanted their clothcs to be a break from tradition. Fashion, assumed a far greater role for these males than for previous generations: Although these men had aged, they st111 had a dnving need to be active, involved, fashionable, and comfortable. Rejecting the artificial fabrics tradtional to the Menswear business in the past, they preferred more natural fibers. At the same time, in the traditionally formal work environment, many companies were relaxing their dress codes to allow employees to dress in more casual attire.

For these reasons, male baby boomers needgd a pant that combined style, versaulity, and comfort that would be appropriate for both professional and leisure activities. This need was reflected in the change of emphasis on 100 percent cotton and cotton blends in the product mix in men's departments at retiulers was. I

Developing a Market Strategy LS&Co. recognized that the casual pant market represented an enormous opportunity. Benveen 1981 and 1985, jeans retail volume had decreased by 11 percent while slacks volume had increased by 19 percent. Slacks as a percentage of bottoms sales (jeans plus slacks) grew from 33 percent in 1981 to 40 percent in 1985, and the trend was certain to continue. Between the summer of 1985 and the summer of 1986 alone, slacks sales grew by 20 percent.6 Yet merchandising of slacks was uninspired, and consumers found the slacks department one of the most boring areas in the s ton. Moreover, brand fragmentation was more prevalent in the dress slacks category than with jeans, and there was no dominant brand leader. LS&Co. had been in the dress slacks market since the mid-1950s (its Grst non-jeans Lversification effort), but the top three dress slacks brands (Levi's, Haggar, and Farah) accountedfor 25 percent of the U.S. market, and the top five brands accounted for only 35 percent of the market. In contrast, the top three jeans brands (Levi's, Wrangler, and Lee) accounted for 66'percmt of theU.S. men's market, and the top five brands owned 75 percent.'

In addtion, natural fibers and blends were replacing the traditional 100 perccnt polyester slacks. Certain designer menswear, such as Ralph Lauren (Polo),

dld offer full legged, tapered bottom uousers that were cotton/cotton blend.8 Although these pants were often found in the main floor Men's department, they were sold as "Better Sportswear" with a price tag of $60 to $80.

LS&Co. was determined to maintain the brand loyalnf of the "Levi's jeans generadonn-who were about to enter into theit peak earning years--even if they were no longer buying ttadidorpl jeans. These men had been the cornerstone of the company's success and key drivers of apparel trends for over 20 years, The company hoped to appeal to the traditional, older main floor Men's customer as well as to the new, younger crossovers. As the ovenvhelrmng brand leader in the men's jeans market, LS&Co. hoped to capitahe on the changmg demographics and consumer tastes in two ways: a new h e of casual slacks and a new h e of re-styled, loose fitting jeans.

INTRODUCING "NEW CASUALS" The ens& division decided to fust address oppdrtuniues in the casual slacks market b i c i u ~ e it war felt that existing product h e r did not . , , sufficiently satisfvthe needs of the 25-49 year old male customers. LS&Co. idenafied its challenge as follows:

To increase our slacks brand share, Levi's must aggressively market and support trend-right products to create a leadership position in a market that is growing and has no category owner.9

The image that the Levi's brand had earned from its jeans business was thought to have already contributed in a h t e d way to its current slacks image- namely, that Levits slacks were considered to be more contemporary, less conservative, and more casual than other leading slacks: However, its Action Slacks line (made of 100 percent polyester) did not addregs the fabric shifts in the slacks market, nor did it reflect the core values that the recent 501 jeans campaign had so 1; : ' . ,

successfully established. As one LS&Co. executiGeie@lained: I I

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' We feel as though we've got the power of the Levi's brand, h c h is significant and cames with it all the mystique to be influenaal in,the marketplace. But we recopze

. that we need to'segment from a marke~g/advertising perspective because there are so many market types.'"

LS&Co. needed a new product that motivated the customer to remain w i t h the Levi's brand franchise but that was different from anything they had sold before. Perhaps with some reservations, LS&Co. was moving away from jeans again. In hs case, however, rather than de-emphasize its jeans business, the company was determined to simultaneously continue its strong core jeans focus.

To meet the needs of its customers and to establish LS&Co. as the market leader, the Menswear team believed a bold smke was necessary. They decided to create a new product ~ a t e ~ o r ~ - - ~ ' n e w casuals"-that would position the new pants to men as more formal than jeans and less casual than dress slacks. T o LS&Co.,

, "new casuals" satisfied an unfilled need in the men's pants market They were designed to appeal to the baby boomers' fashion demands: casual and comfortable, yet stylish; the right pant for a variety of occasions; and, of course, meeting LS&Co.'s high quality standards. The basic pants design was a 100 percent cotton, pleated, washed fabric with a "reverse silhouette" design-wider at the top and narrower at the leg opening--avdable in a variety of stylish colors. The company hoped that its new casuals, the first line to bring the full-leg, tapered-bottom trousers of "better sportswear" t o the main floor of department stores, would give men a way to ask for a pair.'of loose, unfitted pants. LS&Co. wanted this new pant to become the standard for the "new casual" pant category. In an effort to make ths new pant accessible and affordable, it was priced in the moderate to u p p a moderate price rahge, reetultng on average for $32.

Branding New Casuals To brand this new line of casual pants, the Menswear team needed to choose a. name, logo, and other important brand elements. T o attract the "baby boomer" shopper, the idea was to package the product with a memorable, trademarked name; a unique, permanent, on-garment logo; and a colorful pocket flasher. The team knew they could not simply call this new product 'Zevi's Pan,ts," The strategic marketing positioning of the company's very successful 501 ,jeans campaign had defined Levi's as jeans. Somehow the name had to establish ik independence and leverage the h ' s brand name in a way so as to maintain a link to the existing name and heritage but not detract from the core jeans focus.

