Levi’s education-based campaign

In 1992, Levi’s sent a brochure to 25,000 HR departments in the USA, presenting the guidelines for “business casual” dressing with Levi’s products. The campaign aimed to answer the question “What is business casual dress?” and used an educational approach to promote the brand as a solution. As a result, in three years, companies increased their dress codes from 66% to 90% and Levi’s achieved a 10% increase.

How did Levi’s make ‘Business Casual’ the standard for the American workplace? 😎

Levi’s best ad campaign – “Casual Business Wear”

Year: 1992
Media: printed

In 1992 Levi’s sent a brochure to 25,000 HR departments in the USA. This booklet proved to be the key to solving Levi’s sales slump. Increasing competition from low-cost products abroad has eroded their profits.

Levi’s has identified a unique business opportunity: a new trend has emerged that favours casual clothing for the workplace. However, not everyone agreed, believing that “casual” had been misinterpreted and given the green light to inappropriate and unprofessional dress.

Business casual is a style of dress that falls between formal (business formal) and casual (casual). This style is generally accepted in the workplace, where it is not necessary to wear a traditional business suit, but where a professional and neat appearance is still expected.

Levi’s thought that the casual dressing trend was here to stay. Their marketing team decided to create a guide to everyday business dress. Their booklet included proper guidelines for “business casual” dressing, with Levi’s products featured in the guide. A disguised advertising campaign!


Why was Levi’s advertising campaign so successful?

The best ads don’t always look like ads. The campaign was designed to solve consumers’ problems by answering the question “What is everyday business wear?”.

The foundation of Levi’s success was education, building a campaign that consisted of educational materials. This motivated the HR managers to distribute Levi’s advertising to the target audience in a way that felt authentic and natural.

By creating the guidelines, the brand promoted itself as a solution to a growing problem. Levi’s innovative campaign has opened up a new market for workwear for a whole generation of professionals.

Levi’s best advertising campaign: results

When Levi’s started its campaign, only 66% of companies had a dress code. Three years later, this figure has risen to 90%. For 1995, Levi’s reported a 10% increase over the previous year, amounting to $6.2 billion.

This “out of the box” thinking has led to this brilliant and bold move being one of their best advertising campaigns to date. 🙆‍♂️