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Levi?s unzips musicians? denim styles via mobile-optimized microsite

Levi?s is continuing its expansion of digital offerings by rolling out a mobile-optimized microsite featuring content from five emerging musicians and corresponding video tutorials on how to wear the brand?s latest denim styles.

Levi?s, which has been ramping up its focus on the music world recently, is showcasing branded material starring artist Alicia Keys, a move that may attract many of her fans. Visitors to the AKQA-designed site can also toggle between the tabs for the five featured up-and-coming musicians, including Kurt Vile and Benjamin Booker, to view their musical stories and style tips based on the jeans worn in the videos.

?This season the Live in Levi?s Project continues to build Levi?s repertoire of stories from around the world,? said Tommy LeRoux, creative director at AKQA, San Francisco. ?It documented people?s authentic relationship with the brand.

?Kurt Vile, Ibeyi, Benjamin Booker, Kavka Shishido and Ryn Weaver showcase their personal style and individuality, capturing the confidence people get from a pair of Levi?s ? a confidence that gives them the courage to take the next step in their lives and musical careers,? he said. ?Our hope is that Alicia and the other musicians will help inspire fans to take their own first steps, too.

?We continue to capture these stories, and to hero UGC, in order to create a living showcase of global Levi?s fans together in one place.?

Complementing existing campaigns
The Live in Levi?s site was designed to complement the denim brand?s previous promotions centering on emerging music artists, as well as drive awareness of its new women?s collection featuring Ms. Keys.

Consumers can visit liveinlevis.com on their mobile devices to watch an introductory video detailing the Live in Levi?s Project, as well as highlighting the six participating musicians. They may then scroll down to view tabs corresponding to the artists, which include Alicia Keys, Kurt Vile, Ryn Weaver, Benjamin Booker, Ibeyi and Kavka Shishido.

After clicking on a musician?s tab, users will view a video showcasing their musical style as well as their affinity for wearing Levi?s items. Each section comes with a how-to video for fashion enthusiasts seeking to replicate the denim styling seen on the featured individual.

Fans can also slide through each artist?s lookbook, which contains a short biography and imagery of them wearing new Levi?s styles.

Instagram users may find their photos featured on the microsite as well. It aggregates any images tagged with the #LiveinLevis hashtag to display how regular folk wear the brand?s products.

?Our site?s user-generated content is woven seamlessly into the site experience, allowing users to not only get inspired by everyday people wearing iconic Levi?s products as they view the site but to also shop them with the click of a button,? Mr. LeRoux said. ?The content is also localized by region, so each Levi?s market is able to display user-generated content that best resonates with their market.?

Tapping into personal style
While the site allows fans to get up close and personal with music artists, consumers will undoubtedly appreciate the user-generated material that is displayed alongside branded content. Fashion enthusiasts frequently take to Instagram to gather ideas from others? outfits, and may find a fellow Levi?s fan?s style inspirational.

The shoppable ability will also enable customers to quickly get their hands on the new Levi?s collections.

Levi?s has been discovering the power of mobile marketing with an increased fervor as of late. Several weeks ago, the brand added three mobile strategies to its repertoire for a recent update to its Live in Levi?s campaign, hoping to reach a wide range of consumers on their smartphones via geotargeting, image recognition and retargeting (see story).

?We chose a mobile-optimized site because it?s key that our approach to sites continues to mirror consumer behavior,? Mr. LeRoux said.

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York