At the time the team was contemplating a name for these new pants, Sue %re, a Menswear merchandiser, returned Gom a trip to J a p k with a pzit of Drill pants sold by Levi Strauss Japan named Len Docker Pants. LS&Co.'s Japatiese group had adopted the moniker from a Levi's pant sold in Argentina. Both Japan and Argentina had positioned the product to their younger age consumers, but with only limted success. The team liked the Docker name but knew Americans would never say 'Zwi Docker Pants." The question became how to shorten the name to somethmg Americans would say. In the end, the team decided to add an "s" to Docker and shortening the name to h ' s Dockers. The te& liked the Dockers name because although it did have some na"tid connotntions, for the most part it '

was consideired a neutral empty basket that the company could till with imagery that was relevant to its broad target audience.

The logo that was chosen blended the Argentine and Japanese logos and consisted of interlocked wings and anchors. The pocket flasher, attached to the back of all pants, consisted of a woman who was h g led off a ship by a formally dressed man but whos~~anerkion was focused on a relaxed, casudy dressed young man standing on.the dock 'Finally, to establish an understated association with the Levi's name, the h ' s moniker was incorporated in the Dockers winged logo.

Introducing Dockers to the Retail Trade Levi's Dockers pants were marketed to the retail trade as a major fashion statement-an~dtemadve to jeans--and the dnving force in the "new casuals" category. Based on the changing demographics O F the U.S. male population, Levi's projected "new casuals" t o grow from 28 percent of the total bottoms business to 34 percent by 1989, with contemporary dress slacks increasing from 6 percentto 28 percent and traditional dress slacks decreasing from 38 percent to 21 percent over the same period."

In an effort to establish its Dockers new casuals line, LS&Co. concentrated disuibution'in department- stores and chains where the majority of 2 5 4 9 year old men did their shop$g and where one-third of all slacks were sold The company worked closely with retailers, from JCPenney to Bloorningdale's, to generate exatement and support for its new pants. The company courted retailers nationwide-including those department and speaalty stores who had pfeviously curtailed business with LS&Co. in the early 1980s-with ,extensive presentations, sell-in brochures, and swatch books. They provided sales support in a variety of ways including sales kits that provided a "road map" For retail-based rnarkeeing, cooperative advertising, and sales promotion programs. In addition, the company offered supplemental financial support for advertising and promotional activities to important hlgh image deparunen t stores.

A critical component of the compahy's marketing effort was tne establishment of Dockers shops w i t h main floor Men's areas of major department stores. The traditional Men's department was changing, reducing emphasis on dress slacks and shifting to 100 percent cotton and cotton blends that were targeted to the more youthful customer. Thrs trend was expected to continue as the baby

1 boomer market segment increased as a percentage of the main floor customer base. ; Retailers were showing greater interest in innovative merchandise techniques. ! In recognition of these trends, LS&Co. introduced the &st in-store I concept shop for the Men's depirment. A test version was constructed for display

at MAGIC (Men's Apparel Gudd in Cahfornia), a key trade show, to introduce Dockers casual pants to retailers. The Dockers in-store shop sought to create a friendly, accessible environment, prominently &playing the sporty Dockers logo,

r linking consumer advertising with point-of-sale signage and posters, and making trial as easy as possible. Fixtures and tables were installed that allowed for displaying the pants folded, similar to the experience of buying jeans and &tinctly different from the rows of har ipg slacks. Testing proved very successful, generating twice the sales of pants that:were just hung on racks. In stores where shops were not possible due tospaceor financial constraints, LS&Co. planned to establish point-

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. The company's product positioning and markedng satigy.were able to overcome the initial reluctance of retailers, and ultimately generated an exceptionally h@ level of pre-promotion excitement. The company successfully placed Lcvi's Dockers in all of the Menswear Division's top 50 accounts and in another 50 accounts across the country. Retders saw Levi's Dockers as the leader in the new casuals category and moved the pants ahead of its primary competitors, including

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Gallery by Haggar, Savane by Farah, and "M" by Bugle Boy. With the retad trade behind them, the Menswear ~ iv is ion turned its attention to the development of an effective communications program focused on the consumer.

hunching Dockers to the Consumer It quickly became apparent to the LS&Co. Menswear Division that in order to establish Levi's.Dockers as'a major brand in men's casual sportswear, a focused'and :

comprehensive consumer rnarketirig effort beyond the avadible resources of the ensw wear Division would be required. Given the market opportunity for casual pahts, the Menswear Division believed that a high impact-marketing would accelerate the growth of the Dockers line and generate consum& support that could be leveraged to effectively influence trade awafeness and interest. The ens wear Division management team convinced Tom Tusher, who had erorblished an advertising reserve for special marketing opportunities, that investment in the required marketing effort to launch Dockers would produce the requisite pay-back to the corporation in terms of revenues, profits, and long-term brand ownership of the crucial baby boomer segment. With the entire LS&Co. organization behind ,them, the Menswear Division set out to establish %clear proprietary position for Levi's Dockers.

Advertising Strategy T'he advertising challenge was to build product and brand awareness for Levi's Dockers so that they would be seen as an unpretentious alternative to traditional dressing for almost every occasion. Thus, advertising had to achieve two goals: 1) because there was no consumer terminology for Dockers-type pants, the ads would have to educate its audience about the new product itself and create brand awareness; and 2) an image for the new product had to be created that leveraged the positive Levi's brand associations but also established a certain amount of autonomy or distance to slgnal the inherent product differences.

The target audience for the advertising was defined demographically as white collar working. meri between the ages of 25 and 49 who lived in major metropolitan areas in the united States12 These target men were expandmg their wardrobes to include more casual apparel made fiom natural fibers that were suitable for a range of informal occasions. LS&Co. conducted a series of focus groups with men in its target market. The men were shown pictures representing a variety of leisure situations and asked to select the pictures that best dejcribed when they were "most comfortable and.relaxed."

