FROM THE ARCHIVE
Levi’s 501 Originals Campaign
Shot by Nick Knight
Styled by Simon Foxton
A Kind of Early 360
If you look at this campaign now you will probably wonder, why? Why would a brand targeting the youth market use ‘old’ cowboys for a major ad campaign?
Because this is a Brand which has always been intensely proud of its heritage, of telling its’ story and never shying away from taking risks.
The print campaign ‘Originals’ was shot over 20 years ago and leveraged the power of the influential creative team behind the seminal ‘The Face’ magazine. The campaign implemented first as an advertorial before being rolled out across media, OOH and point-of-sale in Original Levi’s Stores UK-wide, caused much discussion among ‘brandanistas’. The conversation took over publications from national newspapers to music magazines – an early case of viral even if it was via print.
To officially launch the campaign to the hip and happening young things of the time we turned the Levi’s Flagship Store on Regent’s Street into a gallery with massive prints of these powerful images hung over product moments in the store. In the event space downstairs, there was the obligatory DJ and live band and of course a bar; the store, often the venue for such events, was packed with the most influential people of the day from design, music, art and fashion all discussing the merits of this trailblazing but polarizing campaign.
Exploiting its authenticity and category authority to continually power relevance and re-emergence has been integral to the longevity of the Levi Strauss Brand. Its’ had its moments of obscurity in the wilderness of saliency in the recent past. But ultimately Levi’s continual belief in itself and passion for what it stands for, ensures it retains credibility; which when coupled with the best creatives, agencies and concepts and a commitment to placing big marketing dollars behind campaigns goes some way to successfully amplifying their message globally. A strategy which has not changed over the last quarter of a century even if the CEOs, CMOs, Agencies and Channels have.
As we emerge from a Covid-19 world Brands will need to embrace their authenticity and story to survive over competitors, the ones who do it well will remain relevant and grow albeit slowly, those who don’t well….
(SOURCE: ADARCHIVES)
Susan Hewlett 