Levi's faced a unique problem heading into the 2020's. They were a legacy brand that everyone knew, but they had developed a reputation of being outdated, out of trend, and for white collar workers. The good news - jeans are arguably the only piece of clothing in a wardrobe that are always in style. Trying to break into a new demographic, how does Levi's target Gen-Z, a traditionally extremely brand loyal group, into seeing them as trendy and cool? Gen-Z lives on TikTok and Instagram more than any other platforms, so they knew they had to craft an authentic presence online. Levi's then sought the help of IMGN Media to help them curate the perfect mix of content to re-launch Levi's to Gen-Z and tap into the trends that lead to the highest engagements.
There are 2 major ways to break in with Gen-Z; tap into nostalgia, and be a brand that cares about sustainability and being ethically sourced. Levi's was set up perfectly to play into both. However, courting these 2 separate groups did not mean running separate campaigns, but rather executing one more efficiently - in the past 2 years alone, Levi's has grown its content needs by over 500%. The goal for 2022 was to leverage both independent creators as well as IMGN produced videos to create truly platform native content. Through active community management and customized gifting outreach to creators, Levi's has not only reached fans, but engaged and cultivated brand love around the globe. The account has also featured Levi's experts from their own team, including customizations from their lead tailor, Mallory, and history lessons from their archivist Tracey. IMGN kept their finger on the pulse of trends, taking full advantage of the popular “GRWM” concept and multi-outfit styling videos. A perfect example of this strategy came from when it was discovered by TikTok users that putting on your jeans wet allows them to stretch perfectly to your body while drying.
After IMGN launched a global TikTok presence for Levi's in April 2021, they have amassed over 1M followers - with 540K in 2022 alone. For standouts, the “shower jeans” video amassed over 260k views, with a 46.6% video completion rate and 14.78% engagement rate. Brands and “brandtok” have become an established cornerstone on the TikTok platform, and simply being on the platform in a platform native way is no longer enough to be successful – you must engage with the audience. In 2022, we’ve liked over 2000 creator videos and left over 600 comments which has resulted in the account receiving over 300 responses to our comments and have over 4000 likes on them as well. By embracing what it means to be a brand on TikTok and making content that only Levi's could, we have gone beyond just "branded content" and woven ourselves into the fabric of the TikTok community. In 2022 alone, the Levi's page has garnered 350.8M Views.