, The most coinmon scenes chosen included: a man sitting on top of a hill alone, two men walking together on a golf course, and a group of men hangmg out and laughmg on the beach. Even though many of the men said they did not tend to

I partake in these events once they were older and married, they s d thought fondly in reminiscing about them.

Based on the results of the focus groups, LS&Co: decided that the ads should create an image for the brand based on an emotichal appeal. The ads were to create a singular, appeahg, and relevant image for the brand that elevated Dockers

above all other possible alternatives. Given the target customer, the attitude of the advertising needed to be contemporary. It was important, however, to ensure that the s tyhg of the pants be perGived as timeless and classic. The men wearing Dockers were to be real, approachable and attractive, but not fashion models. The ads were to show Dockers as appropriate attire for a variety of occasions-for work and for weekends. They wanted Dockers to be seen as a way to be comfortable and casual in any setting. Therefore, the advertising was to emphasize the sociability of men wearing the pants. It was also important for the ads to convey the k h quality of the Dockers pants. h e and maintain the hk to the Levi's brand name and !

heritage, The Levi's name would help gve the new pant credibility and capitahe on the tremendous loyalty of the target group to the Levi's brand. Finally, the ads ; would use theUreality-based advertising style and imagery begun with the 501 ', Blues ads that LS&Co. wanted to continue. ~ a n a ~ e r n e i t ' h i ~ e d that men would ' view a Dockers commercial and say to themselves: "I h e those guys. They're Wre me. And I k e the way they look in those pants."

Advertising Executions Based on ths suategy, LS&Co. and its ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding developed a $4.5 d o n television campaqy for Dockers consisting of three 30-second ads of men in their 20s, 30s, and 40s having informal conversations about life. The situations were varied to include both casual weekend and work-'related setrings., The audio in the ad consisted of natural, unscripted dalogue.'while the camera worked k e an eye, moving around the group and using'extreme close-ups. The ads carefully sought to exclude any "yuppie" talk or yuppie accessories (e.g., Rolex watches). The focus was on the waist down, and no faces were shown at any time. The taglineran: "Levi's 100% Cotton ~ o c k e r s . If You're Not Wearing Dockers, You're Just Wearing Pants." As M e Koelker of Foote, Cone L ~elding'ex~lained, f'using '100% Cotton' provided a tangble bridge to the Levi's jeans heritage."

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Media Strategy The company planned to introduce Dockers through a multi-dmensional, high impact regional program aimed primady at consumers and secondarily to the trade. The consumer advertising was to provide a positioning and image umbrella. for both the consumer and trade markets. Dockers ads were slotted to run in fall 1987 and winter 1988 in 1 1 major regional markets where Dockers pants were sold. The markets were selected on the basis of retad placement of Dockers, potential for volume growth and geographical dspersion. The 11 markets were New York, Columbus, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Houston, Washington, D.C., L.A., Miami, Dallas, Charlotte, and Denver.

I h e Dockers media strategy used spot television in all 11 targeted markets. Spot television was considered the most effective medium to communicate the Dockers "attitude" because it provided a means of delivering the message to a broad target audience quickly and efficiently. The company chose to air its .'

commercials d u ~ g selective "showcase" prime time, sports, and late night programs. To increase overall effectiveness of the effort, the company planned to

show multiple commercials in a single program. In key late night shows, the commercials would be aired each q h t of the week? Commercials were aired in sports events that included local target market teams. In New York City, which was considered a key market because it could set trends for the entire country, television spots were supplemented with subway signs and mobile billboards located prknanly in and around the city's garment district.

Additional Promotion Activities In addition to television, LS&Co. 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.

Concurrent with the initial airing of the Dockers commetcials, W C o . organized an advertising kick-off party in New York City for buylng groups, trade press, and key r e td e'xecu'tives. In addition, a publicity c a m p a p targeted key market influencers with talk show fashion presentations and press kits. As a follow- up to its initial marketing to retailers, LS&Co. planned a series of visits to key retad accounts by des~~ners , merchandisers, marketing personnel, and senior management.

Initial Results Success for Dockers came almost overnight. Department stores ordered so muih of the product during its fust season in 1986 that W C o . experienced difficulty filling all the:orders. Since other brands like VF Corporation's Lee Jeans chose not to introduce casual pant lines of their own, Dockers continued to draw customer and retailer demand. Following the success of the initial "butt-cam" advertisements, as they came to be known, W C o . updated the Cimpaign to make it more stylish. The new ads showed Dockers pants bang worn for specific occasions, either at work or at play. These spots featured the taghe "Relax. You're Among Friends" and ran from 1986 to 1990. By 1991, Dockers was a $500 million business and enjoyed 90 percent awareness in the target market of men between 25 and 44 years of age. From this group, 40 percent owned at least one pair of Dockers. The avenge Dockers customer owned 2.5 pairs of the pants.

'Seeking to retain its current customer base whde attracting new customers, LS&Co. ,devised a new advertising campaign in 1991 that attempted to broaden the Dockers image beyond plain khakis. The campaign, titled "Nobody Does Colors Like Dockers," used vibrant color schemes to convey thls new image. Each ad in the series showcased a different color offered by Dockers. F O ~ example, one ad used only gray tones and featured the tagline: "Gray. What Black Would Look Like if It Lghtsned Up."

A BILLION-DOLLAR BRAND i By 1993, annual Dockers sales topped $ l bdLon. That year, Dockers accounted for

50 percent or more of casual pant volume in stores where the line was sold. During 1993, LS&Co. attempted to promote full-time casual office environments by mailing a four-page newsletter entitled "Casual C l o t h g in the Workplace News" to over 40,000 human resource managers at corporations nationwide.,The newsletter contained information about irnplekenting dress-down policies, as well as articles about corporations that adopted casual dress codes. According to the company, 19 percent of the corporations that received newsletters responded, including 81 of the Fof l~nc 100 companies. The year 1993 also marked Dockers' move into European t markets. LS&Co. established a Dockers Europe subsidmy in Amsterdam and launched the brand with pan-European advertising.

