Brand Failures

Tired brands 289
warehouses and our inventory. We must have the right to control the destiny
of that brand.’
Even the UK government joined in, attempting to persuade the European
Union to allow supermarkets like Tesco’s to import goods from anywhere in
the world. However, Levi’s insisted that Tesco’s was missing the point,
confusing the cost of making the jeans with the cost of marketing them. ‘The
important point,’ said Middleton, ‘is that all these costs are an investment in
the brand. The true cost of making this jean is not just the factory element.
It’s much more than that.’ The UK government, keen to eradicate the image
of ‘Rip-off Britain’ has remained on the supermarket’s side, and it looks like
Levi’s will eventually lose the battle.
Despite all these unfortunate external factors, there is no escaping the fact
that the real threat to the Levi’s brand is generated from Levi’s itself. Now that
it is locked in an endless quest to appear ‘innovative’ and ‘youthful’, by
launching a growing number of new styles, Levi’s is now proving the law of
diminishing returns. The marketing expense continues to grow, while the
true brand value diminishes.
The view within the business world has been articulated by Kurt Barnard,
publisher of Barnard’s Retail Trend Report, in The Financial Times in 2001.
‘Levi’s is basically a troubled company,’ he said. ‘Although their name is
hallowed in American history, few people these days wear Levi’s jeans.’
In 2000, the company failed to make the top 75 global brands by value
according to the Interbrand 2000 Brand Valuation Survey. The inclusion of
rival brands such as Gap and Benetton only served to rub more salt in Levi’s
wounds.
So what is the solution Most branding experts now agree that if Levi’s is
going to regain the market position it held in the 1980s and early 1990s it
will need to slim down and narrow its focus. Consumers are no longer sure
what the Levi’s brand stands for. Denim, yes. But what type Straight-cut,
loose fit, low rise, twisted, classic, contemporary. You name it, Levi’s covers
it.
It therefore needs to cure itself of what could reasonably be called ‘Miller
syndrome’. Just as Miller decided to be all beers to all people, Levi’s is doing
the same with jeans. But this does not mean that Levi’s should stop launching
new styles, just that it shouldn’t do so under the Levi’s name. Indeed, one of
the company’s biggest successes in recent times came when it created an
entirely new identity in the form of the Dockers brand, launched in 1986.