While walking around a mall saw a lot of marketing collateral announcing the launch of the Denizen brand with a youth icon Bollywood actor as its brand ambassador (seems like it’s the defacto norm these days).
From the collateral and communication Denizen comes across as just another apparel brand with a generic youth focus, till I heard a radio jingle that caught my attention to the fact that it was a sub-brand launched by Levis!! Just like the Signature brand a few years ago, positioned as an affordable alternative for the youth to drive growth and market share.
Seems like brand Denizen’s focus and idea will be about fit and affordability (very functional and basic differentiators) at least that's what the ads communicate. It is banking big time on leveraging the equity of the brand - Levis to gain attention and traction.How very uninspiring and unimaginative is that? The very fact that the Levis suffix is being beaten aloud just reinforces my belief that the marketers are not very sure of the brand concept with Denizen and are in some way hoping that the Levis association will attract the youth.
Will this strategy that was tried earlier and failed work again for Levis? Only time will tell but my gut tells me it will not. Hope Levis India has got its research and brand strategy right. It has the potential of diluting Levis’s brand equity.
The way I look at it, the brand Levis in a sense is the gold standard when it comes to premium Jeans/denim wear for India’s aspiration driven and brand conscious youth. It’s the original denim brand with a powerful story that lends authenticity.
As a brand conscious and aware undergraduate, I always looked forward to being able to afford my first pair. Nothing else could substitute it. The very fact that I could not afford it added to its appeal and longed for the day I’d own one or be gifted one. I am pretty sure it still evokes the same emotional appeal from today’s youth. So why would one want to be seen in what is considered a poorer and functional child of the gold standard? Would it evoke the same aspirations and premium feel that a pair of Levis would?
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