In the hopes of attracting a younger and more style-conscious breed of customer, the company unveiled its Dockers Authentics brand in the summer of 1993. LS&Co. applied the new Dockers Authentics label to pants and shrtts cut more stylishly and made of more sophisticated fabrics than the 100 percent cotton used for Dockers. The company allocated about 20 percent of the overall Dockers advertising budget, or $5 mdlion dollars, to a carnpiugn for Authentics. Dockers Authentics occupied roughly 20 percent of Dockers' department store floor space. In addition to a 500,000-piece direct-mail introduction, Dockers Authentics received support from a series of print ads appearing in male-oriented magazines such as Esquin and Outsriak.

WRINKLE-FREE COMPETITION W C o . also encountered a challenge to its market dominance in 1993. Companies like Haggar and Fanh developed "wrinkle-free" cotton pants that looked like the standard Dockers khalu pant but contained a s p e d fabric treatment that eliminated the need for ironing. Consumers responded positively to the wrinkle-free pants, but LS&Co. ignored the trend in the belief that the pants "[were] too formal for Dockers;"') Other pants manufacturers gamed ground on Dockers, causing .the brand to experienceslowed sales in 1993 and its f ~ s t drop in sales in 1994. In the latter year, Dockers' share in the men's khakis m&t'aidepa'rtment stores dropped t i 29 percent from 42 percent the previous year, as a hokt of lobk-llike and wrinkle- free competitors drew consumers away from Dockers. W d e - f r e e pants had grown from 2 percent of all pants sales at the beginning of the decade to as much as 15 percent at some s totes in 1994. Dockers' competito~ Haggar held a staggering 73 percent share of the wrinkle-free segment. IS&Co. realized that in addition to losing current customers, the Dockers brand was farling to attract new customers: research showed that men in their 20s had little interest in the brand, The company needed to ensure that Dockers remained relevant to ,the existing customer base

. . whde atuacting new customers.

"Nice Pantsn A f k t step in the domestic revival of Dockers was to catch up to the wrinkle-free trend, which LS&Co. did by launching wrinkle-free Dockers in November 1994.

The launch was supported by a $40 million advertising campaign that began in April. In addition to a new tagline-"Don't just get d r e s s e d - ~ e t Dockersu-the, campaign included four humorous television spots and a retail promotion linked with the U.S. Open golf tournament. The television ads showcased the wrinkle-free properties of the pants in scripts, that sought to appeal to baby boomers. O n e ad, titled "The Red Eye," showed an airline passenger executing various contortions in order to get comfortable. Throughout the elaborate maneuvers; the pants remain free of wrinkles. LS&Co, con tinucd to expand aggttssively ,in to this market, and by 1995 almost all Dockers pants were wrinkle-free.

Because many consumers had just assumed Dockers offered wrinkle-free pants before the line was launched, LS&Co, took a more noteworthy step that same year with the development of t'he sexed-up "Nice Pants" campaign. The focus of the ad series was a distinct departure from the male bonding scenes characteristic of the original Dockers ad series. The television spots turned up the sex appeal by featuringan ordinary-loohng male actor-the Dockers-wrrcaring a rcheh~e- pursued by a stunning female. .4 bout of somewhat awhvard eye contact led up to the commercial's climax, when the woman admired the man's pants aloud by remarlung, "Nice pants." The advent of Dockers Wrinkle-Free combined with "Nice Pants" campaign contributed to the reversal of Dockers'salcs decline. In one major department itore chain;sales of ~ o c k e r s rose 10 to 15 percent per year in 1995 and 1996, compared with growth of less than 5 percent in 1994. By 1997, Dockers re$resented 80 percent of all men's casual pants sold at the chain.

CREATING ANOTHER SUB-BRAND

Levi's Moves Into Businets Casuals Office workenin the late 1,980s witnessed the widespread acceptance of "casual Friday" by the corporate world:In the latter half o f the decade, many companies relaxed their dress codes even further by instituting a "business casual" standard that banished suits forthe duration of the work week. Just as Len's Dockers capitalized on the surge in popularity o f informal casual wear for Fridays and weekends, the company positioned its new Slates brand to capture what it predicted would be a burgeoning office casual market. At the time of the launch, however, the strategy seemed like a risk. LS&Co. introduced the Slates line in August 1996 into a market dominated by dress pants makers Haggar Clothing Co., which dwarfed ' .

Lievi's 14 percent dress ,pants,market share with 30 percent of the .market. .

Additionally, the dress pants market had experienced a recent sales slide,'.from $2.0 b~lLdn in 1994 to 11.9 bdhon iri 1995 In spite of the competition and t h e ' d n g category, LS&Co, executives felt that "there was room in a maq's closet for a thud brand."'4

For the twelve months before the launch, LS&Co. conducted extensive market research to determine the "Slates" name, the pants' prc-tailored cut, the in- store shop style, and the advertising content. LS&Co. tested the name on mock clothing labels and in fake news and magazine articles to gauge customer reaction to the name in print. Consumer testing revealed that double pleated pants were the

favored among men, as were hemmed and cuffed pants that did not require additional tailoring. Believing that odd-numbered waist sizes provided a better fit off the shelf, LS&Co. offered Slates in sizes such as 35 and 37. The company tested in-store displays with focus groups in New York and San Francisco. Over 240 retailed nationwide featured the mahogany-detaded Slates display's upon the launch. The company spent more advertising dollars launching Slates than it did on the Dockers' introduction, spending $20 million on a sirmlar introductory campaign involving both extensive television and point-of-purchase advertising.

