CONSUMER DURABLES

Dance & Levi’s/Israel Levi’s had never had a problem marketing its jeans to Israeli consumers, young or old. To Israelis, the Levi’s name represents the charisma and excitement of the U.S., and Israeli youngsters love to emulate Americans.

But Levi’s was smart enough to know that you can never be too confident about your market share. Although the brand commanded 75 percent of the category, Crocker’s, an emerging domestic brand, and several imported brands were making headway in jeans. Levi’s was beginning to see its once total ownership of the category erode.

The Italian brand Diesel stepped up Israeli marketing efforts in 1995 and 1996, targeting the bulk of its promotion and advertising dollars towards young, fashion-conscious consumers. At about the same time, Replay started to differentiate itself as the brand for the young and wealthy.

Levi’s marketers felt pressured to defend their position among the16- to-20 crowd, and they turned to Tel Aviv-based promotion agency Promarket for help.

The brand staged the Dance & Levi’s party in 1996 and 1997 with the goal of connecting Levi’s with dance music – which turned out to be a hip idea with the target audience. Promarket wrapped the program around a 24-hour dance party in the Negev Desert featuring leading deejays from around the world.

Levi’s publicized the dance party for six weeks before the party with TV and radio spots, billboards, band interviews, and P-O-S materials. Teams of Levi’s reps visited college campuses and other public areas, handing out event information and encouraging students to take part in the fun.

Consumers who purchased a pair of Levi’s jeans during the promotion received a 50 percent discount off concert tickets, and those who bought a second Levi’s product at the same time received a concert T-shirt. “Mystery shoppers” rewarded sales personnel who recommended Levi’s products to customers, and store personnel kept up the momentum of the program after the event by giving out concert CDs, T-shirts, stickers, and other promotion materials when customers made Levi’s purchases. (The event proved so popular that Levi’s later began selling CDs in music stores and produced a new line of dance party clothing.)

Levi’s experienced a 25 percent increase in sales compared to the same period in 1996, more than 4,000 of the 25,000 discount tickets distributed were redeemed, and 10,000 tickets were sold. Dozens of Israeli newspapers and news programs covered the event, and MTV aired live clips throughout Europe. Levi’s Europe embraced the dance party concept, staging similar events throughout Europe.

Plans are underway for the next party.