RETURN OF THE KHAKI Accomphying this move into business casuibs was an overall increase in demand for khakis. By the end. of 1997, sales of men's khakis had risen 21 percent from 1995 to $2.8 billion. The success of khakis sharply contrasted a decline in the men's jeans market, which experienced a 6 percent decrease in growth rate from 1996 to 1997. Dockers began facing increased competition from the Gap in 1998, when that company introduced a $20°million television, print, and outdoor advertising campaign to promote,th& own khakis. Accordvlg to figures released by LS&Co., the Gap had lots of ground to cover, however. ~ocke r s ' c~ imed 26 percent of the khaki market in 1998, more than double its closest competitor. Additionally, Dockers more than doubled the Gap's ad expenditures that same year, launching a $50 million consumer marketing campaign. Dockers also expand'ed its product h e in 1998 with its women's, apparel collection, Dockers for Her.

A healthy portion of the 1998 marketing budget, 65 percent, went to Dockers' ''urban networking" program. The program, begun in San Francisco, hc t ioned as, a sort of cultural outreach, where Dockers sponsored,parties, dmners, 6Im festivals, concert series, and khaki giveaways in urban centers across the country. In order to coordinate these efforts within a city, the company created the position of "urban networker." The Dockers urban networkerworked from street level to promote the brand to the city's "visionaries." The networker's liberal expense account funded everything from intimate dinners at posh restaurants and rounds of drinks at popular nightspots to extravagant themed parties and independent film festivals. One reason for the large investment in the elaborate urban networking program was the fact that a sizeable portion of Dockers wearers ., lived in metropolitan areas; one-third of khaki sales came from the top 10 urban markets in the States. Believing also that the consumer public took their fashion cues from the trendsetting urban population, WcCo. sought to establish Dockers as a desired brand among the urban "critical influencers."

FACING NEW CHALLENGES

Khaki Competition a

As khakis climbed in popularity, so too did Dockers competitors. Khakis had been attracting a following in the youth market, and more youth-oriented brands such as the Gap, Polo, and Tommy Hilfiger appealed to teens and twentysomethings in a way Dockers, with its history of targeting agmg baby boomers, could not. Research

. .

revealed that the young geneiation of khaki buyers was inched to think of Dockers as pants that belonged in their fathers' closets. Companics likc the Gap, with its $20 d o n adlcampaign for its Gap Khakis, began massive marketing efforts to attract these younger buyers. I l ~ e Gap IGakis television spots featured young khaki- wearcrs dancing, singng, and skateboarding to background music that varied depending on which of the thcmes from among "Khakis Rock," "Khakis Swing," or "Kliakis Groovc" was Irighliglitcd. Dockers countcred the popular Gap ads with a youth-themcd , . ad of'its o\vn, using the tagbne "I(liahs w i t h a blue jeans soul" to connect Dockers wi th tlic Lcvi's brand. '1'ti.a t same \car, 1SB;Co. added another taglinc to its advertising, dropping "Nicc Pants" in favor of "One leg at a time."

In early 1999. U & C o fiirthcr modtied its llockcrs marketing approach to make the pants lnorc appealing to young consumers. i\ first step was to makc the link between the Dockers name and thc popularirv of Ahahs obvious bv rebrandng the line of pants "~ockCrs Khakis." hddiuonallyI'tbc company incrcasid its mass media advertising budget 12 percent from tlic prcvious vear. The centerpiece of the new Dockers Khakis campaign was a series of slick and scsy television commercials that were in completc contrast to thc original Dockers spots fea,turing men relasing arnongs t friends and "being themselves." . .

One ad, cntitled "Nightclub," featured a Dockcrs-wearing man'dancing at a stylish nightclub. Women cverpvhcre are drawn as if bv magnetism to him, or, more specifically, to his pants. Each time he finishes dancing wuth one, a different woman aggressively catches hold of his waistband and pulls him toward her for anothcr dancc. Upon lcaving the club, the man cnters a tasi driven by a woman, who leers suggestively at him. The spot cnded with a shot of thc man smhng while a femalc voiceovcr intones, "Durable, authcntic khaki. You'll wcar out before they do." The ad also marked the rcturn of thc "Nice Pants" tagline, which appcared at the end of the spot. LS&Co. also souglit to attract &he attention of retro fashion fans by introducing the classically influenced yet cutting-edgc styled unises Dockers K-1 Khakis. The K-1 Khakis were madc from throwback fabrics styled after military-issue khakis froni tlie carly twer~tictll ccntury.

I~vi ' s Business Woes The success of Dockcrs rcprcsentcd onc o f the fcw positive aspccts of LS&Co.'s business in the late 1990s. A s wcll as the company unuerstood the tastes of its aging babv-boomer consumcr base, it failed when it camc to anticipating what tlic 12-14 year old segmcnt of the market would dcn~and. As jcan dcsigns for the youth market bccame increasinglv dssimilar to the tradrional straight-legged Levi's template. young buycrs bcgan abandoning the classic dcnim look in favor of baggy pants with big pockets fashioned from sytitlletic fabrics. LS&Co. resisted changing with thc stylcs at first and subsequently fcll out of favor \kith the tecn markct. 'Ihe collective dsfavor took its toll on tllc comp;ln!.'s business. After achieving record salcs in 1996 of $7.1 billion, tllc company espcricnced a salcs slide and a market sharc drop for cach o i tlie nest four years, a period in which thc overall jeans markct grcw four percent annual,ly.

The company ended its relationship with Foote, Cone & Belhg, LS&Co.'s ad agency of 67 years. After a thorough review of its $90 d o n jeans ad account in late 1997, W C o . chose the agency TWBA/Chlat/Day. In spite of the fresh creative offered by TMBA/Chiat/Day, LS&Co.'s overall sales dropped 13 percent to $6 bllkon hom 1997 to 1998. The company's market share dropped below 17 percent in 1998, nearly half of its 30 percent share at the bepning of the decade. By comparison, the Lee and Wrangler brands, owned by VF Corporation, combined market share rose fiom 1.7 percent in 1990 to 26 percent in 1998. Addiuondy, private-Iabel jeans brands like JCPenney Co.'s Arizona label market segment climbed fiom a mere 3 percent of the market in 1990 to 20 percent in 1998. . ..

Troubles at the'company brought about stguficant~changes, the greatest of which may have been in September 1999 when Robert Haas announced that he would leave his role as CEO. LSdrCo. hued P u p Marineau from PepsiCo to revive to company; Haas stayed on as Chairman of the Board. One month later, the company suffered another blow when Moody's Investors service cut its rating on the company's $2.3 bllkon debt to junk status (thls large amount of debt was incurred in 1996 when the company bought back close to one-thud of its stock from f d y and employees).

LS&Co.'s stting of losses prompted the company to drastically reduce its domestic work force by closing half of its remaining 22 North Ameiica manufacturing plants and laying off 30 percent of its 19,000 imployees in 1999. Company spokeswoman Lmda Butler esplained at the time, "To maintain a large number of owned-and-operated plants is simply not feasible in this competitive muket."ls In 1999, N C o . lost $207 d o n as sales dropped 14 percent from the year before 'to $5.1 bdion. More drastic was the 95 percent dive in LS&Cp.'s net profits, which fell to $5.4 d o n from $102.5 d o n in 1998..\Xforse, Levi's jeans

.market share continued to hover near 17 percent. ,. . ,

E-commerce Troubles Contributing to the company's woes was the fact that LS&Co. did not enjoy the same success with e-commerce that many other fums did. Reluctant at first to offer products for direct-order online for fear of angering retail partners, the company eventually allowed customers to purchase clothing from its websites begnning in November 1998. Each brand-Levi's, ~ockers , and Slates-had a separate website with information about seasonal lines and retail locations as well as a n online ordering feature. The Dockers site also featured an interactive fashion adtiser that supplied ensembles for different occasions. 'The company touted its e-commerce venture with $5 d o n of web advertising on more than 20 prominent sites, including men can Onlink and Yaboo! According to the company's duector of e- commerce and retail marketing, Kevin McSpadden, the Internet advertising effort met with minimal success duecting traffic to Levis.com. W e n the company ,:

abandoned its online advertising scheme, hIcSpaddeh lamented, 'We dumped a lot of money into the Internet. It didn't p'ay out.")'

Instead of o n h e marketing, LS&Co. returned to the more traditional media mix of print, radio, and television ads to enlwen sales at Levis.com, with sundarly little success. The company operated the commercial site for 15 months, but it never turned a profit. Customers at thc site typically spent between $56 and f 120, but these revenues could not offset the costs of operating the site and delivering the products. At fust, LS&Co, prohibited websites run by its r e t d partners from s e h g jeans and other LS&Co. products online. When the company repealed thls resmction before the 1999 holiday season and allowed JCPennev.com and Macys.com to sell Levi's products, the retaderst sites sold 60 percent more merchandise than LS&Co. did at its own site. The e-commerce features of the company's websites were ultimately removed in January 2000.

DOCKERS TRIES TO REBOUND The question remained whether Dockers could continue to stimulate growth in a nearly saturated market: With every major clothing brand offering its own interpretation of the clasiic khakis, Dockers no longer single-handedly fded the' hole beween jeans and formal pants. To expand outside the now-crowded khakis market by attracting more "fashon-forward" customers, U & C o intsoduced the Dockers Recode brand extension in the spring of 2000. As a Line of business-casual 'tops, bottoms, and outerwear offered in a range of colors and made from stretch fabrics, Dockers Recode bore a greater resemblance to S i t e s merchandise than,the . onpa l "100% Cotton" Dockers. Both the Recode and Slates brands were eventually s t r h e d into the Dockers Pre+um sub-brand, which offered both k h - fashion and high- tech styles.

:. In 2001, Levi Strauss introduced the Dockers Mobile Pant, a pair of fashion-forward Dockers that featured additional pockets for' technolog~cal gadgets. An advertisement for the hlobile Pant displayed the features using a spy movie premise. In the ad, a woman uses X-ray spectacles to spy o'n a'Dockers- wearing man. She notes that his pants conceal mobile devices such as a ceU phone and a PDA, which are invisible to the naked eye. The Mobile Pant was a k h - volume seller for Dockers in 2001 and named a "Best Invention of 2001" by Time niagazine. Though still a bdhon-dollar brand, Dockers sales in 2001 were hovering

. . near the mark set in 1993.

~ o c k e i s Goes Hi-Tech Dockers began to focus not just on product design, but on adding new features to the materials its clothes were made from. It created the Advanced Innovation Team, who researched materials and ways to make them better. . , One of the f i s t innovations was Stain Defender technology. Stain Defender was designed using an, exclusive DuPont Teflon formula that formed a barrier at the molecular level to defend agimst many liquid spds. In describing the product, Dockers noted that s ~ d a r Teflon technology was used in the spacesuits worn during the Apollo moon fight, that Teflon was used in the case housing for the origmal Emancipation Proclamation.

Aside from fighting stains, Dockers also used technologies that affected fabrics in other ways. Color Bond was a technologythat resisted fading during h u n d e ~ g with the help of dyes that .formed covalent bonds on the molecular level with the cellulose polymer chains in the fabric. Using antimicrobial technology that e h a t e d the bacteria that caused odor, Refresh Action funcaoned on a micro- biological scale, disrupting the bacteria's ab6ty to produce the enzymes that allow it to gK6W and reproduce. The companv claimed this kept shirts fresher longer.

In an effort to make Dockers clothes more comfortable in varymg temperatures, the Advanced Innovation Team created the ~ockers 'Thermal Adapt Kh&. This khaki used Smart Fabric Technology that consisted of Thermocules (or "microencapsulated phase-change material") that absorbed excess body heat and released it as .the body cooled. These pants were priced at$60.

While technologically advanced, these products did not receive s ip f i can t media attention. Dockers reversed this trend and garnered media attention in the fall of 2004 when it proclaimed itself the "Unofficial Shut Sponsor of the 2004 Presidential Campaign." Touting a survey that revealed almost half of Amencans admitted to having a negative perception of a professional who had sweat marks on his or her clothes, Dockers advertised its new Perspiration Guard Shirts. These 100 percent cotton shirts wicked moisture away from the body, and then dned that moisture six to eight times faster than normal, e h a t i n g the appearance of perspiration marks. The shuts also had the new Refresh Action technology. The company reminded people of the famous Nison-Kennedy Presidential debate of 1960, when Vice President Nison appeared swean. and uncomfortable on screen, w F e Senator Kennedy d ~ d not show a drop of sweat and looked to be polished and prepared. Dockers sent one doGn shirts, which had a r e t d price of $50, to both George Bush and John Kern.. There was no ofticial endorsement from either candidate, and it was not clear if the shuts were ever worn. Nonetheless, the move generated publicity for Dockers as its new produc,t was mentioned in various 'magazines and newspaper articles.

Liceneing Agreements Dockers made aggressive use of licensing to espand its line of products. Dockers licensed its m e to the Haddad .4pparel Group in h?, with Haddad desigrung,. producing,akd, marketing a full line of clothing foqiboys, PIS, infants, and toddlers under the Dockers brand. This collection included banti, robs, outenvear, school uniforms, foonvear, and accessories. The nest year, Dockers esknded its agreement with Northern Cap hlanufactunng, in which Northern Cap designed and produced a full range of men's headwear, gloves, and scarves under the Dockers name.

Dockers also entered into agreements with companies that espandcd the Dockers brand to products outside the tradttional apparel categorl.. The companv entered into a licensing agreement u-ith American I'acific Enterprises in 2002. American Pacific designed and marketed a line of beddtng ensembles, sheets, towels, and bath accessories known as the Dockers Home collection. This was followed in 2003 in an agreement with O h c t International tomarket luggage and travel accessories. In 2004. Lacy hf~lls, Inc. teamed up with Dockers to produce

bedding and bath ensembles, as well as a new rug collection. Dockers' executives saw these agreements as natural exten5ions of the bnnd. 1n describing the association with American Pacitic, Maureen Griffin, Dockers' consumer marketing h e c t o r , commented, "Dockers Home makes, perfect sense as an extension of the Dockers brand. Dockers is known as being the resource for stylish, comfortable, and versatile clothing. Now we can extend these same great features to the home."l7

Dockers on the Auction Blofk LS&Co. had debt of over $2.3 bdhon and the company continued' to experience financial difficulty in the early 2000s. In 2003 the company reported revenues of $4.09 bdhon, markmg seven consecutive years of decreasing revenue; revenue peaked in 1996 at $7.1 bdhon (see Exhibit 1). The company continued to close plants, and by 2003 it had shuttered auof its U.S. manufacturing plants, even its landmark Valencia Street plant in its hometown of San Francisco (a small amount of Levi'~ and Dockers manufacturing remained in the United States, through agreements with other f m s ) . LS&Co. did provide for these workers; the company provided employee benefits for those laid off, and the Levi Strauss Foundation donated grants to communities affected by the plant closings.

The company reached a low point in May of 2004 when it announced that it was looking to sell off the Dockers brand. Some analysts estimated that LS&Co. could get close to $1.5 bdhon by selling Dockers. The company spent five months reviewing h e r s , and in October decided not to sell the bnnd. C E O PM Marineau explained:

After carefully considering the numerous sales offers and terms we received, and reflecting upon our improved financial performance tius year,,we have chosen to keep the Dockers business. We believe that we unll &eke more value for LSdrCo. and the Dockers brand by retainhg the business and driving its continued development ourselves. Additionally, the comprehensive sales exploration process we've been through during.the past several months has enabled us to identify a number of opportunities that we believe w d make the brand more profitable and successful. We are incorporating these ideas into our business as we move full steam ahead with our retiul customers to achleve our mutual goals.18

Ttus announcement came one :week after the company Wed its h d quarter, 10-Q, t h e h d consecutive quarter in whch the company posted h p r o v e d fi,nandal results ( M C o . is a private company, but because some of its debt was publicly traded, Levi's filed quarterly earnings reports). . .

The final results for 2004 were encouragmg for U C o . The company posted revenues of 14.07 b P o n , down 0.4 percent from the year before-but there were some bnght spots. Reported revenues were dnven by sales growth in the Asia Pacific Region and for the new Levi Strauss Signature brand, as well as stronger foreign currencies. Even though revenue was nearly flat, lower product sourcing costs and lower inventory markdowns led to an hicrease in gross profit of 13

percent. When all accounting measures were tahed, the company posted qet income of $30 d o n , compared to a loss of $349 the year prior. ' Ihs turn of events helped the company's bonds,,as credit rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's upgraded thdr ratings an Levi's long-term debt rating. Even with this good news, ,

and the company's overall financial picture improving, the Dockers brand was s d in trouble-the company reported that Dockers experienced lower net sales performance in 2004, down 20 percent to $G49 d o n .

Dockets New Brand Direction ~ o ~ o w i n g these disappointing results for ~ o c k e r s , LS&Co. made a number of moves to try and revive the flagging brand. In May 2005, the company installed John Goodman, who was Kmart's chief apparel officer, as the new president of the Dockers brand. Soon after, Dockers introduced a new tagline, "Dress to Live" that replaced the long-standing "Nice Pants." The new taghe was deslgned to expand the brand's position~ng beyond casual slacks to a "head-to-toe lifestyle brand."'" Whereas "Nice Pants'! only reinforced the brand's traditional product set, the new slogan encompassed Dockers recentlv expanded range of product h e s , which research had indicated consumers were not aware of. Concurrently, Dockers launched a new brand identity and logo: Dockers San Francisco. The addtion of the place-name "San Francisco" was intended to update the Dockers image from its "guys-club' heritage to a. more inclusive brand persona offering "a feel-good, look- good approach rooted in the essence of S m Francisco's stylish-but-not-stiff way of dressing." The brand's primary logo was updated with the words "San Francisco" replacing the anchor design that had been positioned under the word Dockers from the brand's inception. The brand sull used the anchor deslgn on clothing tags to provide continuity with the past. Launch ads featuring the new slogan and logo gave equal time to both mde and female styles and took place in , . iconic San Francisco locations, such as on a cable car by the waterfront.

Additionally, Dockers reorganized its men's line into four occasion-based segments: Work, Weekend, Dress, and Golf. I t supported this segmentation with a campaign called "Dockers Four Wearing Occasions" that illustrated the simple ways that Dockers could help men dress for all the activities that they engage in. .Ads for the campaign showed a man moving searnlessly through these four activity segments, with overlaid text identifying the appropriate c l o t h g segment for each. The own-brand Dockers stores and website were redesigned to enable customers to shop by occasion.

As a consequence of these moves, Dockers 2005 revenues held flat f r op 2004 that was a positive result given they had plummeted 20 petcent the previous year. LS&Co.'s overall fmanual performance continued to improve in 2005 (see Exhibit 2). \ W e revenues increased only slightly to $4.1 bdhon, net income rose by $126 d o n to f 155.9 d o n . These results were dnven by s e h g hlgher-marp premium products, such as the Levi Strauss Signature h e . The results also reflected continued strong sales in the Asia-Pacific region and, for the f i t time in years, stable sales in the U.S. market.

. ,

THE LEV STRAUSS & CO. PORTFOLIO OF BRANDS By 2005, Dpckers was one o f three brands in the Levi Suauss portfolio. The company also managed the Levi's brand and the Levi Strauss Signature brand. In addtion to being the home of the flagship "red tab" tine of jeans, the Levi's brand encompassed many new products, such as Type One jeans and I ~ v i ' s Vintage jeans. \\,?lilt the red tab line sold for about $35 in traditional department stores, Type One jeans were priced from335 tb $95 and sold in many upscale specialty retailers like Barnen New'York. The Levi brand moved further upscale with its Vintage jeans. 'I'l~ese products, sold in high-end stores Eke Neiman Marcus, carried a price tag o f between 5145 and $220. .

Levi's introduceda new ad campaign in 2004, tided "A Style for Every S t o ~ , " to promote the brand. These print ads featured real people and the personal connection they had with. theh jeans. Four months after its introduction, the campaign was expanded to include television spots. These ads featured the great lengths an owncr,would go to in order to reunite with a pair of Levi's jeans. In one ad, the lead male character shows up on his gulfriend's doorstep with a bouquet of flowers as an apparent'peace'offering. Once he charms his way back into her, apaitment, she leaves to place the flowers in a vase and he is seen snatching up the item he could not ray to-his favorite pair of Levi's jeans:

'To capture the discount end of the jeans market,, IS&Co, launched the k v i Strauss Signature brand in 2003. These jeans, priced at $21 to S23, were sold through large retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target. Levi Strauss Signature targeted the 160 mdlion U.S. consumers who shopped at mass-channel stores (where 31 perccnt of all jeans in the Unitcd States were sold). This brand launched its inaugural print ad campaign in 2004, targeting the primary value channel shopper- females over the age of 35. Aside from women, the campaign, created by Foote, Cone 8: Belding, leveraged its relationship with NAKAR driver Jimrnie Johnson to reach out to men as well.

CONCLUSION In the years since the introduction of Dockers, the brand had experienced varying degrees of success. While the Levi's and Levi Strauss Signature brands helped the company back to profitability in 2004, the Dockers brand had experienced a significant drop in sales that year. Even with all the material and product innovation that Dockers contributed in the early 2000s, sales had been well off their peak, and analysts wondered if new styles would be cnough to reinvigorate the brand in the coming ycars.

In spite of these difficulties, Dockers continued to innovate. In 2003, the company signed PGA Tour player Cliff Kresge to a multi-year apparel contract to promote its Dockers ~o"r!line o f golf apparel. Later that year, Dockers unveiled the next phase of its print ad campaign for its women's collection. Using the taghe, "Style that works," Dockers added its Individual Fit Waistband and Stain Defender technology to its women's line. In 2005, Dockers introduced its newest product innovation, Never Iron pants. Thesc pants had a special fabric and finish that gave them a "straight from the dry-cleaner" look, including a permanent crease, right out

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of the dryer (in contrast, the company noted that "wrinkle free" pants often needed to be ~ o n e d to make them look crisp and clean).

In 2005, Dockers introduced a new brand identirv, logo, slogan, and adverusing campaign that helped i t stem the losses from the previous Gscd y e s . Sull, the apparel i n d u s y remained a difticult environment for Dockers. In addition to continued competiuon from Haggar and the Gap, new threats came from teen hvontes Abercrombie & Fitch, and American Eagle Outfitters. Additionally, declines in world cotton production in 2004, combined w t h increased consumption, would likely impact the company's profitability. LS&Co. was faced with these challenges, as well as the task of fmding new 'ways to make the Dockers brind relevant and.interesting to consumers.